Last week, I wrote an article, Top 10 Things You Should Never Say To Your Boss. This week, I am writing the other side of the coin and focusing on the team owners and what they should not say to their developers.
I've been working in the software industry for 17 years. Most of the points discussed here are based on my personal experience. The article is written for business owners, project owners, technical managers, team leaders and seniors who manage a team of developers.
One thing worth mentioning is that most bosses have bosses. If an employee is trying to do something that is in the best interests of the boss's employer it is actually the boss that should obey the employee. That is of course an over-simplification; it is a general concept, not a rule.
Here is a list of my things not to say to a developer.
I don't have time for this.
So you're busy and you really don't have time for your developer. I suggest you find some time. By not giving time enough to your developer, you're actually hurting the project and hence yourself.
There are many possible solutions. A really good boss is creative, flexible and open to alternatives. One solution is to get it in writing and when you do, give it the attention it deserves. It could be that a developer has already tried to communicate in writing. If so and you tell them you do not have time then that leaves the employee without a reasonable solution. The problem might be personal or the problem might be a problem for the company, either way ignoring it has consequences.
Just do it the way I like it
Coding is not food. Your taste does not matter as long as the developer is doing his/her job. These days, the technology and features are being released rapidly. You should encourage your developers to adapt the latest features, trends and technologies that benefit the organization and project. It is your responsibility to know what is best and that is not easy to do. You need to analyze the costs and benefits of the latest features, trends and technologies. It is reasonable to restrain developers from using something just because it is new but it can also be a mistake to avoid converting to something new. The longer you delay implementing something new, the more it could cost to do the conversion.
One of my long time clients asked me to review one of his projects. I met the architect and the tech lead of the project and started the code review. The project was developed using .NET 4.5 and Visual Studio 2013 but what I saw was the developers still using coding that complied with .NET 1.1 and 2.0. I questioned the architect and he replied, this is the way like it. We've been doing this for a long time. It is easy to understand. The problem is that the longer they delay developing code using the latest capabilities, the more it will cost to convert when it becomes necessary.
Just leave it. I will do it.
In my early days, I made this mistake myself. Sometimes to move things faster, you end up doing it yourself. I suggest you stop that. To scare your development and grow your organization and team, you must know how to train your developers. I know it can be very frustrating from time to time but for the long run, it will actually help you.
One of the key attributes of a good leader is an ability to create his/her own replacement. In software development, as a project owner, you must consider “what if”. What if I am sick tomorrow?
We use computers to do as much of the detailed work as possible. The philosophy is that it frees us to do the things that computers cannot do. You need to delegate to your employees everything they can do so it frees you to do the things that they cannot.
Also avoid keeping the fun stuff for you to do yourself. Employees are likely to resent that.
You're taking too much time
You must determine why a developer is taking more time than your expectations. There must be a valid reason behind it. If the developer is not skilled, it is your job to find a replacement. If a developer is not motivated, it is your job to figure out why. Again, it all falls on you. All of that can of course be difficult to do. It is easy to avoid doing it. A common way to avoid doing it is to blame the developer for not getting the work done on time and when that is done to avoid finding problems, there are consequences.
Your projects will proceed much more smoothly if you are realistic about the time required. Setting unrealistic deadlines might get the work done on time but end up being very costly later. Employers need to attempt to employ developers that are able to make reasonable estimates that can be relied on. If however a deadline is used because the employer thinks the employee is not productive then that is a problem. The ideal is to have a trustworthy employee that is trusted.
One suggestion is to maintain a record of estimates compared to actual times, especially if that is done for many developers and many projects. There are software systems and other methodologies available to help get other opinions of time estimates.
He can do faster than you
Everybody has their own pace. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some people are fast and some are perfectionists. Some are slow but workhorses. When you hire a new employee, it is your job to determine their pace and skills and maximize what they are capable of.
Be careful about judging an employee as being faster if they only seem faster because they put in more hours. Longer hours might seem to be an advantage but it is not necessarily an advantage. If for example a developer actually puts in more hours to get something done faster then it might be a symptom of carelessness if they must do a lot of testing. An extended amount of time spent testing could result in costlier maintenance in the future if the testing begins with buggier code. It is your responsibility to determine what applies.
Do it now
Yes it is very difficult not to say this. Trust me, I've been a developer. I have worked under projects. I have managed teams and projects and now I am managing companies. There are many times, I want things now.
But I know, I am wrong. Sometimes things can't be done now.
Think of it in terms of the amount of time spent switching gears from one thing to another. You should assume that asking a developer to do something that takes 10 minutes will take an hour away from something else. That is not a problem if it is done once and/or when it is important enough but the cost could accumulate if done carelessly.
