Slashdot Mirror
On Managing Developers
An anonymous reader writes: A columnist at TechCrunch takes a crack at advice on how to manage developers. He has some decent starting points. For example, "Basically a manager's job is to make other people more productive. What's one really good way to do that? Do the work that is getting in their way. Which means: find out what kind of important work your developers dislike the most, and do it for them." Also: "[D]on't bull$%^& anyone, ever. ... Speak the truth as you see it. Speak it diplomatically, don't get me wrong; but be trustworthy. Only then will you be able to trust others." But some of his statements are open enough to be nearly devoid of meaning: "Any particular process artifact is probably irrelevant. The finest tech team I ever worked on began every day with a daily standup; so did one of the worst, most dysfunctional teams I ever encountered. ... [T]he systems and processes you choose for any given project should be fluid, and flexible, and depend in large part on the team and the context." If you are or have been a developer, what qualities have made your managers good or poor? If you've been in position to do the managing, does you experience jive with this guy's?
I would disagree with "Which means: find out what kind of important work your developers dislike the most, and do it for them." I would say:
"Find out what non-essential stuff is interfering with real work and protect them from it."
There often is work that is important that must be done but is not exactly fun, such as documenting code, helping tech writers prepare user manuals, listening to users and getting feedback on the UI, etc. Developers may dislike that work but they are the ones that need to be involved with it or do it. Sometimes it's the manager's job to point out stuff that needs to be done and find a way to get it done; even if it isn't what they want to do.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
told me that his job was only partially to tell me what to do (because I should know most of it) and mostly to shield me from the bureaucrap so that I could concentrate on doing it. I try to emulate that.
Two other nuggets I aim for:
- a good manager tells his people what *his* objectives are, and explains to them how that translates into the objectives he's giving them.
- there are different kinds of management for different people, and a good manager must adapt. A newbie or an incompetent *needs* micromanaging (but beware of giving the impression of thinking either one is incompetent). As they get older/wiser/more experienced the manager can go more and more hands-off, until with a senior engineer/whatever the manager should be able to just discuss strategy and budget and priorities and such.