Manager development programme for Website development companies: skills for leads who juggle projects, juniors and clients
Most web team leads were the best developer yesterday. Today they plan five sites, review juniors and take client calls, and nobody showed them how.
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Share your requirementsWhy manager development programme matters in website development companies
A promoted developer keeps building while also managing. Reviews of junior work are rushed, delays are discovered late and client calls take the evening. The lead is tired, juniors feel unseen and the owner wonders why delivery is not smoother.
A manager programme for a small web company can be short and practical. It covers planning across projects, giving feedback on code and design, running a handover, managing client change and looking after one's own workload. It uses the leads' real projects as material. Each session ends with one small change the lead tries on a live project, so the learning does not stay in the room. Owners should sit in once to hear the problems leads raise, since many of them trace back to how work is planned and sold.
How to set it up
1. Pick the leads and their needs
Ask each lead and the owner what is hardest now. Choose three or four themes for the first six months.
2. Teach planning across projects
A weekly plan showing people, projects and dates, with a way to flag overload early.
3. Practise feedback and review
Short sessions on reviewing a junior's work, giving clear comments and agreeing next steps.
4. Cover client conversations
Handling change requests, delays and disagreements calmly, with examples from recent sites.
5. Follow up in the project
Review how leads used each topic after a month. Link good practice to growth paths.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask each lead which task takes most of their evening.
- Look at how juniors' work was reviewed on the last two launches.
- Check whether any lead has been trained in feedback or planning.
- Count client calls taken by leads that could be handled by a coordinator. Note whether those calls are on the lead's calendar at fixed times.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach manager development programme in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
When they show interest in helping others and handle planning and conversation well, not simply because they code best. Offer a trial period and support.
No. Short sessions of an hour every fortnight, tied to real projects, usually work better than a long course that is forgotten.
Offer a senior developer path with matching pay and recognition, so leadership is a choice and not the only route to grow.