Real geeks die early
norbu09.org
Real geeks die early
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Re: Real geeks die early
#2I am making a transition from being a developer to a manager these days. I consider myself a passionate developer, and hence I never thought twice about spending time beyond 9-5 and getting a job done (as it made me happy). Now that I am a manager, I am working with multiple resources, some of which like to work for work's sake, some are good resources that will only work 9-5, and some losers that won't get a good job done at all.
Could someone explain how they manage people who won't
a)estimate right when given the chance,
b) understand the criticality of the deadlines,
c) put in a fair 40 hr/week if the deadline is still a month away (i.e. start missing internal milestones from day one),
d) not escalate/be concerned unless you probe them etc?
Re: Real geeks die early
#3I am making a transition from being a developer to a manager these days. I consider myself a passionate developer, and hence I never thought twice about spending time beyond 9-5 and getting a job done (as it made me happy). Now that I am a manager, I am working with multiple resources, some of which like to work for work's sake, some are good resources that will only work 9-5, and some losers that won't get a good jo…
> I am working with multiple resources,
First step: stop calling people "resources"
Re: Real geeks die early
#4Apparently so do their shift keys.
Re: Real geeks die early
#5I am making a transition from being a developer to a manager these days. I consider myself a passionate developer, and hence I never thought twice about spending time beyond 9-5 and getting a job done (as it made me happy). Now that I am a manager, I am working with multiple resources, some of which like to work for work's sake, some are good resources that will only work 9-5, and some losers that won't get a good jo…
> I am working with multiple resources, First step: stop calling people "resources"
Second step: stop referring to people as "which". "which" is for things, "who" is for people.
Replying to param, but don't want to spam another comment:
> "b) understand the criticality of the deadlines,"
Why is the deadline critical? For whom? What is the programmer's stake in this deadline, and do your people feel like they have been treated fairly?
To answer the first part, ask yourself seriously: what happens if we don't hit this deadline? Does it truly impact the company and/or team, or does it impact you?
I've seen many a time when deadlines are touted as hyper-critical, but have minimal actual business impact. They were hyper-critical because it was critical for the manager to get it done on-time, otherwise he/she looks bad. This is not something I would normally presume about a manager, but you've already demonstrated some misguided overly corporate buzzword-notions in your post.
I personally am much more likely to trust my manager's prioritization of tasks (and thus, deadlines) when I feel that he is looking out for the team (or hell, the company) rather than himself.
Re: Real geeks die early
#6I am making a transition from being a developer to a manager these days. I consider myself a passionate developer, and hence I never thought twice about spending time beyond 9-5 and getting a job done (as it made me happy). Now that I am a manager, I am working with multiple resources, some of which like to work for work's sake, some are good resources that will only work 9-5, and some losers that won't get a good jo…
> I am working with multiple resources, First step: stop calling people "resources"
heh, sure. I see how my comment is coming off as bitchy and is being downmodded. However, I am genuinely curious. There are people in my team that are currently just working 9-5. There is one guy who is working nights and weekends because he likes it, and then there is one guy that's working (productivity wise) 25-30 hrs a week while missing internal milestones.
Its frustrating to be in my place, because I feel sad for the nightouter when he picks up for the third guy
Re: Real geeks die early
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I am working with multiple resources, First step: stop calling people "resources"
Second step: stop referring to people as "which". "which" is for things, "who" is for people. Replying to param, but don't want to spam another comment: > "b) understand the criticality of the deadlines," Why is the deadline critical? For whom? What is the programmer's stake in this deadline, and do your people feel like they have been treated fairly? To answer the first part, ask yourself seriously: what happens if…
sorry - English is not my first language. (Not fixing the comment to keep yours relevant)
I think my question is being taken the wrong way. Let me try asking again: I have work X to get done. I have a team member who I would like to work on this. I ask them to estimate the work, validate the estimates and then track against the same. In the weekly status calls, if they are behind schedule, can not give a justifiable reason for being behind (like personal reasons, unexpected technical complexity, hardware issues); how does the group manage?
Re: Real geeks die early
#8Apparently so do their shift keys.
And their kerning.
EDIT: Yep, http://norbu09.org/css/screen.css:
#content p {
line-height: 140%;
letter-spacing: -0.03em;
}Re: Real geeks die early
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I am working with multiple resources, First step: stop calling people "resources"
heh, sure. I see how my comment is coming off as bitchy and is being downmodded. However, I am genuinely curious. There are people in my team that are currently just working 9-5. There is one guy who is working nights and weekends because he likes it, and then there is one guy that's working (productivity wise) 25-30 hrs a week while missing internal milestones. Its frustrating to be in my place, because I feel sad f…
> "because I feel sad for the nightouter when he picks up for the third guy"
Why not talk to the night-coder? The best bosses I have ever had were the ones who actively told me to work less. It's so rare to hear that in our industry that you may just earn yourself some real loyalty.
[edit] To clarify: the guy not pulling his weight is IMHO a separate issue from the guy who works at night. If the guy not pulling his weight is forcing other people to work more though, by all means don't let that happen. Then you have two problems on your hands instead of one.
Re: Real geeks die early
#10I am making a transition from being a developer to a manager these days. I consider myself a passionate developer, and hence I never thought twice about spending time beyond 9-5 and getting a job done (as it made me happy). Now that I am a manager, I am working with multiple resources, some of which like to work for work's sake, some are good resources that will only work 9-5, and some losers that won't get a good jo…
a) Nobody can be "given" the chance to estimate accurately. Either you already know the code and know exactly what you're going to do, or you're just guessing, hoping that the task will prove similar to something you've done in the past.
b) People are used to being lied to about criticality, and "understanding" the criticality of deadlines is usually code for working extra hard to compensate for planning mistakes, unplanned work, or other people's mistakes. The willingness of developers to work unpaid overtime to meet deadlines should be marveled at and appreciated. It's not like we're respected as professional-class people (doctors, lawyers, etc.) We're just "resources" who are usually suckers enough to work unpaid overtime when needed. Don't complain when we actually do the sensible thing and leave at 6pm.
c) Putting in a fair work week and hitting internal milestones "from day one" are not the same thing.
d) Good managers stay in touch. It's part of the job. Just accept it.