A good CTO can undoubtedly do wonders for the growth of your company and sales. They can help you put together something that your consumers demand and keep on coming back from.
Similarly, an inefficient or a merely good chief technology officer can harm your business and sales cycle. Your chief technology officer should not just have a strong understanding of the technology but must also be well versed in project management and the morphology of the core development team.
If you are hiring CTO as a service for the first time then you might not be able to see through the countless applications and interviews which candidate is the perfect match for your company. Here are 14 qualities of what makes a good CTO.
Remember these qualities apply to all types of chief technology officers whether it be a startup CTO or a fractional CTO.
How Does a CTO Help?
Before diving into the qualities, let’s first explain how a chief technology officer can help you and your business. When you hire CTO as a service, you are hiring an individual who looks over your current technology and devises a favorable policy. A CTO should have strong knowledge about managing technology-related matters to coordinate with the company’s business goals.
According to TechTarget, a CTO is responsible for developing, implementing, managing, and evaluating the company’s technology resources. The goal of a CTO is to examine short- and long-term needs while using capital to make investments that aid the organization in reaching its goals.
Chief technology officer plays a crucial role in the C-suite as they are often involved in new and many emerging technologies that can help yield better results for the company.
Some businesses opt to hire CTO services as a full-time tech aid whereas some hire fractional CTO services to oversee a certain section of the business.
Top Qualities of a Great CTO
Now that we are done with understanding what role a CTO plays in your business. Let’s look at which qualities differentiate a Good CTO from others.
1- Years of Experience
Chief Technology Officers are at the heart of SaaS startups, small IT companies, and successful corporations. A good CTO has years of experience. They have seen numerous ups and downs and know better than anyone else how to have a head start. An expert CTO is not just a master in technical strategies and doesn’t lack management skills.
IT companies and other businesses lookout for someone that can devise a good strategy when needed and be an effective leader as well.
2- Having a Deep Understanding of Technology
Most CTOs come from a STEM background which means they are qualified in Computer Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics. Apart from experience, CTO also needs to have an in-demand skill to put out exceptional performance.
A good chief technology officer possesses both; knowledge and experience. This gives them an advantage in managing the project well, picking out KPIs, identifying issues and their root cause, and then crafting a suitable solution.
3- Communication Skills
Clear identification of a Good CTO could be done through their way of communication. A good CTO must be able to communicate with employees and clients effortlessly. Always keep a keen eye for good communication skills in your CTO since it could either make you win or lose the deal.
Joel Beasley lays down some critical pointers about communication skills that a good CTO must possess.
- Capable of seamlessly answering any query related to the current market and its potential.
- Have a complete understanding of how the funding process goes.
- Able to convince the first few clients.
- Have the ability to explicitly explain technical concepts of the product and how it will help.
4- Knowing Who to Hire
A good CTO will always know how to put together a team of creative and innovative minds. They can attract better and more talented candidates to them and polish the individuals already working in the organization. This quality can have a positive effect on the organization’s growth.
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5- Knowing the Landscape of Tools
If you develop a product when something similar to it is already present in the market, it implies you’re clueless and losing the company’s money.
Imagine you invested a great deal of time and money into reconstructing programming and software design to exploit a device or code library that will work on the code and then when you took it to achieve market success, it hits you that such products already exist- You just didn’t know it. CTOs must keep a steady eye on the fresh and most unique products because the exemplary apparatus could save your organization time and money.
6- Experience in Various Range of Technologies
A CTO must have sound knowledge about the product, but what sets a good CTO apart is their familiarity with the various types of technologies used to develop the product. This not just helps the company innovate but also boosts employees’ engagement, happiness, and satisfaction.
7- Innovation Out of Digital Disruption
In today’s age, almost every industry, including education, financial management, and even healthcare, has to undergo digital disruption. Digital disruption means a change in the business that compels individuals to leave their conventional ways of work. Some people have this misconception that this disruption occurs overnight but the reality is a little different.
The disruption is brought about by the growing competition in the market and the advancement in technology.
