How to Keep Your Drupal Developers Happy and Inspired! Stanford DrupalCamp 2016
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How to Keep Your Drupal Developers
Happy and Inspired!
Stanford DrupalCamp 2016
● Developers are the lifeline of the business.● Open source software development is hard.● Unfortunately it can be easy to take a
developer's work for granted.
Facts
Common Issues
● Frustration with organizational bureaucratic necessities.
● Diminishing returns in mutual value.● Simple boredom.● Lack of accountability.
Common Issues
Hire the Right Developer for the Job
Be Organized
Developers as Problem Solvers.
What Makes Them Unhappy?
● Clueless Project Managers
● Low-level QA
● Data Entry
● Incomplete Information
● What makes YOU unhappy?
Obstacles to Good Rapport
Create a Culture of Awesomeness
● It’s not about free lunches and ping pong.
● Like attracts like.
● Ask your developer up front what style of
culture they enjoy.
● Create your own #FreedomFridays.
Creating Awesome
Make your Developers Feel Valued
● Provide a Fair Base Salary (duh).
● Involve them from the start!
● Appreciate their work.
● Show them the small ways in which you care
for them.
Recognizing Good Work
Be the Intelligent Meat Shield
● Ask them for reality, assume nothing.● NEVER throw them under the bus.● Be there at the 11th hour with them or when
they need you.● Communicate regularly. Find out about
blockers early and often and help them troubleshoot.
● Listen and learn from them.
The Good Project Manager
Detect and Avoid Burnout
● Make time for breaks, period. Force breaks!● Force developers to take vacation - or simply
unplug!● Set realistic timelines.● Don’t cry wolf - not everything can be ‘High
Priority” but when it is, they’ll believe you.
Encourage Balance
Flexible Work Schedule without Sacrificing
Client Service
● Night owls, early birds, they are all magical creatures - let them work when inspiration is at its best - as long as the work is consistently delivered on time and on budget.
● Support one another.● Communicate when you are on and offline.
Flexibility + Accountability = Trust
Build it and They Will Come
● Bored developers will leave or produce poor work or miss deadlines.
● Provide freedom to experiment and be creative.
● Ask what their work style is and try to accommodate.
Creating the Right Environment
Mental Vacation from Endured Stress
● Take a support vacation.● Take a client vacation.● Refocus on a different type of client or
project or pet project to take a mental break.
Dealing with Stress
Give Credit
● Figure out how your developers like to be recognized.
● Give them credit in front of clients, peers, and on social networks.
● Send a small token of your gratitude.● Do it in the heat of the moment, when
stress is the highest.
Positive Reinforcement
Listen to their Advice and Solutions
● They are not there to delay a release or undermine profits.
● They may have solutions to issues on projects they are on or for others on your team.
● Do not interrupt them. A million pings a day does not get the work done.
Developers as Partners
Educate the Client
● It goes back being an intelligent meat shield.
● Communicate roles and development processes to clients so they understand how developers work.
● Create realistic timelines and budgets that set everyone up for success.
The Project Manager - Part 2
Feed them Beer.Regularly
Do you think your developers are
unhappy?
● Hold a developer meeting to discuss issues.
● Look at internal policies and see if there are areas for improvement.
● Revisit and see what is working and what you may need to adjust or address new issues.
Troubleshooting Issues
Becoming the Developer People
Want to Keep
● Create trust● Communicate early and often● Are realistic - Don’t over promise but
keep their word. ● Are honest about their skill set.● Are flexible● Anticipate problems and offer solutions.
Good Developers
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