Can you use a template or this is really simple
Oh, this one pisses me off. This does not apply to a technical person. This usually comes from amateur business owners who do not understand software at all. I hear this a lot from non-technical business owners.
Oh yea, if it's that simple, why can't you do it yourself?
A student can do it
You've just not only insultated your developer, but you've also demoralized him/her. Reality is, no a student can't do it. That's why you hired an experienced developer and pay lot more than you would pay a student.
Summary
In this article, I talked about some things you should not say to a developer. I am sure you have your own list. I would like to get your feedback and your items that you don't want your boss or other people to say.
Authors: Mahesh Chand and Sam Hobbs
Hamid KhanPosted Apr 13, 2017, 1:03 AM
It will help to move career into next level
Amit KumarPosted Apr 12, 2017, 1:44 AM
Really awesome article .Thank you so much Sir.
Kumari ReenaPosted Mar 30, 2017, 3:04 AM
Very good article Sir and the best line in your response is – ‘Keep working hard. Keep learning. The one secret to success.’
Satish Kumar VadlavalliPosted Mar 29, 2017, 1:12 AM
Worth reading, nice share Mahesh:)
Ankit MishraPosted Mar 25, 2017, 2:12 AM
Really good i believe everyone should read this :)
Kaviya BalasubramanianPosted Mar 23, 2017, 2:26 AM
One of the best Article, Thank you so much for this :)
Prabhat MauryaPosted Mar 21, 2017, 2:57 AM
Truth has been spoken again... :). This article will really help developers to be good future leaders.
Vignesh ManiPosted Mar 14, 2017, 4:57 PM
Good One Sir. Thank you so much.
Sachin ChourasiaPosted Mar 14, 2017, 5:47 AM
The Real truth...One of my company boss shouted at me "Earn 10 lakh Rs. for the company, then i pay you 10 k , if one project is completed, then start new, work hard, i pay u for the work, why r u taking rest,talented people are searching for job & u r taking rest@#$%#%$^$%&%&*%^ ".
SubashPosted Mar 13, 2017, 11:58 PM
Your right sir, when I read this article, what I feel means we should not get any of this words from by boss because it really frustrate.So i take a key to reduce my mistake and focus on improve myself
Tk MahantaPosted Mar 13, 2017, 4:39 AM
Perfect Point to be Always ...
Venkateswaran SPosted Mar 9, 2017, 11:48 PM
Yup i feel like relaxing .....by your words
Gakenh01Posted Mar 9, 2017, 3:34 PM
I've heard most of these from my worst managers. This is very valuable if you are or ever aspire to become a lead or a manager.
Guest UserPosted Mar 9, 2017, 6:11 AM
Some learning for me in this :) I use few things.
Hemanth KumarPosted Mar 8, 2017, 11:45 PM
I'm laughing out loud :) all these lines really frustrate me. Well articulated. i just shared the pic with all my colleagues and they forwarded it to our manager :)
Vakeel MansooriPosted Jul 5, 2016, 7:44 AM
Nice sir
Ramakrishna BasagallaPosted Jan 4, 2016, 11:56 AM
Nice one Sir
Abhishek KumarPosted Oct 22, 2015, 1:24 PM
Nice sir..
Sibeesh VenuPosted Oct 21, 2015, 1:12 AM
Nice Share Sir
Mohammed IbrahimPosted Oct 20, 2015, 11:00 PM
nice
Priyaranjan K SPosted Oct 20, 2015, 12:29 PM
Thats a great list
Nilesh JadavPosted Oct 20, 2015, 11:32 AM
Good share sir !!
Humayun Kabir MamunPosted Oct 20, 2015, 6:07 AM
Nice...
Harshad PansuriyaPosted Oct 20, 2015, 4:01 AM
Great
Tom MohanPosted Feb 27, 2015, 11:47 AM
Great one
Prasham SabadraPosted Feb 23, 2015, 5:09 AM
Thanks! Nice Article.
Ehtesham MehmoodPosted Jan 2, 2015, 5:33 PM
Practical approach (y)
TwostepdevelopersPosted Dec 28, 2014, 3:43 PM
incouraging person...thank you so much...
Amit SagpariyaPosted Dec 28, 2014, 7:37 AM
Ya you have written such a nice information i am totally agree with you.
Deepak Kumar JenaPosted Dec 16, 2014, 8:06 AM
Really practical thing
Mahesh ChandPosted Dec 15, 2014, 11:44 PM
Thank you guys!
