I used to write about LINQ and writing code and other developer stuff. That was back when I got to write code for a living.
My role on my current project started out as a lead developer role but has since morphed into non-coding architect/project manager. I have to admit that I got a little sad when I took my name off of the feature wall because I had worked on one feature in the last 3 months. But that’s life in the consulting world, and even though I’m not writing as much code as I used to, I’m still having fun and I’m still learning a lot.
We just went live with our first release last week and it was a really big deal at the client site. It was a big deal for me too since this is the first time I have been in charge of a project. Having a solid development team has made the whole process pretty painless, but I feel like what has made me successful personally are things that I’ve learned over time on previous projects.
Maintaining realistic expectations is crucial
Probably the worst thing that I can do is not be realistic. We have to give the business a realistic expectation of what we can get done and in how much time we will get it done. I have to be realistic with how much stuff I tell myself that I can get done myself and how much I need to delegate to others. The project sponsors need to be realistic with the rest of the business and not promise them something that is not realistic (this is done really well at the client that I’m at right now). I have to be realistic about how I balance work stuff and non-work stuff. In other words, don’t lie to others and don’t lie to yourself.
Estimating features is crucial
One of the most important things that I (and the rest of the development team) have to do is estimate how long features will take to complete. If we are unable to come up with accurate estimates, we’ll end up behind on our schedule, we’ll start to cheat on good development practices like unit testing, and the project will probably end up over budget. I’ve seen it happen many times.
The longer I’m in this business, the better I’m getting at estimating features. When I first started as a developer, I underestimated everything because I never considered all of the factors. On each project, I feel like I add a little more to my estimates. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that I’m becoming a slower developer!
Actually, what it means is that I’m learning everything that goes into completing a feature. When I first started estimating, I would just estimate the time it would take to complete the first pass at the feature. I never included the time that it will take to manually test the feature, write unit tests, fix the average number of bugs for that type of feature, design the feature with other developers, and even chase down requirements. All of those things affect how long it will take me to complete a feature.
People skills are crucial
You here this all the time, but it’s true. The reason I’m not writing code is that I spend a good portion of my day talking to people. On a normal day I might be chasing down requirements, making sure that the app is running OK in production, planning for future releases, working with the infrastructure team to make sure they can meet our needs, answering QA questions, helping out the training staff, helping other developers, discussing other projects, and sitting in numerous meetings. This is why I’m still having a lot of fun even though I don’t get to write code. I really enjoy working with people, and it’s even more fun when the people you are working with are doing a good job.
Part of my job is taking business requirements and translating them into technical requirements. The hardest part of doing this is that everyone speaks a different language. Every business has it’s own lingo, and every industry has it’s own lingo. Project managers, BAs, QA people, architects, developers, and DBAs each have their own lingo. So not only do I have to ask the right questions, I have to know how to interpret what someone else is saying and translate it into terms that someone else in another role can understand. I feel like I’m getting better at this, but it’s not easy.
Keeping everyone on the same page is of the utmost importance. Everything might be fine with our application, but if we broke someone else’s application in the process, we didn’t really succeed. So it’s my job to make sure that I know about everything and everyone involved in the process and then make sure that they feel and know that they are a part of the process.
That’s why I think it’s important to make people feel like they know me and feel like they are a part of my team. Otherwise, they won’t be as willing to work with us because they’ll probably feel like I’m being a burden to them. I would rather have them feel like they’re helping out a friend.
People skills apply to anything collaborative in life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a developer, an architect, a project manager, a football player, a student, a doctor, or a spouse. So don’t think that you can ignore this skill, because sooner or later you’re going to end up needing it.