People are Weird, I’m Weird - The Lead Developer, London 2015

Site: http://www.thesambarnes.com

The Internetz is full of articles about how to build & lead tech teams, however reading these will only get you so far. In order to become a successful tech lead you must also know how to manage people, including: clients, project teams, other colleagues and your bosses.

But guess what, every single one of these people are individuals and yet consistently we try to apply blanket rules to their ‘type’ and consider our people management skills complete. In this presentation, as well as explaining how he personally recruits and manages teams, Sam also posits that we should increase our awareness of the specific differences in people and adjust our views and behaviours accordingly when it comes to managing and working with other human beings.

ABOUT SAM BARNES

Sam is the Development Team Manager at Venntro. Although a little short for a Stormtrooper, he can be found writing at thesambarnes.com, a blog dedicated to digital project and team management.

Transcript

1. PEOPLE ARE WEIRD,
   I’M WEIRD
   

   View Slide

2. @thesambarnes
   thesambarnes.com
   

   View Slide

3. View Slide

4. RUBY
   iOS
   QA
   DESIGN
   and
   MORE
   venntro.com/careers
   WE’RE HIRING
   

   View Slide

5. View Slide

6. View Slide

7. View Slide

8. View Slide

9. View Slide

10. SAM
    Y U NO DO TALK YET?
    SHORT MAN
    

    View Slide

11. View Slide

12. View Slide

13. View Slide

14. View Slide

15. View Slide

16. View Slide

17. HIRING
    THE RIGHT PEOPLE
    

    View Slide

18. 1. BULLSHITTING CANDIDATES
    2. HIRING DOUCHEBAGS
    HIRING MISTAKES
    

    View Slide

19. View Slide

20. View Slide

21. 1. WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT WORKING HERE
    2. WHAT’S BAD ABOUT WORKING HERE
    I TELL CANDIDATES
    

    View Slide

22. WHY!?
    PEOPLE LOVE CANDOUR
    NO COMPANY IS PERFECT
    PEOPLE EXPECT BULLSHIT
    

    View Slide

23. 1. THAT VALUE HONESTY
    2. WHO ARE WISE
    I WANT TO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO MY TEAM
    

    View Slide

24. 10 Work somewhere for a while, annoyed
    20 Get frustrated at a few things
    30 Hear others whinging about all the things
    40 Try to change all the things
    50 PRINT “CV”
    60 Leave and work where things appear to be fixed
    70 Honeymoon period and all the things are fixed
    80 Start to notice some things
    90 Things that were ok at last place are broken here
    100 GOTO 10
    

    View Slide

25. View Slide

26. BULLSHIT IS POINTLESS
    FOR CANDIDATES, CLIENTS, TEAMS & BOSSES
    IN THE LONG RUN
    

    View Slide

27. You're not perfect, sport,
    and let me save you the
    suspense: this girl you've
    met, she's not perfect
    either.
    But the question is
    whether or not you're
    perfect for each other.
    Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting
    “
    

    View Slide

28. The honesty. It started at my interview
    and never stopped.
    I’m really grateful that my boss is
    always honest with me. I think it rubs
    off on the whole team and means that
    there’s a great environment of mutual
    respect.
    Josh Hill
    “
    

    View Slide

29. NEVER HIRE DOUCHEBAGS
    EVEN IF REALLY TALENTED
    DOUCHE TEST
    THE
    TM
    

    View Slide

30. Testing is a task.
    Quality is an attitude.
    Rob Smith, MD at Blueleaf
    “
    

    View Slide

31. ASSHOLE
    DOUCHEBAG =
    

    View Slide

32. I don't care how
    good your engineer
    is, if they’re an
    asshole, fire them.
    Nathen Harvey,
    Tech Community Manager at Chef
    “
    

    View Slide

33. TEAM
    BONDING
    

    View Slide

34. It’s funny cos we’re freaks of nature.
    “
    ”
    

    View Slide

35. View Slide

36. TEAM
    BONDING
    TEAM CHARTERS
    

    View Slide

37. 1. CHOOSE A NAME
    2. CHOOSE A LOGO
    3. WHAT THE TEAM SHOULD BE
    4. WHAT THE TEAM BELIEVE IN
    TEAM CHARTER
    

    View Slide

38. View Slide

39. SHOULD BE
    PROUD
    HAPPY
    LEARNING
    EVOLVING
    ADAPTABLE
    TEAM BOLT
    BELIEVE IN
    COMMUNICATING
    BEST PRACTICE
    SUPPORTING
    POSITIVITY
    TEACHING
    

    View Slide

40. TEAM
    MONITORING
    TEAM RADAR
    

    View Slide

41. View Slide

42. INTROVERTS&
    EXTROVERTS
    

    View Slide

43. View Slide

44. View Slide

45. View Slide

46. View Slide

47. 1. BORING
    2. UNSOCIABLE
    3. MISERABLE
    THINGS I’M CALLED
    4. HOBBIT
    

    View Slide

48. View Slide

49. View Slide

50. I WAS JUDGING WHAT
    NORMAL WAS
    USING ME
    AS THE BENCHMARK
    FOR NORMAL
    

    View Slide

51. IF YOU’RE NOT LIKE ME
    YOU’RE WEIRD!
    

    View Slide

52. View Slide

53. View Slide

54. INTROVERTS VS. EXTROVERTS
    NOTHING TO DO WITH
    HOW WE LOOK OR ACT
    EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HOW
    WE REACT TO STIMULATION AND
    RECHARGE OUR ENERGY LEVELS
    

