Go Back
Posted by: Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 12/10/2008 9:36:44 AM
Frank Kelly has published some good ideas about how to motivate developers. If you manage programmers, you will find it valuable.
I think one of the things vastly overlooked in some large, complex corporate environments is the drag that non-programming activities can have on productivity. In my experience, the more busy work to be done (meetings, status reports, team-building exercises, etc.), the more productivity can take a major hit.
What many don't realize is that it isn't just the time these activities take that suck the productivity from the programmer. It is also the illogical aspects of some of these things that can push developers to a mental state where they have trouble completing their programming tasks. This is because programmers tend to be logical and rational. The more management adds layers of minutia on top of the actual work in an attempt to figure out why a project is behind schedule or verify productivity or whatever, the more de-motivated a programmer will become, because they see the precious hours for completing real tasks diminished. Programming is primarily a thinking job - if the developer has trouble focusing the inevitable result is a decrease in productivity.
Category:
Tags: Think like a geek
Name:
Email (optional):
Your URL (optional):
Comment:
Type the code shown
Top 5 Programmers to Avoid
What everyone should know about bugs
How to tell if an estimate sucks
The Secret to Building a Crappy User Interface
The Problem with Selecting the Lowest Bidder
5 Ways to Control Software Development Costs
As someone with over 20 years of software development experience and currently a small business owner, it has been a pleasure working with Avonelle. In addition to being a talented developer, Avonelle also has database expertise and system design skills. Avonelle is open minded and willing to discuss various methodologies for achieving a project goal. She is also not afraid to ask questions which is vital in a software development project. Her up-front project cost (not estimate) is very helpful in budgeting for a project.
--Dwayne Wolterstorff, Owner @ Fair
Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS