in reply to On Creating an Effective Work Environment

If you want a happy, contented bunch of team-players, give them the nice comfortable, open-plan environment, morale boosting perks, ralaxed atmosphere, artwork on the walls etc. where they can communicate openly, share their problems and so forth.

If you want a productive team.

Hire yourself productive programmers! Give them their own spaces where they can close the door and shut themselves off from the world and unplug the phone for at least the 4 hours of the day. Let them decide which 4 hours individually.

Allow them to work hours that suit their personality traits. Morning people work morning, night people work evenings, if they choose. Have one day every 1 or 2 weeks when everyone has to be together. Don't make that day a Monday or a Friday. Don't allow them to work more than 10 hours a day.

Then hire yourself a good project manager--someone with the ability to organise resources, schedule things, keep records. Probably not a programmer!

Then hire yourself a technical project leader, with good people skills. Not a 'suit'.

Give the project leader the sole responsibility for managing the people. The project manager the project. Have them both report to the same manager who abitrates between them when they don't reach a consensus.

Organise your coders in teams of two or three. Give them complete responsibility for their parts of the project.

Ban meeting that include more than 6 people or more than one manager.

Good luck:)

Examine what is said, not who speaks.
"Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham
"When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." -Richard Buckminster Fuller
If I understand your problem, I can solve it! Of course, the same can be said for you.
  • Comment on Re: On Creating an Effective Work Environment

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Re: Re: On Creating an Effective Work Environment
by halley (Prior) on Aug 22, 2003 at 13:26 UTC
    Amen. I could never work in any of these "open plan" bullsh-pen suggestions. What's next, uniforms and fox-holes? A few people can work well like that, but not everyone. We could easily list a large number of teams and companies (both Bazaar and Cathedral style) who are extremely effective without playpen spaces.

    Being in view of someone else's screen, when I'm trying to concentrate on mine, destroys my 'groove'. And vice versa. I'll come out of my office to question, to arrange, to chit-chat, to play hacky-sack. I'll go into my office to code. I'll set the lights the way I want. I won't overhear a conversation and try to butt in, and I won't be interrupted by someone else when I'm trying to talk one-on-one. I'll sit on my papa-san couch and read when I need to, without everyone watching me "slack off."

    If people are going to own their problem domain, they need to feel like they own their physical domain too.

    If you mix several flavors too thoroughly, you get the bland average. If you highlight and juxtapose various flavors, you get a dynamic interaction.

    --
    [ e d @ h a l l e y . c c ]

[reply]

      I could never work in any of these "open plan" bullsh-pen suggestions. What's next, uniforms and fox-holes? A few people can work well like that, but not everyone. We could easily list a large number of teams and companies (both Bazaar and Cathedral style) who are extremely effective without playpen spaces.

      I couldn't agree more. Working in an open playpen is certainly *not* for everyone. I think a lot of it boils down to your personality. I can't think of anything worse than someone looking over my shoulder all day long - or forced to look over someone else's shoulder myself. That would drive me nuts. I like to put on my headphones and start banging out code.

      Where I work, all non manager types live in the cubie farm. The developers are all in the same area. When we need to ask each other questions we do - there's no need to get up from our cubies. We have an open area (i.e corner of office next to the window) that we use for our meetings. It all works extremely well. You certainly don't need an open playpen to be productive.

      -- vek --
[reply]
        I can't think of anything worse than someone looking over my shoulder all day long - or forced to look over someone else's shoulder myself.

        No one wants that, which is why it's not part of pair programming.

        Of course, if you've never tried it and you're not willing to try it, you'd never make it on my team. I know — I've worked with people who weren't willing to try.

[reply]

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