8- Strategic Thinking
While hiring a CTO, look out for someone who can think strategically. This means someone who can consider the bigger picture while making important decisions. The main focus remains on the development team but they also oversee other stuff such as Cybersecurity simultaneously.
9- Creating a Workspace Culture
Creating a positive workspace culture can benefit your business to a large extent. It not just helps increase employee retention rate but also boosts the overall productivity and focus of the team.
A good CTO can keep your employees committed to the end goal while making sure they are enjoying the process. Chief technology officers should have an in-depth understanding of the pressure points of their development team to bring out talented developers.
10- Network of Industry Professionals
If you think you can hire a CTO who knows every basics of the industry then you are on the wrong path. Instead of knowing everything, a good CTO comes with a wide network of industry professionals. A network of industry experts will help you make wise decisions that will be fruitful in the long run.
A study published in IEEE Journal states:
“Experiments showed that the social network sizes of CTO/CIOs in large companies are bigger than the social network sizes of CTO/CIO in small companies. Moreover, we discovered that the size of those social networks between CTO/CIO is a key factor in the difference in the company size”
A good CTO should be capable of turning to industry professionals whenever in need of some credible advice.
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11- Establishing Priorities
A good CTO should always be able to highlight what is the most important for the company and what can wait a little longer. A CTO’s responsibility is to coordinate with the CEO and set up the technical and business goals for the organization.
A person who fails to establish clear priorities will only lead your company into a tunnel of hazards.
12- Practical Thinking
Every time, organizations must set specialized compromises to meet market expectations. Chief technology officers are answerable for guaranteeing that a specialized system matches business procedures. Some of the time because of wild rivalry some companies might decide to promote an item sooner than originally planned.
A CTO should be able to provide another alternative rather than launching the product early, notwithstanding, that they have a clear understanding of it and relieve the business from safety risks that come with every choice.
13- Staying Updated With Tech
Just like in any other industry, a CTO is expected to stay on top of every tech trend and should be analyzing market trends so they can provide the best results. A good CTO is expected to know about the most recent tech news, and at the same time divert clueless associates from submitting to a remarkable blockchain trick.
In a startup, employees ought to have the option to seek the CTO for guidance on the technology trends of the organization.
14- Leadership Skills
Knowing when to take on new advances and whether the staff can adjust is critical to keeping up with productivity. Chief technology officers should have the option to oversee correspondence channels, supervise the change to new frameworks, and augment the association’s security during consolidations and acquisitions.
According to REID CARR: “A great CTO needs to see how technology enables people. And, despite their technological prowess, they need to see where others may have challenges with adapting to new technology or ways of doing things.”
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How to Make the Role of a CTO Successful?
A CTO who can empower an association to transform dangers and opportunities into practical progress in the commercial center needs to possess various characteristics: a profound comprehension of clients and, for B2B organizations, a reputable place in the clients’ network; a profound comprehension of the organization’s ongoing innovation; the interest to find out about possibly pertinent new advancements coming on line or being developed; the keenness to see the ramifications and potential purposes of such advances; external contacts; a dominance of frameworks designing; and an eagerness to go against the status quo.
While each sort of CTO can find lasting success, it is essential to distinguish rapidly which approach will work best inside a specific organization. This is generally difficult to do if there is in many cases practically no time for the trial time in which to characterize exactly the way that the CTO will work with the remainder of the association, and a couple of staggers can prompt loss of reliability for the entire organization.
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Bottom Line
Those are qualities you should look out for when hiring a great CTO. We hope it helps you on your journey of hiring a CTO.
If you already have a CTO on board, do they possess all these qualities? If the answer is no, it is time to level up and contact Hapy. We have a team of experienced chief technology officers ready to be at your service. Hire CTO as a service anytime, anywhere!
FAQs
What Is the Average Age of a CTO?
The average age of a CTO is 52 years old.Â
What Skills Should CTO Have?
A CTO should have a deep understanding of existing and emerging technologies, problem-solving and proven project management skills.
