November 18, 2011 at 01:19One day in the life of a project manager through the eyes of a developer
When you start learning programming, you know what an ideal programmer should be, and you are sure that you will be so. You see programmer errors older and more experienced, and you are absolutely sure that you will never repeat them.
When you got a job in a company as a Junior Developer, you look around and see how easy it is for senior comrades to hammer on templates and write two identical classes with different types of variables. How do they hardcode the sizes of the views in the code. How do they read Habr at work. And you know for sure that when you grow up to Senior Developer, you will be better, more reliable, more responsible, any block of your code can be shown to descendants.
You have worked as a programmer for three years, you (probably) are looking more and more closely towards project management. Your PM is no longer a king, and not a god, and his work does not seem complicated and incomprehensible to you. You see that you work a lot more than him, and he is too lazy to give you Code Review and praise him for the original integration of a third-party library. He doesn’t even look at your ideal code in the most complicated combination of a crooked API and muddy business logic. And you know for sure that when luck smiles at you to manage the project, you will do everything better. You will carefully monitor your developers, revise each of their classes, praise for successful decisions and blame them for obvious mistakes.
If this sounds familiar to you, read on. I had wanted to write something like this for a long time, but I finally got the case when one rather experienced programmer in our company officially announced after about a year of work that he did not represent the role of a project manager on the project. Not mine, but close to me, and I knew that a good experienced PM works there. The problem is global, we need to work with people in this direction - to ensure that everyone understands the role of the other and provides support.
Well, here we go:
PM, 8:30
( wake-up call ) God, I really want to sleep. I am sleepy! Why so early??? Damn, what did I do yesterday? And, exactly, the customer called, sat with him all evening on Skype ... they called tech support of some company, it’s on the Pacific Coast, 11 hours difference ...
She, nifigaaa, I’ll sleep again, the work is not a wolf ... they all went to ... just the alarm clock ...
PM, 10:00
AAA, fakak, your mother, sit again until night ... well, let anyone say a word - I’ll ask about the money for yesterday’s overtime !
Developer, 11:30
Again late for work, cattle. Why do I come to work every day at nine, but is this all possible?
PM, 11:30
Soooo, check the mail ... damn it, 46 letters on one mailbox and 18 on another! And do not be lazy to write to them ... soooo, we will delete the notifications, we will look at the trifle ... 20, to which we must answer. Okay, we’ll overcome the hour and a half ...
Developer, 11:35
From damn it, I came to work and right away for my letters ... not only did I push myself to dinner, I still didn’t come up ... work - write letters, they all are ... hell I’ll say that I did all the work, but for the rest, questions - who ultimately needs it, me or him ... he gets paid for it. ( opens habrahabr.ru )
PM, 13:00
Fuh, the correspondence is over - thank God. Oh, everyone went for lunch ... damn it, I’ll come back at 9. Okay, we will confer with the team after dinner ( clogs the meeting in Outlook ). I will spread the tasks in Jira while the
Developer, 13:59
( Returned from lunch ) Ahh, 1 minute before the rally! Is it really impossible to plan them in the morning ?? Do we have any management?
PM, 14:06
( says) Hello!
Developer, 14:06
( thinks ) And good morning to you, red girl ...
PM, 14:06
( thinks ) you need to give the team more participation in the life of the project. I know how to make architecture, they already did it a couple of years ago, but let the guys say something - everything has changed, and they will learn to think and not just do it. ( says ) Van, here is such a task, what do you think is the best way to do it?
Developer, 14:07
( thinks ) you PM - you and think. I’ll do the architecture, maybe I can also answer letters? And what will you do, the code to write from you the crown will fall? ( says ) I don’t know ...
PM, 14:07
Well, you think, the client needs such and such functions, how will you do web services?
Developer, 14:08
( thinks ) Well, he’s hooked ... okay, I’ll answer the couple. ( says ) Well, you can do so ... But in general (being inspired ) there is one technology, it will be easier, here we have SOAP now (there is an explanation why this technology is better than the one that is used now ).
PM, 14:13
( interrupts ) Wait, technology yes, cool, but how long does it take?
