The One Thing Software Developers Want from Their Team
Have you ever wondered what software engineers expect from their team members? Do different developers expect different things, or is there a common thread? The simplicity of the answer might surprise you.
How I Learned This?
While working for a global SaaS company, I had the opportunity to build an international software engineering team. The experience allowed me to interview candidates from Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. They represented various countries, providing diverse perspectives.
After conducting tens of interviews, two things became clear to me:
1. Engineers, regardless of nationality or culture where they grew up, are wired very similarly. Their inherent curiosity, love for learning, and problem-solving abilities are what drive them to pursue careers as software engineers. They are built for curiosity, learning, and problem-solving. (I could write more on this in a future article, but for now, I will focus on the second item, which is what this article is about.)
2. Most of them want pretty much the same thing from their team members. Let me elaborate on this in the sections below.
Normally when I interview candidates for any position, I ask a standard set of questions. This approach allows me to make fair comparisons and informed hiring decisions.
One of the “standard” questions asked during this international hiring effort was, “What do you expect from your team members, and what should they expect from you?”
The answers I heard over and over again started to surprise me, because of how similar they were. This was especially interesting because of the diverse backgrounds of each candidate. Despite not starting the hiring process with specific expectations, I anticipated different answers from a multicultural and international pool of candidates.
The One Thing Engineers Expect from Their Team
By now you are probably thinking – “Ok, enough. What was the common answer?”. Great, here it is – while not everyone used the same words, the answers were some variation of the following:
“I expect my team members to be collaborative, share their knowledge, help each other out when someone gets stuck, be respectful to each other, work together to solve problems, be friends with each other, and have a good time. What they should expect from me… pretty much the same things. 🙂”
Are you surprised that I heard this answer over 90% of the time? It caught my attention.
The University of Washington performed a study called – What distinguishes great software engineers? Notice what they listed as “attributes pertained to engineers’ personalities” when it comes to team interactions, in the image below.
So, what is the moral of the story, and are there lessons that software engineering leaders can take advantage of? Here are my takeaways:
- People are people and have the same basic needs as humans, regardless of country, culture, or upbringing they had. Engineers are no different.
- Despite some stereotypes that engineers are introverted and don’t like to talk to people, they are still humans with feelings and emotions and want to be supported, want to belong, and want the camaraderie of their peers.
- The culture of the engineering team and the dynamics among its members will directly impact the happiness of individual team members.
- Leaders of engineering teams need to foster an environment where the team can work collaboratively, support each other, and grow together.
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How to Help Create a More Collaborative Culture?
Several years ago I took a job as the Head of Engineering at a software company. There was one developer who had been with the company for 10+ years, worked in a silo all the time, and had been doing the same kind of repetitive work for years. Even though he could have been considered a “veteran” he was not growing in his professional skills.
He seemed isolated, not fully integrated into the group. Having noticed this quite early I decided to break the silo by applying some changes. First, I explained to him what I was planning to do, which he was glad to hear. Second, I explained to the entire team that it was not fair for their team member to always be stuck with the same repetitive work therefore, we would change things and share the load. They were very receptive to the idea and genuinely wanted to help their peer.
Therefore, he started pairing with other engineers, he was assigned work on various projects/features, and others were asked to pick up some of the repetitive work that he had been doing for years.
Over time, this team member collaborated with different teams, implemented a variety of features, and learned technologies he had never used before.
I tell this story as just one example of how we can ensure all team members are well-integrated into the team. Each group is unique and presents its own challenges. Nevertheless, the leaders are responsible for paying attention to how the team interacts with each other. It is the leaders’ responsibility to be observant, create a collaborative environment, care for both the individuals and the team as a whole, and consistently encourage their team/s to work together towards their goals.