A large part of a manager’s role is to make decisions and be responsible for their outcomes. While there is ample advice on how to be successful in many other managerial core areas, such as growing your people, the domain of high-quality decision-making seems less crowded. In this post, I summarize what I have found during my 20+ years as a manager to be a simple and effective way to approach decision-making.
In software engineering, most ideas can be implemented without writing any design document at all. This is particularly prominent in open source communities. For example, the Linux kernel has 35 million lines of code that have been written and rewritten many times over alongside 30 years of mailing list discussions. Linux wasn’t created as a result of a grandiose design document by Linus Torvalds, but it evolved organically in small increments of actual running code.
For a software engineering organization to be efficient, it is key that everyone is an efficient communicator. Everybody needs to be calibrated in what to communicate, to whom and how to ensure information spreads properly in the organization. Having smart people with a lot of knowledge results in progress only if information flows well in the veins of the organization. This does not mean that everyone needs to communicate everything – on the contrary, it is also the responsibility of every individual to make sure there is the right amount of communication, not too much and not too little.
People usually associate advanced software engineering with gray-bearded experts with vast knowledge of how computers and things like compiler internals work. However, having technical knowledge is just the base requirement to work in the field. In my experience, the greatest minds in the field are not just experts in knowledge, but also extremely efficient communicators, particularly in writing. Following these 8 principles can help you maximize your efficiency in written communication:
First we make our habits, and then they make us ― John Dryden, poet and literary critic
In software development, the code review process stands as a crucial checkpoint for ensuring code quality, fostering collaboration, and promoting knowledge sharing among team members. Despite the importance, many engineers lack a clear mental map of how effective reviews work. This is my attempt to help code reviews and reviewers improve.
While large organisations scale best by emphasizing asynchronous communications, in-person or video meetings also have their place. As a manager who is involved in a lot of planning and coordination work I’ve noticed that I’ve spent the majority of my working time in meetings in past years. These are my 5 tips to make meetings as efficient as possible.
What is the key to being an efficient programmer? Well, the answer is surprisingly simple. Having a setup where you can write and test your code over and over in an uninterrupted flow will dramatically increase your productivity.
This is the biggest and most common mistake I see that prevents people from thinking clearly, and it is also the most difficult one to unlearn.
