What else do I have to do?

Is just code? No, it's not. 👨🏻‍💻

In my few years working as Software Enginner I've worked with a lot of developers and I've seen a lot of different types of people. Some of them are really good at coding and some of them not so good. I've never seen some of them lose their joib because they were not good at coding. I've seen them lose their job because they were not good at communicating, managing, and leading, basically because they were not good at work with people. Based on my experience I've decided to write this post to help you to be a better developer and a better person.

Communication 🗣

Communication is the mos basic one in any kind of relationship and in a workplace environment it's essential for everyone to be on the same page for the project to be successful and done on time.

I'm not going to talk about the different ways to communicate because I think that's pretty obvious. I'm going to talk about how to communicate effectively.

Learn how to raise red flags 🚩

When you are working on a project you are going to have to deal with a lot of different problems and you are going to have to solve them. Sometimes you are going to have to solve them by yourself and sometimes you are going to have to ask for help. You have to be able to tell your team that you are having problems and that you need help. I know it can be hard to ask for help but you have to do it. If you don't ask for help you are going to have to spend more time trying to solve the problem and you are going to have to spend more time trying to explain to your team what you did and why it didn't work, just imagine how much worse it'll be if you stay quite and don't say anything until the day before the deadline. The sooner you ask for help the sooner your team can work together to find a solution.

Learn to keep it simple

Another part of communication especially as a Software Enginner/Software is learning how to explain technical problems to non-technical people. When you are working on a project you are going to have to explain to your team what you are doing and why you are doing it. You have to be able to explain it in a way that everyone can understand it.

Learn how to give feedback

Giving feedback is not easy. You have to be able to tell your team what they are doing wrong and how they can improve. You have to be able to tell them what they are doing right and how they can keep doing it. You need to prioritize your ideas. Limit your feedback to the most important things. You don't want to overwhelm your team with a lot of feedback. You want to give them the most important feedback so they can improve.

Don't be afraid to say no

Provide helpfull context when you have to say no. You don't want to just say no and leave it at that. You want to explain why you are saying no and what they can do to get what they want. For example, if you are asked to work on a project that you don't have time for you can say no and explain that you are already working on a project and that you don't have time to work on another one. You can also explain that you can help them with the project if they can help you with the project you are already working on.

Coworkers 🤝

At work you can safely assume that everyone is always busy. You can't just walk up to someone and ask them to help you with something. You have to be able to ask for help without being annoying. If you have to talk to a co-worker/team leader about a question or a problem give them some time to respond, don't come up to them with the expectation that they will give you an answer right away. For example, if you need to DM a co-worker about something don't spam them by writing a wall of text with your detailed problem right off the bat. Instead, write a short message asking them if they have time to talk about something and then explain your problem in a separate message. This way you are not bothering them and you are giving them time to respond.

Hey! I know you are really busy but I have a question about something. Do you have time to talk about it?

Help your team

When I stared working as a Software Enginner I had a lot of support from my team. They helped me with a lot of things and I was really grateful for that. I wanted to give back to them and help them as much as they helped me. So now I always try to help my team as much as I can beacuse I know how frustrating it can be to struggle for a problem for hours and not be able to find a solution. If you see that your team is struggling with something try to help them. If you see that they are having a hard time with a project try to help them with it. If you see that they are having a hard time with a deadline try to help them with it.

That's all for now. 😄 Do you have any tips on how to be a better developer? Let me know in the comments below. 🤔 I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave a comment. I'll be happy to answer them.