Tod1d's Thought Process

Article

Motivating software developers

Author

Bjørn Erik Haug

Description

As the title states, this article is about how to motivate software developers. I would tend to agree with the majority of it. One thing I might add is "Give the developer a sense of empowerment". What do I mean by that?

If a developer/group of developers is able to intelligently defend a reason for not putting a feature into place, allow him/them to say "no" to that feature. It would take some getting used to by the portion of your company that makes feature requests, but in the end, it would give the developer(s) more pride in their work and a greater sense of "ownership".

Favorite Quote(s):

"Being allowed to finish one piece of functionality before starting something new is a good way to achieve quality. By letting me focus on one thing at a time, and by demanding that it must be both tested and documented before I can call it complete, I can make something that I can take pride in."

I have finished reading Getting Real by 37Signals (Basecamp, Backpack, Ta-da List). I really liked it. It looks at web application development from a small business point of view. Their team consists of 8 people spread across 7 different time zones. The authors have a very refreshing perspective. It is good to see a book that targets web application development by small bands of entrepreneurs.

You can check out the book here and download four free sample chapters.

Check it out.