How to Lose an iOS Developer in 10 Days

From 360|iDev 2015 in Denver.

Are you leading a team of iOS developers? How do you find them? What about your team makes them want to be there? What makes them stay there?

Are you an iOS developer looking for a great place to work? What do you look for? What makes you decide to stay there?

This talk will cover all these questions by talking about things you shouldn’t do. How do you make an environment that drives iOS Developers away? What are the traits that lead to horrible workplaces? In talking about building a horrible environment for iOS developers, this session show what actually makes a great environment.

Transcript

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2. Hello, My Name is Josh.
   

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8. Acquired by
   Ticketmaster
   (on April 1st)
   

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13. Meet Dave
    

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14. He works over
    at Evil Corp
    (Dave has told me a lot of
    stories)
    

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15. “Hi Dave, it's 8:10am and
    we noticed that you
    weren't at your desk. You
    must be there by 8:00am.”
    — Evil Corp's HR Manager on Dave's first day.
    

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16. “Photoshop is too
    expensive, here's a
    pirated version from a few
    years ago.”
    — Dave's Manager
    

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17. “No you can't go to this
    365 iDeveloper thing, you
    already know how to do
    this and there is no
    budget”
    — Dave's Manager
    

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18. “I don't really understand
    Objective-C so rewrite
    that stuff in C# using my
    libraries."
    — Dave's Manager
    

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19. “It's okay if you work from
    home, but I need you to
    report everything you do
    and the times so I can be
    sure you were working”
    — Dave's Manager
    

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20. “How many developers
    do we need? Can you just
    do Android too?”
    — Dave's Manager
    

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21. “Stop bitching and just do
    your work!”
    — Dave's Manager
    

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23. Dave just
    resigned.
    

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24. What was great at
    Two Toasters?
    

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25. Growth
    

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26. Growth
    • Intentional Learning
    • CocoaBrains
    • Swift Study Group
    • Conferences (360|iDev, WWDC)
    • Community (CocoaHeads, NSCoder Night)
    • Apple Announcements
    

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27. Growth
    • “What happens after I'm a Senior Developer?”
    • “How do I become a 'Mid-level' Developer?”
    • “Should I become a Manager?”
    • Think about Teaching Hospitals.
    

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28. Feedback
    

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29. Feedback
    • Monthly 1:1
    • 15 minute walk
    • “How are you?”
    • Quarterly 1:1
    • 30 minute talk
    • Review and make new Goals
    

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30. Trust
    

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31. Trust
    • If you don't trust your team then why are they there?
    • Avoid the “Hands of the VP” Syndrome
    

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32. Trust
    • If you don't trust your team then why are they there?
    • Avoid the “Hands of the VP” Syndrome
    • Micro-managers, please leave.
    

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33. Challenging Work
    

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34. Challenging Work
    • It might not be a good fit. That's OK.
    • During 1:1, ask “Are you bored?”.
    • The team can be involved in what projects to even take on.
    

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35. Culture
    

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36. Culture
    • Maintaining a mindset of improvement and optimization.
    • Respect each other, respect clients, respect time.
    

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37. The Rest of the Team
    

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38. The Rest of the Team
    • People want to work with people who will challenge them.
    • The team is included in deciding who they work with.
    • Take the time to hire right.
    

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39. Transparency
    

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40. Transparency
    • Show and Tell
    • Actively share what other teams or the leadership team is
    doing
    

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42. “Um, Josh, these are all
    really obvious”
    — You, right now.
    

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44. The Future
    

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45. Thanks!
    Josh Johnson
    @jnjosh
    

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