Are you a micromanager?

Summary

The speaker discusses micromanagement, emphasizing the balance between managing details and giving team members freedom. He highlights the difference between leadership and simple management, stressing that real leadership requires technical experience and the ability to contribute meaningfully. Through examples, he explains how he applies subtle control mechanisms, like testing and code reviews, to guide developers while fostering trust. The speaker argues that micromanagement is useful when applied thoughtfully, helping to address weaknesses in a team’s workflow and ensuring quality. Ultimately, his goal is to safeguard the system’s quality without stifling autonomy.

Takeaways

• 🔧 Micromanagement is about balancing being hands-on and knowing when to step back to let the team work efficiently.
• 👩‍💻 A good manager should have technical experience and leadership skills, rather than just managing people.
• 🎯 Leadership involves contributing to the team, not just facilitating their work. It's about guiding them towards success.
• ⚖️ The key to effective micromanagement is knowing when to intervene and when to trust your team to perform well without interference.
• 📊 Trust is important, but recognizing and addressing weaknesses in the team, like unit testing, can improve results.
• 🧪 The speaker uses creative methods like unit tests to ensure accountability in areas like testing, instead of micromanaging every detail.
• 📉 Setting measurable goals, such as code coverage thresholds, helps track progress without being overly controlling.
• 🤝 A strong focus on creating systems and practices that ensure consistent quality, regardless of the developer's experience level, is critical.
• 🌐 Using tools like monorepos can foster collaboration and consistency across different teams, preventing isolated silos.
• 🔄 Effective leadership involves identifying recurring problems (like regressions) and implementing processes to improve long-term outcomes.

Q & A

What is the speaker's general attitude toward micromanagement?

The speaker has a balanced view of micromanagement. They believe it can be useful when applied appropriately, especially when addressing specific issues that require attention, but they also emphasize the importance of knowing when to step back and trust the team.

What does the speaker believe is the difference between managing and leading?

The speaker believes that managing is merely about facilitating people, while leading involves having the competency to contribute to the group's success. A true leader, in the speaker's view, has experience and knowledge to guide the team effectively, whereas a manager might lack these qualities.

Why does the speaker prefer a leader with technical experience?

The speaker believes that a leader should have technical experience because it allows them to contribute to the team's success. They argue that a leader who lacks hands-on experience can only manage and is less capable of leading effectively in technical settings.

How does the speaker approach developers who forget to write unit tests?

The speaker addresses the issue by writing a test that checks for missing unit tests. This test pulls out all methods in a class and compares them to a pre-existing list, failing if a new method lacks a corresponding unit test. This serves as a reminder to developers, encouraging them to write the tests they may have forgotten.

What is the speaker’s solution for improving code coverage and reducing regressions?

The speaker suggests introducing a coverage threshold and version controlling it. They check the progress regularly to ensure improvements in unit testing and ask the developers to justify any lack of improvement. This process is meant to instill a sense of accountability and commitment to better testing.

What kind of behaviors does the speaker aim to change through micromanagement?

The speaker aims to change behaviors that cause problems, such as developers not writing unit tests or relying too heavily on QA for validation. They use micromanagement techniques to create checks and balances that encourage better practices and address weaknesses.

How does the speaker feel about being perceived as a micromanager?

The speaker is comfortable being seen as a micromanager to a certain extent, as long as their actions help improve the team's performance and address specific issues. They emphasize that their micromanagement is focused on solving problems rather than controlling every detail.

What is the speaker's view on standards and best practices in a software team?

The speaker is flexible about less critical choices, such as coding style or format, and believes the team should simply agree on a standard. However, they have strong opinions on areas where the team is lacking, such as regression prevention or code quality, and they take steps to ensure improvements.

Why does the speaker prefer working with mono repos?

The speaker prefers mono repos because they create a shared environment where teams must collaborate and align their practices. This helps break down silos and encourages consistency across different teams, leading to more cohesive software development.

What does the speaker mean by 'the master branch should protect itself from bad code'?

The speaker means that the software development process should be designed in such a way that it prevents poor-quality code from being merged into the main branch, regardless of whether a junior or senior developer is working on it. This ensures consistent code quality across the team.