Dev, 14:13
( thoughtfully ) Well ... 5 days, if it works out maybe earlier, or maybe not ... but what?
PM 14:14
( thinks) Nah, John will not agree in life ... and you need to do just one additional service. ( says ) No, you know what, let's just do it the old fashioned way.
Dev, 14:14
( indignantly ) is this your decision or your customer?
PM, 14:14
Mine.
Dev, 14:14
( sly look ) Maybe you better ask the customer?
PM, 14:14
( thinks ) yeah, I’ll tell the pharmacist REST, WSDL and SOAP, he will transfer 5 days to bucks, and you can forget about the project ... it's like the difference between aspirin and paracetamol. ( out loud ) No, let's do it this way, that’s faster.
Dev, 14:15
( thinks) Well, why did you ask my opinion, you still did what you want. ( out loud ) well come on, I don't care.
Dev, 15:00
(after the rally) another useless rally, no matter how much code I managed to write ...
PM, 15:00
Fuh, I shot ... The middle of the day is the most relaxed, meetings with customers will start after 4, let me read the habr ( opens habrahabr .ru )
Dev, 15:10
Damn, he also sat down to read the habr while working! No, he sat down that he programmed!
PM, 16:00
Okay, after 15 minutes a meeting with the company’s management. Aw, hell, a new quota has come, you need to process it ... ( on Skype ) Van, is there free time for an estimate?
Dev, 16:01
( thinks) Fuck, you have time for Habr, but there is no time for estimate! Taskov in bulk, just sat down to write! ( aloud ) Okay, I’ll do it ...
PM, 16:01
( thinks ) Fuh, the miracle that there is such a person will always hedge. We must praise the leadership. Although there was something nonsense at the rally ... okay, it happens to everyone, maybe it didn’t ...
PM, 16:30
(the phone rings, looking at the number ) Damned Americans ... that they cannot sleep! From the same, it became a habit to call a mobile phone! Okay, I’ll go out and talk.
Dev, 16:30
Oh, I went on the phone to talk.
PM, 16:35
( finished the conversation, thinks, distorting) “Vasily, please stay later today. We have urgency and emergency. Appreciate all your help! ”Fuck, when you needed something urgent! You value ... you value your money!
PM, 16:45
Bliiiin, it’s me who I promised to bring Svetka to a cafe today, I’ve already ordered a table ... and at least nine at work ... ( escapes to call )
Dev, 16:46
Oh, fuck up again! What is he paid for?
Dev, 18:00
( thinks ) Fuh, sat out, sailing away. Arividerchi, I'm going to drink beer with the boys, let's play pool! Well, I forgot about the code today, it’s nice, the day has not been wasted!
PM 21:23
( thinks) Oh crap, what's a fucken day! Seems like ... Fuck, I'm starting to think in English. Another day in the ass ... Sveta was clearly offended, on the weekend I had a restaurant and an apology ... the boys are already deaf, it will be already uninteresting with them ... I'll go home. How long, how cold ... Oh, it would be better if they put the beds here, anyway in the morning to work ... Damn, I ran all day, didn’t really manage anything, okay, everything tomorrow, everything tomorrow, sleep ...
Well, somehow, or close to that. I do not write the words of the programmer by hearsay, I myself thought so for a long time. And now it happens that I think badly about top managers, and somewhere deep down in my soul I’m sure that I would manage the company better ... This, apparently, is human nature - it requires knowing everything for yourself.
The multibukaf turned out, but I will summarize everything that is said above and try to give two specific advice. You can not read them.
1) Hold developers accountable. Not for criminal offenses, but in the draft. More often, give them some solutions at the mercy, only by monitoring and adjusting their execution. Do not forget to call them beautiful words - if you refer to “Van, you have established yourself as a good architect, you need advice on how to do it better here”, Vanya will feel like an architect and not just a performer, and, most surprisingly, it is likely that he will become faster what do you think.
Do not think that this offends your pride - you have enough nishtyaks, you are so PM, and at least it will be very pleasant for a person.