    View Slide

55. Extroverts really crave large
    amounts of stimulation,
    whereas introverts feel at
    their most alive, their most
    switched-on and their most
    capable when they’re in
    quieter, more low-key
    environments.
    Susan Cain, The Power of Introverts
    “
    

    View Slide

56. View Slide

57. View Slide

58. 1. NO ONE IS A PURE INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT
    2. AMBIVERTS HAVE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
    3. BEING AN INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT IS OK
    4. INTROVERSION HAS A NEGATIVE PERCEPTION
    5. EXTROVERSION HAS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
    6. 1 IN 3 PEOPLE ARE INTROVERTED
    7. INTROVERTS ARE IN THE MINORITY
    INTROVERTS VS. EXTROVERTS
    

    View Slide

59. FAMOUS INTROVERTS
    

    View Slide

60. View Slide

61. CULTURE OF PERSONALITY
    CULTURE OF CHARACTER
    CULTURE OF CHARACTER
    

    View Slide

62. 19TH CENTURY
    CULTURE OF CHARACTER
    INTEGRITY
    DUTY
    WORK
    HONOR
    REPUTATION
    MORALS
    CITIZENSHIP
    MANNERS
    20TH CENTURY
    CULTURE OF PERSONALITY
    MAGNETIC
    FASCINATING
    STUNNING
    ATTRACTIVE
    GLOWING
    DOMINANT
    FORCEFUL
    ENERGETIC
    

    View Slide

63. RETICULAR
    ACTIVATING
    SYSTEM
    (RAS)
    

    View Slide

64. In our test, the introverts produced 50% more
    saliva than the extroverts.
    BBC Science: Human Body and Mind
    “
    

    View Slide

65. View Slide

66. View Slide

67. View Slide

68. View Slide

69. END BIT
    THE
    

    View Slide

70. View Slide

71. Psychology is a science based profession and is
    the study of people; how they think, how they
    act, react and interact. It’s concerned with all
    aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings
    and motivation underlying them.
    NHS Careers website
    “
    

    View Slide

72. Team management is a profession where it’s
    important to study people; how they think, how
    they act, react and interact. It’s concerned with all
    aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings
    and motivation underlying them.
    Errrrrr, me
    “
    

    View Slide

73. View Slide

74. View Slide

75. View Slide

76. THANK YOU
    venntro.com/careers
    WE’RE HIRING
    

    View Slide

77. @thesambarnes
    thesambarnes.com
    

    View Slide

78. Verify designed by Charlene Chen from the Noun Project
    E.T. and Elliot by Chris Simpson Artist (come on aliens xox)
    Earth designed by David Marioni from the Noun Project
    People designed by Wilson Joseph from the Noun Project
    People designed by Reza Mostmand from the Noun Project
    Office designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
    Home designed by Andrew Fortnum from the Noun Project
    Pie Chart designed by James Keuning from the Noun Project
    Clock designed by Chris Thoburn from the Noun Project
    Assessment designed by Duke Innovation from the Noun Project
    Mirror designed by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
    Clientron 2000 by Work Wankers
    Anatomy of a Graphic Designer by Glantz Design
    Conversation designed by Márcio Duarte from the Noun Project
    Magnet designed by Mister Pixel from the Noun Project
    Poop designed by Isabel Foo from the Noun Project
    Rob Smith, Running a Successful Project Team
    Rock n Roll designed by Matthew Mitchell from the Noun Project
    Butt designed by Cards Against Humanity from the Noun Project
    Barometer designed by Jakub Ukrop from the Noun Project
    CREDITSloth
    Link designed by Matthew Exton from the Noun Project
    Bacon designed by Tom Glass from the Noun Project
    Deep Web by Matt Brooks from the Noun Project
    Scroll designed by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project
    Radar designed by Harold Weaver from the Noun Project
    Calendar designed by Juan Garces from the Noun Project
    Angry designed by Xenia Tay from the Noun Project
    Monkey designed by Zille Bostinius from the Noun Project
    Susan Cain, The Power of Introverts TED Talk
    Ying Yang designed by Renee Passmore from the Noun Project
    Question designed by SuperAtic LABS from the Noun Project
    Protest designed by by Iconathon from the Noun Project
    E Learning designed by Attilio Baghino from the Noun Project
    Meeting designed by Ainsley Wagoner from the Noun Project
    Hierarchy designed by Murali Krishna from the Noun Project
    Css designed by Gabriela Rodríguez from the Noun Project
    Group Think designed by Jose Morbán from the Noun Project
    Doctor designed by Yazmin Alanis from the Noun Project
    Hour Glass designed by Sherrinford from the Noun Project
    Happy designed by Tobias F. Wolf from the Noun Project
    

    View Slide