How to Motivate Your Developers

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FooLab How to Motivate Your Developers Northeast PHP Conference - August 12, 2012 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Disclaimer My advice does not work in all cases. Don’t blindly “cut-paste”. Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Issues With Devs • Hard to recruit • Work on low-priority tasks • Lack of progress • Low quality results • Lack of cooperation (tasks, directives) • Resign for unclear reason 3 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Not always by choice It’s a product of the environment Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab How do they perform on their pet projects? Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Anna Filina 6 • PHP Quebec - user group • ConFoo - non for proﬁt Web conference • FooLab Inc. - IT consulting • I write code. • I train and supervise programmers. • I make recommendations. Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Survival Kit Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Salary • A study in Quebec shows it’s #1 • For free, they’ll work on what they want • Pay enough 8 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Positive Culture • Would you enjoy working for yourself? • Proud of their job • Grab a beer with them 9 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Communication • Feedback is underrated • Can they be honest with you? • Can they be honest with the team? • Can they speak with teammates any time? 10 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Phobias Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Kansas City Collapse 12 • Deadliest structural collapse in US history • 114 dead • 216 injured • Due to a design change Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Changeophobia • Change design before you code • Check impact on other requirements • Keep project’s objectives in mind • Stay focused on priorities 13 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Ambiguophobia • Unclear goals • “Let’s go over the bug tracker” • Know your enemy (performance, spaghetti) • Set goals: measurable, attainable, deadline • No deadline = no requirement 14 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Deadlineophobia • Arbitrary deadlines • Consult devs before promising to client • Friday deployments • Overtime: they have nothing better to do, right? 15 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Blameophobia • So they screwed up • Laying blame (berate for 20 min) • It’s everyone’s problem • Focus on solutions: who has skill to ﬁx? • Don’t live in fear 16 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Meetingophobia • How often? • How long? • How crowded? • 20 people bouncing ideas for hours every week • Follow outline: did we digress? • Kill monologues and one-on-one conversations 17 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Small Wins Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Visible Progress • Life is about the next achievement • Break into smaller goals • Badge at every step • Can increase difﬁculty over time 19 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Junior Developers Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Limited Skills • They can write code • Don’t ask them to solve complex problems: optimize database • Assign a more skilled dev • Show them how to use the tools 21 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Proving Skills • Let them have an opinion • Explain why they’re wrong • They don’t ask questions • Afraid to look bad, they feel tested • Check progress to avoid blocks • Invite them to ask simple questions 22 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Know Not What to Do • Can’t guess tasks • Clear objectives, deadlines, priorities 23 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Need Validation • Tap on the shoulder when they do well • Code review; be gentle and ignore non-issues • Tell them what they could do better 24 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Expert Developers Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Drive The Project • IE6 compatibility • Don’t distract; write some docs • Don’t switch their focus • Avoid low-level tasks • They’re analysts and problem solvers 26 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Extinguish Fires • Constant fires will drain and piss them off • Let others fix a few bugs • Offload simpler tasks • Let them train others • Give them vacation time 27 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Need Tools • They want to be more productive • Pay the darn license • Online collaboration • Let them pick the tools 28 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Micro Managemet • Time sheets documenting every task (movie commentator) • Experts can manage their own time • Give them autonomy; keep an eye on ROI 29 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Difﬁcult Cases Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Characters • Make people uncomfortable • Think they are better • Pair with patient dev to cool them • Don’t let them cross the line 31 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab A-holes • Waste time on endless debates • Create discord or tension between teammates • Oppressing or humiliating the weak • Drain energy • Educate or kick 32 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Emotionally Unstable • Psychos happen • Capable of verbal and physical violence • Worst thing that can happen to your team • Everyone is scared • Don’t wait: kick 33 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Let’s Reduce Tension 34 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Unskilled • Make mistakes; you ﬁx them • Start many tasks without ﬁnishing • Drain energy • Don’t keep them out of pity • Train if salvageable 35 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Easy Shots Still Work Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Accommodation • Respect religion / family / health constraints • Help people learn the language • Let the shy speak without interruption • What about watching their country in ﬁnals? 37 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Gadgets • Desk name plates • Nerf Guns • Video games on big screens • Ideas on thinkgeek.com 38 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Conferences and Activities • Most kids enjoyed school trips • It’s a break + productivity increase • Beer is a sure value • Let them pick activities • No activities on weekends 39 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Next Steps • I will tweet the slides: @aﬁlina • Please leave feedback: http://joind.in/6842 40 Sunday, August 12, 2012

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FooLab Ask me how many hours my employee works Sunday, August 12, 2012