2)Let your developers train juniors instead of doing their own training. First, they will be in your shoes. Secondly, a person who teaches someone something learns quickly. In particular, understand the one who teaches him.
When you got a job in a company as a Junior Developer, you look around and see how easy it is for senior comrades to hammer on templates and write two identical classes with different types of variables. How do they hardcode the sizes of the views in the code. How do they read Habr at work. And you know for sure that when you grow up to Senior Developer, you will be better, more reliable, more responsible, any block of your code can be shown to descendants.
You have worked as a programmer for three years, you (probably) are looking more and more closely towards project management. Your PM is no longer a king, and not a god, and his work does not seem complicated and incomprehensible to you. You see that you work a lot more than him, and he is too lazy to give you Code Review and praise him for the original integration of a third-party library. He doesn’t even look at your ideal code in the most complicated combination of a crooked API and muddy business logic. And you know for sure that when luck smiles at you to manage the project, you will do everything better. You will carefully monitor your developers, revise each of their classes, praise for successful decisions and blame them for obvious mistakes.
If this sounds familiar to you, read on. I had wanted to write something like this for a long time, but I finally got the case when one rather experienced programmer in our company officially announced after about a year of work that he did not represent the role of a project manager on the project. Not mine, but close to me, and I knew that a good experienced PM works there. The problem is global, we need to work with people in this direction - to ensure that everyone understands the role of the other and provides support.
Well, here we go:
PM, 8:30
( wake-up call ) God, I really want to sleep. I am sleepy! Why so early??? Damn, what did I do yesterday? And, exactly, the customer called, sat with him all evening on Skype ... they called tech support of some company, it’s on the Pacific Coast, 11 hours difference ...
She, nifigaaa, I’ll sleep again, the work is not a wolf ... they all went to ... just the alarm clock ...
PM, 10:00
AAA, fakak, your mother, sit again until night ... well, let anyone say a word - I’ll ask about the money for yesterday’s overtime !
Developer, 11:30
Again late for work, cattle. Why do I come to work every day at nine, but is this all possible?
PM, 11:30
Soooo, check the mail ... damn it, 46 letters on one mailbox and 18 on another! And do not be lazy to write to them ... soooo, we will delete the notifications, we will look at the trifle ... 20, to which we must answer. Okay, we’ll overcome the hour and a half ...
Developer, 11:35
From damn it, I came to work and right away for my letters ... not only did I push myself to dinner, I still didn’t come up ... work - write letters, they all are ... hell I’ll say that I did all the work, but for the rest, questions - who ultimately needs it, me or him ... he gets paid for it. ( opens habrahabr.ru )
PM, 13:00
Fuh, the correspondence is over - thank God. Oh, everyone went for lunch ... damn it, I’ll come back at 9. Okay, we will confer with the team after dinner ( clogs the meeting in Outlook ). I will spread the tasks in Jira while the
Developer, 13:59
( Returned from lunch ) Ahh, 1 minute before the rally! Is it really impossible to plan them in the morning ?? Do we have any management?
PM, 14:06
( says) Hello!
Developer, 14:06
( thinks ) And good morning to you, red girl ...
PM, 14:06
( thinks ) you need to give the team more participation in the life of the project. I know how to make architecture, they already did it a couple of years ago, but let the guys say something - everything has changed, and they will learn to think and not just do it. ( says ) Van, here is such a task, what do you think is the best way to do it?
Developer, 14:07
( thinks ) you PM - you and think. I’ll do the architecture, maybe I can also answer letters? And what will you do, the code to write from you the crown will fall? ( says ) I don’t know ...
PM, 14:07
Well, you think, the client needs such and such functions, how will you do web services?
Developer, 14:08
( thinks ) Well, he’s hooked ... okay, I’ll answer the couple. ( says ) Well, you can do so ... But in general (being inspired ) there is one technology, it will be easier, here we have SOAP now (there is an explanation why this technology is better than the one that is used now ).
PM, 14:13
( interrupts ) Wait, technology yes, cool, but how long does it take?
Dev, 14:13
( thoughtfully ) Well ... 5 days, if it works out maybe earlier, or maybe not ... but what?
