Building A Software Team

Leong Hean Honghong@mrleong.net

About

I manage a team of software developers, and enjoy growing with them. Today I am sharing some of things I learn from managing a team of awesome developers.

Agenda

● Hiring● Communication● Learning● Motivation● Team Building

Hiring

What I Look Out For

● Passiono Side projectso Attending events. E.g. (Un)conferences,

workshop, meetupso Contribution to opensource projectso Blog, forumo Freelance work

What I Look Out For

● Self Improvement (learning)o E.g. Learn something not taught in schoolo E.g. Learn something not used in previous

company● Attitude

Communication(Teamwork)

Tools

● Task management -> Trello● Documentation -> MediaWiki/DokuWiki

o Developers don’t like documentationo Documentations reduces communication

overhead, reduces miscommunication● Communication -> Hangout,

Whatsapp, email

Tools Usage

● Task Managemento Clarity in definition of taskso Communicate prioritieso Timely updateo Review & feedbacks

● Documentationo Do the minimalo Write things that developers need to read

Tools Usage

● Communicationo Words are not enough. A picture paints a

thousand words.o Daily chat with remote team

Learning

Facilitate Learning

Many employers said they encourage continuous learning. What have they done so far?

● Lead by example● Facilitate learning● Share what you learn

Learning

● Weekly sharing sessiono Talk about features/techniques/methodso New tool/library/framework/language

● Books● Hackathon, workshop/seminar,

(un)conferences● Teaching/talks

Apply Learning

● Use new/unfamiliar tool/library/framework/language in project

● Side projects● Teach/coach

Motivation

Motivations

Some of the things I practice● Tell her what she did right● Praise/complement

o Showcase her projects/features/code● Challenge her

o Use new, unfamiliar tool/library/framework/language

o Reduce boring work (e.g implement login, deployment)

Team Building

Teamwork

Get developers to work together, understand one another better. Have fun while doing it.

Some developers are resistant to it, use “fun” to change them.

Teamwork

Techie● Hackathon, (un)conference,

seminar/workshop

Non-techie● Sports● Escape room● Movies● Food, ...

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