3 Roles of a CTO: Culture. Technology. Operations.

Hey team,

I’m Orhan, and I want to chat about how we’re going to steer our tech ship. You know, having been around the tech block from Istanbul to Dubai and now the US, I’ve picked up a thing or two about leading tech teams. As your fractional CTO, I’ve got a plan to make our meetings super productive and really hit the mark on three key areas: Culture, Technology, and Operations. Let’s dive in and shake things up a bit!

Culture: It’s All About Our People

Building Strong Relationships: We’re a team, right? So, let’s talk about how we’re working together. Are we syncing up well with other tech teams and stakeholders? If there’s any tension brewing, let’s get it out in the open and sort it out.

Advocacy: We’ve got to make sure our voice is heard and respected. How can we better connect with our stakeholders and customers? Let me know if you’re waiting on something from me or if there’s something cool you want to share, even if it’s not work-related.

Retention and Happiness: Are our folks feeling good about their work? Is the work challenging enough? Let’s keep an eye on their morale and make sure we’re nurturing their growth. And hey, if you hear any whispers about someone thinking of leaving, let’s address it early.

Recruiting: Keeping Our Team Strong

Staffing Needs: Feeling stretched thin? Let’s get ahead of our staffing needs and keep our team flexible and ready for anything. We need to stay sharp on our open positions and recruiting efforts. Any roadblocks? Let’s hash it out.

Technology: Engineering Our Future

Architecture and Innovation: What new tech are we eyeing? Any old systems we’re saying goodbye to? Let’s keep our architecture fresh and exciting.

Integration and Collaboration: How are we doing with integrating our tech across teams? Any challenges we need to tackle there?

DevOps and Infrastructure: This is huge. Are our systems running smoothly? Let’s look at performance, scalability, security, and all that good stuff. And let’s make sure our dev, infra, and security teams are in sync.

Operations: Keeping the Wheels Turning

Project Updates: Got any projects that are slipping? Changes in deadlines? Let’s review what we’ve achieved and what’s on the docket for next week.

Budget and Resource Management: How’s our budget looking? Any financial surprises we should talk about?

Feedback and Support: This is a two-way street. What can I do to support you better? Got any ideas or challenges you want to bounce off me?

Learning and Adapting

Continuous Learning: What lessons have we learned? Are we sharing this knowledge effectively? Any changes we should make based on our retrospectives?

Challenges and Problem-Solving: What’s keeping us up at night? Let’s prioritize our issues and brainstorm some solutions. Remember, I’m here to help clear any roadblocks.

Mixing It Up

To keep things fresh, let’s not stick to the same old routine. We’ll have structured chats 3 times a month, but let’s keep one meeting open for free-flowing discussion. How about we sometimes take our meetings outside or on a walk? Change of scenery can spark some great ideas.

Why a Meeting, Not a Report?

Because who really likes writing reports? Conversations are where the magic happens. Let’s keep this interactive and engaging.

I’m all for a test-and-learn approach. So, let’s try this out and tweak as we go. Thanks for being on this journey with me. Let’s make tech leadership at our company something really special, something that reflects our collective experience and passion for innovation.

Cheers, Orhan