Kindness Is in the Small Gestures

Being kind isn’t about grand gestures. The small ones are the ones that are often the most appreciated.

Headphones

If your workplace is a dynamic, noisy environment, just buy your developer some headphones. At the very least, allow your developer to use headphones at the workplace. Programming is an activity that requires a lot of concentration. Keeping noise out and being able to focus is essential.

Leave your developer alone

Once you get your programmer headphones, stop the product manager from coming over to talk to your programmer every hour. Put processes into place so that all details for programming tasks, testing tasks, and required tasks are documented and ironed out in a meeting. Most companies just use a morning standup to check statuses and ask questions. This should be enough until weekly meetings.

Protect your developer’s “flow.”

Minimize health risks

A set of ergonomic seat cushions or an exercise ball are great ways to relieve the developer’s stress at sitting for long periods of time. At the same time, healthy food in the cafeteria and pantry and access to a sports gym are a must. Ask your programmer about their preferences for a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Then, get the right ones. Some developers prefer working on their laptops.

Improve ratios for diversity

Try to eliminate the “I’m the only one” scenario. If you hire one female programmer, then hire two. If you hire one minority programmer, then hire two. If you hire one offshore programmer, then hire two. It’s always better to have better ratios within the same team so that their social, cultural needs can be met.

Manage layoffs

Business is hard and sometimes there’s a need for layoffs or to hire on a cheaper workforce. Just call a staffing agency for the developer that you’re about to layoff. Try to get your developer at least an interview elsewhere. Developers can also be married with kids. Don’t tell them they haven’t performed up to standard when they had stellar performance reviews. Just be honest and say that the business environment changed. “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Open communication

Don’t punish your developers for speaking to you openly about personal matters that may be causing issues in their lives. I had a manager who asked me to take a gap year or a sabbatical when I was going through a divorce. Her words were, “Your job will be here when you get back.” Now, that’s a kind gesture.

Mandatory vacations

It’s hard for introverted developers who love to program to go and do something else. As a manager, make it mandatory. Even if your developer stays home for a vacation, that’s OK. There’s no right way of taking a vacation. But, just remind the developer to get some rest. If your developer comes to you and says they want a three-day weekend every two weeks instead of taking a consecutive two-week vacation, then see if that’s possible. It’s not the end of the world for you, and it may be a big deal for your developer.

Minimize unhealthy competition

On a team, deadlines will compete for your developer’s attention plenty. Your developer doesn’t need additional pressure to feel bad about themselves. Try to ask your developers to support each other. Let your developers be specific experts in their domains. Appreciate them for their expertise, and use standups as opportunities to appreciate developers, too.

Encourage humor

When deadlines are tight and everyone’s feeling burned out and exhausted, it’s time to have some humor about the situation. Keep the workplace professional, but don’t forget that humor can be used strategically to lighten people’s moods. Be sensitive to your developer’s moods. Programming is often a creative endeavor. In creativity, programmers can suffer from both high and low mood swings. So, offer a joke now and then.

Good faith negotiations

At any job, managers are constantly negotiating with developers about time, resources, and requirements. You’ll have to negotiate about compensation. To facilitate good-faith negotiation, just be open and honest about your needs and wants. Don’t use “back-handed” ways to make your developers “submit.” The developer who will give you optimal productivity is a happy developer who’s passionate about working for you and the company.