Great advice Roman.

And you are correct, as developers we are so often more interested in the solution than truly defining the problem.

Good article! As someone who frequently finds himself on both sides of the fence, I agree that being able to adapt one’s communication style is crucial.
There were many instances when senior developers instead of providing a summary of a problem dived to detailed code flow descriptions, which frustrated me to no end, as I had neither the time nor the background to go there.

There is a flip side to escaping the status quo; if you start suggesting improvements without understanding well the problems we’re solving and how, it can annoy both the boss and your peers. There’s a balance to be struck here – the point in the article is correct, but newcomers should be careful and figure out first why we operate in a particular way.

More tips: don’t give random/unrealistic work estimates, don’t hoard information, don’t show detachment from the product and the company, be responsive to your colleagues (including your boss).

Great comments Kevin and yes trying to understand the other persons perspective is very important so following on from your article was a great segue.

Loved your suggestion of making the bosses job easier.

One way I like to frame this is: your job is to make the boss look good. Expressed another way: never make the boss look bad.

Great article! It’s good fortune that it’s published right after psychology for programmers because it got some great examples of where we don’t understand the other person’s motivations and can end up causing unnecessary frustration.

We often think that our job is hard but forget that our colleagues and our boss’s job in also hard, just in a different way.

I think a worthwhile experiment to try is to think to yourself “How can I make my boss’s job easier?” and then act according to that. I expect you’ll go up in your boss’s estimation pretty quickly. You might even find it is win-win.

I also agree with your point about programmers and their pride. I think this is one of the main reasons why daily stand up meetings are very popular now: admitting that you could use some help or even just a sounding board for your ideas becomes the cultural norm, and it becomes very difficult to hide any problems you are having. Trying to cover up any delays or other problems you are having is always the wrong thing to do.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the article and any tips you have to NOT frustrate your boss 🙂