As far back as I can recall, I have always been set on my career path in software engineering. Even as a teenager, I knew I liked computer science. In high school, I took computer science as one of my optional subjects, working with macros and VBA. It seemed natural to me that I continue my studies in this subject at university.
Moving from small to large development teams
My first job after graduating was working in a small development team within a large, successful oil service company in Norway. As there were very few of us working in the team, I had to learn several roles fast, which was a great opportunity for me as a fresh graduate.
Something I realized early on about what drives me is that I seek out what challenges me. As soon as I felt that the acceleration of my learning was beginning to slow, I knew I had to find a different environment to work in. I went in search of a place where I could work alongside and learn from a larger group of developers.
As one of the largest consultancies in technology services and digital transformation, Capgemini was the perfect place to work on projects that were more complex, with clients in a diverse range of industries. The challenges I encountered here were as much human as they were technical. I had to learn to interact with people from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences.
I still believe to this day that working in a consultancy is an advantage any good software engineer should pursue, because the experience teaches you to communicate and work with others. But why does an expert in software engineering even need interpersonal skills? Aren’t technical skills sufficient?
To truly improve, you need to have a growth mindset.
You might believe that an engineer is most successful when they execute their narrow scope of tasks to perfection. However, that definition is stagnant, and stagnancy is unsustainable in a field that is constantly evolving. Working with others requires a number of soft skills that you simply can’t pick up working on your own. You need to talk to your colleagues, clients and users to understand the features they want you to develop, which means you need good communication skills.
At a certain point in your career, you need to decide whether you are working at a place that aligns with your values, or if there is another place that will validate your goals and help you grow. For me, one of the clients I was working with was Sparebanken Vest, whose work ethos and process truly aligned with what I wanted.
So, when the opportunity presented itself, I took a permanent position in the bank’s internal development team. This was where I first discovered the true power of a cross-functional team.
Every person in a cross-functional team can make an impact together.
A cross-functional team isn’t a new concept in the tech world. Most software engineers and developers will be familiar with scrum masters and agile methodologies. However, it is worth expanding our exclusive tech bubble to include people whose backgrounds aren’t in IT.
The bank’s management placed developers and engineers in the driver’s seat, and fostered a collaborative environment where we shared information and training. People were placed within product teams that focused on smaller domains and included experts from various roles in the organization.
This meant that I was able to talk to people from other parts of the business, including people from business development, customer support staff, and marketing. As a result, they were able to directly inform me of key customer metrics, customer pain points, how the product was seen by the public, and so much more vital information for developing the product.
As a person who likes to know the details, this was exactly what I needed to improve my work as a software engineer and see the full picture of what the final digital product should be.
The key to success is to place your engineers with people from other parts of your business. Sit your app developers next to your marketers. Have your software engineers collaborate with your customer service support. Check in with your users to make sure you know the features that will help make their life easier and respond to what they want.
