How setting arbitrary deadlines can hurt developers

May 10, 2021

#36 – May 10, 2021

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Deadlines are a thing everyone encounters. “We need this app to go live next week” is something you most likely heard before, and generally this scares me.

Maybe what you need is to replace a departing manager – someone who is leaving the company, being promoted, or going back to hands-on IC (individual contributor) work. Maybe your team has gotten too large and unwieldy and is ready to split in two, amoeba-like, or you’re on the verge of hiring a few more people and spinning off another team. Maybe you are a baby startup and this engineering manager will be your first formal structure, or maybe something else entirely.

Why isn’t articulating a strategy enough? Why does it often fall down during implementation? What’s actually going on here?

The what, why and how of effective teams.

This article is intended for remote software engineers who are facing new challenges to thinking about routine, responsibility, and goal setting. As a developer of scientific software, and one who has transitioned to working remotely before any stay at home orders, I have slowly learned to optimize my own productivity by focusing exclusively on well-being.

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