PM 14:14
( thinks) Nah, John will not agree in life ... and you need to do just one additional service. ( says ) No, you know what, let's just do it the old fashioned way.
Dev, 14:14
( indignantly ) is this your decision or your customer?
PM, 14:14
Mine.
Dev, 14:14
( sly look ) Maybe you better ask the customer?
PM, 14:14
( thinks ) yeah, I’ll tell the pharmacist REST, WSDL and SOAP, he will transfer 5 days to bucks, and you can forget about the project ... it's like the difference between aspirin and paracetamol. ( out loud ) No, let's do it this way, that’s faster.
Dev, 14:15
( thinks) Well, why did you ask my opinion, you still did what you want. ( out loud ) well come on, I don't care.
Dev, 15:00
(after the rally) another useless rally, no matter how much code I managed to write ...
PM, 15:00
Fuh, I shot ... The middle of the day is the most relaxed, meetings with customers will start after 4, let me read the habr ( opens habrahabr .ru )
Dev, 15:10
Damn, he also sat down to read the habr while working! No, he sat down that he programmed!
PM, 16:00
Okay, after 15 minutes a meeting with the company’s management. Aw, hell, a new quota has come, you need to process it ... ( on Skype ) Van, is there free time for an estimate?
Dev, 16:01
( thinks) Fuck, you have time for Habr, but there is no time for estimate! Taskov in bulk, just sat down to write! ( aloud ) Okay, I’ll do it ...
PM, 16:01
( thinks ) Fuh, the miracle that there is such a person will always hedge. We must praise the leadership. Although there was something nonsense at the rally ... okay, it happens to everyone, maybe it didn’t ...
PM, 16:30
(the phone rings, looking at the number ) Damned Americans ... that they cannot sleep! From the same, it became a habit to call a mobile phone! Okay, I’ll go out and talk.
Dev, 16:30
Oh, I went on the phone to talk.
PM, 16:35
( finished the conversation, thinks, distorting) “Vasily, please stay later today. We have urgency and emergency. Appreciate all your help! ”Fuck, when you needed something urgent! You value ... you value your money!
PM, 16:45
Bliiiin, it’s me who I promised to bring Svetka to a cafe today, I’ve already ordered a table ... and at least nine at work ... ( escapes to call )
Dev, 16:46
Oh, fuck up again! What is he paid for?
Dev, 18:00
( thinks ) Fuh, sat out, sailing away. Arividerchi, I'm going to drink beer with the boys, let's play pool! Well, I forgot about the code today, it’s nice, the day has not been wasted!
PM 21:23
( thinks) Oh crap, what's a fucken day! Seems like ... Fuck, I'm starting to think in English. Another day in the ass ... Sveta was clearly offended, on the weekend I had a restaurant and an apology ... the boys are already deaf, it will be already uninteresting with them ... I'll go home. How long, how cold ... Oh, it would be better if they put the beds here, anyway in the morning to work ... Damn, I ran all day, didn’t really manage anything, okay, everything tomorrow, everything tomorrow, sleep ...
Well, somehow, or close to that. I do not write the words of the programmer by hearsay, I myself thought so for a long time. And now it happens that I think badly about top managers, and somewhere deep down in my soul I’m sure that I would manage the company better ... This, apparently, is human nature - it requires knowing everything for yourself.
The multibukaf turned out, but I will summarize everything that is said above and try to give two specific advice. You can not read them.
1) Hold developers accountable. Not for criminal offenses, but in the draft. More often, give them some solutions at the mercy, only by monitoring and adjusting their execution. Do not forget to call them beautiful words - if you refer to “Van, you have established yourself as a good architect, you need advice on how to do it better here”, Vanya will feel like an architect and not just a performer, and, most surprisingly, it is likely that he will become faster what do you think.
Do not think that this offends your pride - you have enough nishtyaks, you are so PM, and at least it will be very pleasant for a person.
2)Let your developers train juniors instead of doing their own training. First, they will be in your shoes. Secondly, a person who teaches someone something learns quickly. In particular, understand the one who teaches him.