Krishna Rajput SinghPosted Dec 15, 2014, 5:11 PM
nice article sir
Hima BinduPosted Dec 14, 2014, 3:13 AM
One of my friend had the Worst Manager in her career who does all those things and extremely harassed and traumatized her in a leading software Jaint Company ( I do not want to mention name as I still love and respect the org) , When she took this issue to management they made her scapegoat. She has gone to the state of depression due to this mental torture. This is how corporate politics in India works! instead of looking at success of the org. The Learning from him is what not do to the team or others . Now she runs her own business successfully and stood as an example.
Sivaranjani SundarrajPosted Dec 12, 2014, 7:16 AM
Nice Article.............thanks lot sir
Asif KhanPosted Dec 12, 2014, 4:40 AM
thumbs up
Phillip CheekPosted Dec 12, 2014, 4:39 AM
I would add the question "How's it going ?". This is just sheer laziness on behalf of whoever is asking. If they want a progress report, it's up to them to work out a metric they can use to measure progress, specifically ask for information relating to this metric, and then let you get on and continue doing the job.
sivaji vanaPosted Dec 11, 2014, 7:32 AM
it's gud ...... tnq sir
Sam HobbsPosted Dec 10, 2014, 9:01 PM
There is an American TV show "Undercover Boss" where a boss (a CEO or high-level boss like that) goes undercover in his or her own company. It is done with large companies that the employees (hopefully) do not recognize the boss. The reason I mention it here is because the boss always finds things that is a problem. (I am surprised that bosses find problems this way that they did not know about in a more normal way but that is a different topic.) I wonder if something like that is done in other countries. There might be a lot of opportunity for that in other countries too. In fact, I have heard that the Undercover Boss show will be international for 2015 but I won't dwell on that here. I think one reason people enjoy watching Undercover Boss is that we get to see good employees that complain about a problem and they get recognized for being right. If you can watch Undercover Boss over the internet then I think it is relevant here.
Mahesh ChandPosted Dec 10, 2014, 8:15 AM
Thank you, all. I would love to see more real-work examples you guys may have faced that you didn't like or did like and get a feel of real programmers dealing with real problems and solutions. Cheers!
Suganth JakePosted Dec 9, 2014, 11:22 PM
Fact Fact Fact.....!!! Must follow.....
Michal HabalcikPosted Dec 9, 2014, 7:06 AM
love that infographic
Bolaji LawalPosted Dec 9, 2014, 3:28 AM
This great article.. Thanks for sharing :)
Jeetendra GundPosted Dec 8, 2014, 6:49 AM
Good one Sir..Thanks for sharing
Raghavendra UPosted Dec 7, 2014, 11:37 PM
I'm a senior developer, I faced some things mentioned in article. It will help me when I have to manage some one. Very nice article sir.
Saineshwar BageriPosted Dec 7, 2014, 5:18 AM
nice one sir
Vikram AgrawalPosted Dec 5, 2014, 10:58 PM
Really true...
Nimit JoshiPosted Dec 5, 2014, 8:00 AM
Very Nice Article sir..
Blocked AccountPosted Dec 5, 2014, 12:35 AM
Mahesh Chand Sir, Thanks for sharing your experience. But i want to know one thing. How to deal with such developer, who really slow and don't give concentration on his work.
Vithal WadjePosted Dec 5, 2014, 12:27 AM
great,this is the real examples and this is happening,thanks for these type of advices
Ck NitinPosted Dec 5, 2014, 12:01 AM
Very elegantly and comprehensively describe each points, I really like the picture of annoyed coder. As per my personal experience in some cases, some of the above points may encourage the coder for self motivation and create a zeal in developer to do hard and smart work and come back with flying colors. I must say "The picture of a cat's stomach is best taken by the consumed rat." well its jokes apart, In other words "A Roman knows the situation in Rome" ;)
Suresh MPosted Dec 4, 2014, 11:20 PM
Excellent Article .Everyone Should Read.Thank you Mahesh sir.....
Sandeep Singh ShekhawatPosted Dec 4, 2014, 11:11 PM
I am not a senior developer but it would be helped me in future. Thanks for sharing this one. nice one!!
Mahesh ChandPosted Dec 4, 2014, 9:13 PM
Yes we would love to get some real experience you may have faced with examples
Chandradev PrasadPosted Dec 4, 2014, 1:42 PM
Nice article. All scrap project manager should have to read this article then their eye will open. 90% developer used to change their job due to the scarp manager or boss.
Ramchand RepallePosted Dec 4, 2014, 1:08 PM
Excellent well written article. I hope even though its not much easy to stop at a glance mostly like (Do it Now, Just leave it, i will do it). But definitely after reading this article when they used these words they can definitely got to remember all other points also mentioned by you. This article guides all level of peoples (Developers, TL, PM etc...) at current or for future references.
Lakshmanan Sethu SankaranarayanPosted Dec 4, 2014, 12:28 PM
excellent guide to all project managers!! thank youMahesh Chand