yegor256 podcast

You can acquire a new team member by making a better offer. I mean money. But you can't keep them with money. To keep someone in the team, especially if this is a top performer, you need two things: 1) challenging tasks, and 2) objective appraisal. Both of them are only available to good and strong managers.

Video is here: https://youtu.be/bRXaMOJMJYk

Just working for a product, creating a product, and making your customers happy doesn't mean being good. It only means being successful, rich, or effective. It's a pretty selfish strategy. If you consider yourself as a "good" person (whatever it means), you should think about giving something to the community, for free.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/TM7RodFnRr4

Our special guest is Pim de Morree from https://corporate-rebels.com/

More about Pim: https://corporate-rebels.com/rebel/pim

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pim_de_morree

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pimdemorree/

The video is here: https://youtu.be/VXbi5TXMsrY

If you outsource part of your software development project to a third-party, you may think that the best type of contract to sign is Fixed-Price: you set the scope, they promise the time and price, they deliver, you check the quality, and you pay. It sounds right, but in reality, it'll be a disaster. Instead, always sign Time&Material contracts: you tell them how much resources you need, they give you a quote per hour, you manage them, they work for you, you pay every month. This is much more effective.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/xUALewcix44

It's your job as a manager in a software team — to identify wrong behavior and find ways to punish it. The best manager, of course, will configure the management system so that it will enforce the punishment. Average managers use guilt and emotions as tools for that. Bad managers are scared to even think about punishment.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/2lyz-CRGBwk

Most of us are so scared now of the word "punishment" that all types of mistakes made by programmers remain unnoticed, very often. I believe, there are many types of mistakes that have to be punished. Everybody will win: the project, the people, and our customers.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/zJ_PqlMcYcE

Many of us believe that competition is not something a software team may need. Moreover, competition may destroy a team killing morale and promoting conflicts. This may happen, but not because the competition is a bad idea, but due to the misconfiguration of its rules.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/TyHCjKOFsBo

The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2vUKqEgdys

Traditionally, you tell your team what needs to be done and then force them (or motivate) to do it. You basically try to make your plans their plans. It works sometimes in some industries, but doesn't work with us programmers: we are too spoiled and lazy. I suggest a better planning principle: you let your people decide how many awards they are going to earn and then build your plans on top of their selfish desires.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/vaFPNdNaOAY

Competition in a team works only if are ready to lose some part of your team, and very soon. If you don't want that to happen and your main objective is to keep the team intact and alive — competition will only do you a bad favor.