Managing Developers and Development

Where we focus

• Agile

  • What does it mean to be a "self managed team?"

  • We're big fans of Disciplined Agile (and Choose Your Wow) 

  • One size does not fit all.

• Advice and mentoring for new development managers

  • Managing developers and development has often been likened to herding cats - can learn to be a great cat wrangler?

  • Four pieces of advice for new managers

    1. Embrace risk.

    2. Embrace change.

    3. Embrace conflict.

    4. Do none of the above until you learn how to manage risk, manage change and manage conflict.

• Managing Up and Managing Sideways and Manging Down

  • Development managers have bosses and colleagues and subordinates.  The techniques that work well for managing your team don't always work well for managing in other directions.

• Fostering great business conversations (and presentations too)

  • Many techniques are useful and figuring out what works for you is important, but two useful pointers:

    • Think pedagogically (that is, think like a teacher). How can I structure our conversation or my presentation to take the audience on a journey of learning and discovery?

    • Learn the fine art of asking really good questions.  Doing so will turn you into a much more engaged listener (and the value of questions is vastly underrated).

  • Eric Blair (you probably know him by his pen-name: George Orwell)  provides some of the best advice for writing:

    • • 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

        2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

        3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

        4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

        5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

        6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

From his essay: “Politics and the English Language”

• The Art of Delegation

  • Been doing it for years - am I any good at it?

  • How do make sure that those who get delegated tasks are set up for success:

    • Do they have a clear understanding of the work?

    • Is the time frame reasonable or did you wait until you were out of runway before delegating?

    • Do they know the timeline?  

    • Are you available to help if needed and is that well understood?

    • When all is done, have you delivered appropriate praise and critical feedback.