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In the Classroom

QUESTIONS AND TIPS

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Tips: Welcome

  1. How is your development team performing?

    1. My Engineers are protecting their work and not sharing
      There are two reasons for this, neither is appropriate.  First, it is the fun bit and they want to keep it, not fair and they know it.  Second, protecting their job by being critical to the business.  Engineers are logical, they know a business cannot become dependent on one person, they know if someone did it to them they would object, They already agree with you.

    2. My expert is bogged down because he / she is the only person who can do most things
      A slippery slope, the more it is allowed to happen the harder it will be to correct.  The answer is that you have to take a chance, pass the problem, with authority, to someone else and they will have to learn.  This is a risk, but the sooner you act the lower the risk will be.

    3. My people don’t seem to understand what I am looking for
      The typical mistake is to expect to tell people what you want and think that this will ever be clear.  You must provide a continuous feedback loop, get them to explain, to demonstrate and the understanding to evolve.  Remember both parties are responsible for good communication.

    4. My team disappear down black holes and I cannot see what they are doing
      This is really bad news.  Assuming that you demonstrate an interest in knowing what is happening then the likely problem is that your team think the problem is too difficult to explain.  In my view this is wrong, always.  Before starting explore ways of getting feedback, demonstrations are typical.  The cost of adding time to create demonstrations is far smaller than the cost of lost time due to doing the wrong thing, insist upon it.

    5. We are really good at delivering perfect results but it takes a long time
      A robust, future proofed, high quality product or solution may not be right for your business now.  But building up technical debt must be a decision not an accident, share and debate the risks and agree the strategy.  Never just try to do more in the same time, that is the same as accidently adding technical debt and will cost you, probably in the short term.

    6. We never seem to finish, there is always one more thing.
      Consider time to release as part of the requirement, what are you prepared to delay the release for, what features can you remove.  This is the minimum viable product discussion.  But be ruthless and honest, don’t think that secretly keeping a few features back is a good plan.  Your team will want to deliver the best product, but they must know what the means to the business.  And follow the rules, get the MVP ready, completely, first.

    7. Testing at the end finds a lot of problems and causes delays and rework
      Testing at the end is already a failure, testing must be continuous and built into to prototypes and demonstration material from the very early parts of a development.  It is also valuable to share the “testing” with the customer, but make them understand that this needs to be incremental, a product will be built in steps and they need to give feedback in those steps.

    8. There is no product roadmap
      The goal is to have common purpose, a roadmap is one of many ways to achieve that.  You might want to feel your ways forwards introducing ideas as the need becomes apparent.  But it is dangerous to lose sight of direction, a shared vision of the future is essential, even if you change it a lot.  Maintain and share a view of what good will look like.

  2. How are your customer relationships?

    1. My customers are very demanding and I cannot deliver everything they ask for
      Start thinking of customers as partners, what you are offering them is a product or service that is more effective for you to deliver then for them to do themselves.  You need to build an open relationship where the point of mutual benefit is reasonably clear.  A customer that expects you to work with no margin, but would not do the same for their customers is not worth having, but they are rare, this problem usually arises through lack of transparency.

    2. My team is frustrated by my customers and it shows in the relationship
      Don’t forget that you and your team are the experts, but if the customer does not trust that then they will challenge everything.  It is your responsibility to demonstrate that you know what you are doing, and have their interests at heart.  Spend more time answering their questions and allaying their fears to build up that trust.

  3. Are you being managed well?

    1. I am micromanaged
      You must ensure that you agree the goals with your manager, the end not the journey.  What good looks like.  You have a right to know that, after all it is what you should be measured against.  The process, the detail, is there to help you deliver the goals, good should never be defined as following the process.  But, respect the experience and value your manager adds, pull from them before they start pushing.

    2. No one trusts me to do my job
      Part of doing your job is to be seen to be doing your job, delivering is not enough.  Say what you are going to do, do it, and immediately declare if it is not happening.  Trust is built through transparency and ensuring that is your job not your managers.  But you do have a right to be listened to, within reason you should demand an audience.

    3. My manager ignores me and my ideas are overlooked
      There are always one or two loud voices.  If you want to present an idea you should prepare, make sure it is concise and clear.  And I suggest you work as a team, the unheard should support each other, “sorry I missed your idea can you repeat it”, “I like what you said, let me just confirm I have understood”.

    4. Every idea comes from the company owner, nothing else counts
      Owners often have strong visions and are very determined, however they will recognise that a business is all the weaker for lack of diverse input.  Make sure you seek to understand before you interject, question for clarity of objective.  Then make sure you present your ideas linked to your understanding of what they want.  Focus less on the detail of the idea and more on why it meets the objective.

    5. I spend too much of my time reporting progress and dealing with admin and processes
      Remember the goals of the business, are you sure that what you are being asked to do is not in line with those?  Are you legally required to do something, does it enable another team?  If you can see a better way of reaching the goals then present that, criticism is only valuable with alternatives.  You have a right to be heard, demand that, if you have a plan to add value.

    6. They are constantly changing the rules, nothing is ever stable
      Don’t look for stability, look to be the driver of change.  Remember that there is always a better way to do something, mistakes happen when the wrong person drives the change.  Implement a strategy for constant improvement in your work or team and ensure it is open and demonstrating its value.

Tips: Text

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