Summertime is the perfect season for recruiters and managers to focus on the professional development of not only their company’s teams, but also on their own skills. With kids out of school, maybe a slower pace in the office and fewer distractions at home and at work, summer is an ideal time to hire new team members, allow times for study and creativity and take a look at new technologies. Additionally, summer can provide an opportunity to reflect on accomplishments and set goals for the future. By making a commitment to your professional growth, you'll be better positioned to attract top talent – and you can help your team reach its full potential. Here are a few tips we are sure you can put to good use.

Want to build up your team before autumn? This is what you should wrap your head around

After summer most companies are already fully geared up for work again, so it is important that you also have your team well positioned. What you can do to achieve this? Use summer as a time to rotate talent through your project portfolio. This can be a great opportunity to try new things and get different perspectives on your projects. Having a rotation of talent can also help keep projects fresh and engaging while at the same time you can evaluate the tech stack to ensure it will support the team and drive the companies’ strategy in a meaningful way.

By giving employees the opportunity to work on different types of projects, they can develop new skills and knowledge that will benefit the team as a whole. Moreover, this rotation can help to prevent stagnation and boredom, keeping employees engaged and motivated. In today's competitive market, it is essential for companies to make the most of their resources, and the summer months provide a perfect opportunity to do just that. By taking advantage of this time to rotate talents, tech managers can ensure that their team is always operating at its highest level.

Part of getting the team ready is the hiring process of course. Start by writing down the skills needed for the job, ideally with human resources. If you know about the necessary skillset, it will be easier for you to filter out the exceptionally good candidates from the flood of applications. Then you will know which skills or work experience even exceed your expectations. At this point it is helpful if you rotate your team. As a manager, this gives you the opportunity to find out what extra skills your staff can use in different positions. Because it's not about getting a high number of applications, but the right ones.

Also, go into a conversation with your team and try to find out what the mood in the team is like and what the team expects or would expect from the company. This is always important, whether you are hiring or not. If you know the team’s mood, then you’ll always know what you need to do to improve it a bit. And that’s also important in the application process because you can then think about what salary you want to pay and what other benefits you want to offer the talent.

Of course, hiring new employees is a process that takes time and effort. You want to find someone who is not only qualified for the job, but who will also be a good fit for your company culture. Summer can be the perfect time to bring new people on board. The slower pace of business during the summer months gives you a chance to really get to know potential new hires. It also gives them a chance to get to know you and the rest of the team. If everything goes well, they'll be hitting the ground running when business picks up again in the fall.

Here's how you can ensure that your team can develop further

Here’s another important one for you: Increase your teams’ resources. Why? Teams that feel like they have the resources they need to do their job are more likely to be productive and engaged. When team members feel supported, they are more likely to go above and beyond to meet deadlines and contribute to the success of the team. In contrast, teams that feel under-resourced are more likely to experience high levels of stress and turnover. Additionally, teams that lack resources may find it difficult to attract and retain top talent. This can create a vicious cycle in which poor performance leads to reduced resources, which then leads to an even worse performance. Investing in your team’s resources is an investment in your team’s future. And summer is (for the aforementioned reasons) the perfect time for that. If you give them the time that is more available in the summer to train and acquire skills that are important for their job, it is of course working time, but it feels less like work because they learn something that they can still use when they are no longer working for you. And that feeling is always good.

You know what gives a good feeling as well? Allowing your team to study and be creative. Why? Because allowing both individual and collective time for creativity is key to innovation. This is especially important in the summer, when people are naturally seeking out new experiences and opportunities for growth. It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of work, but that’s the reason why it's so important to also step back and give your team the freedom to explore new ideas. By encouraging study and creativity, you're showing your team that you trust their judgment and that you're invested in their development. In turn, they'll be more likely to feel motivated and engaged in their work.

Another very important part of pushing the morale in your team is to leverage online courses. For one, they provide an opportunity for employees to learn new skills and stay up-to-date on the latest emerging technology. Because, with so many changes happening in the tech world, it’s important for your team to just be able to keep up. And not only that. Online courses can even help to attract new talent to your team. If you’re offering courses that prospective employees can take, you’ll be able to show that you’re committed to helping them further their careers. And they can really help to build team morale. By taking courses together, employees will have a chance to bond and develop a stronger group spirit.

Also, what you should do in summer is cut down on technical debt. Because, as any manager knows, it can quickly spiral out of control if it is not kept in check. During the summer months it is a perfect time to focus on that. By taking on some of the tougher projects and addressing areas that have been neglected, managers can help to keep their teams on track and avoid the need for major course corrections later in the year. In addition, lighter sprints provide an opportunity to focus on quality and polish, making it easier to deliver a high-quality product that meets customer needs. By taking advantage of the summer months, managers can help to ensure that their teams are in a strong position to succeed when the pace of work picks up again.

Summer can be a great opportunity for you to take on some of the riskier aspects of your job without as much potential for negative impact. Updating infrastructure and architecture can be difficult and time-consuming, but it's often essential to keeping a company's technology up-to-date. By taking advantage of the summer slowdown, you can make these changes with minimal disruption to the rest of the company. And if something does go wrong, there are fewer people around to be affected. This also allows those who are working over the summer to test the new systems before the entire team is back online.

But it's not just your team that needs time to develop in summer – these steps can benefit you

Of course, as a manager in the tech industry, it's always important to be on the lookout for new technology. And in summer, there might be a bit more time for you to really dig into the latest trends. After all, new technology can also mean new opportunities for your company. By taking a deeper look at emerging technologies and how they help solve work challenges you can be one of the first to adopt them and gain a competitive advantage. This can help you improve existing products and services. For example, if you're managing a software development team, staying up-to-date on new coding languages, frameworks… can help you create better code. So, allow yourself some time in summer to check on new technology. It can simply make you a more well-rounded manager. By understanding the latest trends and developments in the tech industry, you'll be better equipped to make informed decisions about your company's direction. Don't neglect to stay informed about new technology – it could pay off in a big way.

Additionally, as a manager, you should have one thing in mind. You are of course responsible for a team, but that also means that you need to realize that you must never stop learning. Use some of your time in summer to improve your skills and learn new ones. Read books and articles on management, attend conferences and workshops, or take online courses. You can also use the summer to experiment with new ideas and approaches in your own work. For example, try out a new project management tool or new ways of communicating with your team. By continuously learning and improving your skills, you'll be much better equipped to deal with the ever-changing face of the industry.

Why you should also put internal communication on your agenda

One of the most important skills for any tech manager is effective communication. In the summer months, it's the perfect time to assess how well you and your team are communicating. You should ask yourself: Are there any areas where miscommunication has led to problems? Are there any Bottlenecks that could be streamlined? Taking the time to improve internal communications can really save a lot of headache down the road.

It can be helpful to start by looking at your team's meetings. Summer is a great time to try out new formats or experiment with different lengths. You might also want to consider holding more informal check-ins, either one-on-one or in small groups. This can give people the chance to let you know about anything that's on their mind, without feeling like they are disrupting work flow.

Finally, don't forget about the written word. Technology has made it easier than ever to stay in touch, but it's also important to make sure that everyone on your team feels comfortable using the tools available. If you're not sure whether everyone is on the same page, why not send out a short survey? Asking for feedback can be a great way to get started on improving communications within your team. Why? Because people feel heard. And they feel like they’re participating in a collective project and not in a project that’s not their own.