A good leader is one that stays for a long time. An interesting point, right? This is actually the most important thing people miss. A lot of people remember their “best ever” bosses, which in fact left before hitting 6 or 5 or even 4 months mark. Why do I refer to the time a manager keeps up with the company? Because half a year is actually the time things start to get changing. It either gets better or […]
Is it related to tasks context changing? Meaning – people asking your opinion and help or different projects and activities. Alternatively – it most likely to be connected to the general background noise in the office. In case of the responsibilities that involve communication with people in the office, unfortunately, you have no choice but getting used to the In the alternative case, there are actually a couple of creative ways to achieve it. Speak with your manager, show the results of your […]
The biggest nightmare of an agile team is a micromanager. This type of a manager does not necessarily mean the person is bad. They are nice and funny and smart and hardworking and think that everything has to be double-checked. Everything has to be double-checked. Every document has to be prepared ahead of time and sent for verification. They read the text very carefully and fix the structure, meaning, order and punctuation. they send you the highlighted results back and ask to correct […]
There are 2 biggest challenges: Building a connection with the team. Everything starts with it. You can manage the people by scaring them, by offering bonuses, by criticizing them. It will work for some time but then, people will start looking for other options and you will stay with these with no choice. On the other side – building a team, based on trust and respect, takes time but stays forever. The best case – a team that operates by […]
The most common misconception is that developers are all about writing code. The approach affects the ability to build a good team which communicates and delivers quality code. A developer, a professional, if you will, is a collection of tools one should master equally: Speed, one closes tasks Code quality and readability Ability to run a research Ability to communicate with teammates on technical or social topics Ability to expose a problem to the management (requires a lot of self-confidence) Ability to study […]
“If you are looking for cost-effectiveness, you should look elsewhere”. Optimizing the development process can bring much more savings in the long run than hiring a whole team of cheaper developers. Why is that? That’s because the monthly price, compared to the level of quality you want to receive, compared to the management approach you have to adapt (a different country with a different culture) give you no advantage. So what is offshore good for, anyway? The total winner is […]
By deciding to work from home (joining such a team or asking the management for such an option), the person has to make sure the direct manager knows what value is being delivered. Ask the management if a task tracking system is in use and make sure every assignment you receive gets its status updated while working from home. In case no such system is adopted by the company, suggest your management you’d be sending reports (daily or weekly, depending on how long you are expecting to […]
Everybody is really obsessed with firing these days. The point is – firing never helps. Firing is a sign that something else is broken in the company. It is the sign that management is not capable of fixing the situation. Possible reasons may be: Incorrect hiring process – underqualified hire. Incorrect onboarding – the developer has never received a proper explanation of the code and technology. Incorrect estimations – a lot of tasks being assessed incorrectly. As result – high pressure on fixing in time. No […]
Well, everything starts with your involvement with the team. You have to be as close as possible to the action. Grab a desk and work in the same room. If not possible – keep your office door open to hear people talking to each other. If not possible – participate in as many team meetings as the business allows without getting out of being productive. Your goal is tuning to the conversations and watching people communicate. It will take time but it will […]
Do you “have” to fire anybody? You should “fix” (and probably fire, if no choice) the person that breaks the team integrity – this is the only consideration I would suggest taking. A slow performing person is not a critical component in case the rest of the team does not see it this way. The team is your most valuable asset. If you have no choice and somebody has to go, following the rule of “make no harm to the […]