How to use your development budget in 2024 as a Tech Lead

Anemari Fiser opens with a number: nine out of ten techies she talks to never use their development budget. Her reading of why is that people treat requesting it as upsetting someone, when letting it expire is the actual waste. She walks through how to ask, how to convince a manager, and nineteen concrete ways to spend it.

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• Not using the budget isn’t a favor to anyone. It’s a missed opportunity, and using it is a right, not a request for special treatment.
• Requesting it is usually simpler than it looks: check the company’s documentation, or ask the manager about the process directly in the next 1-1.
• A pitch to a manager works when it’s specific: what the course is, who runs it, its relevance, its exact cost, and how the timing will or won’t affect deadlines.
• The pitch should name the value to the manager and the team too, not only personal growth: better technical skills, better collaboration, better project efficiency.
• If there’s no answer by the agreed date, following up and restating why it matters keeps the request alive.
• Spending ideas beyond courses: books (The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo, Managing Humans by Michael Lopp, The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier, Talking with Tech Leads by Pat Kua), tech conferences, coaching, and newsletters written by other tech leads.