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Gauteng devs, I need your input!

Maxwell

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Hi All,

I am busy with my masters and I am doing research on what factors influence how well developers perform at work. I am looking to survey lots of developers and get a good sample size going.

I am not opting to go for a online survey as this method ends up being a "spray-and-pray" approach and I have had a bad experience with it in the past. Instead, this time I plan on visiting companies with paper based surveys and handing them out. I would like to offer an incentive such as a raffle draw to everyone who returns a survey, and then have the draw at the company, but I still have to get this idea past the University's ethics committee :p

I am looking for people who can put me in touch with companies that I can visit. Please PM me if you are a dev at a company willing to help or know someone who could assist.

Thanks
 
Just to add to hear of what 90% of devs tell me what helps them preform it's this:
1. Amazing coffee
2. Don't micro manage me
3. Like really amazing coffee
4. make sure that I am heard when talking about an issue
5. Like really, coffee
6. Don't cause unnecessary distractions, we have QA that can answer a question of 'should it work this way'?
7. I cannot stress enough about the coffee

But this is just my input with devs I worked with (for is the better term as I am usually employed to ensure they can just work)
 
I'm a "dev" but I run my own company, so I wear many hats.
Motivation is a big factor (and always has been)... So if you stick me on the same project for a few years I'm going to get bored.
I need to switch things up to alleviate boredom.
 
From personal experience when I was mainly a dev. I still dev but not primarily.

1. Great coffee
2. Don’t micro-manage
3. Freedom and reasonable timelines to complete a task or project
4. Make sure the project has a damn requirement spec. I cannot stress this enough
5. Don’t let another dev fuck up my code by implementing non-standard practices and a shitload of JavaScript. I will be grumpy and may even abandon the project
6. Money must be good. It’s a mentally engaging job that will kill you sooner rather than later so it should pay off. This is a common thing
 
I'm no dev but I'd say a person's passion + fit inside of a companies culture plays a huge part. "The right person, in the right seat" as Jim Collins would say.
 
Let me switch it up and tell you what we DON'T like:

1: Fuzzy scope
2: Inheriting shit code bases
3: Refactoring other peoples code because they are sick/busy/needed somewhere else/fired/unable
4: constantly being pulled out of "the zone" with distractions that have nothing to do with what you are busy with
5: Retarded deadlines: I actually like crunching every now and then, it's exhilarating pushing out a build at 2 am and testing it again at 5 before
a presentation at 9 and then once that's done just spoiling yourself by being lazy the rest of that day with that nice feeling of accomplishment
(any real dev will know what i'm talking about) : BUT don't fucking take that shit for granted.

6: Bad testing practices ie. pushing devs into the next project/task without proper testing of code then moan if an issue arises in production.
7: Not taking time to LISTEN when we explain something / communicate an issue. If we truly feel the way something is being done is shit and try
and explain why and it lands on death ears few things are more frustrating.

8: Shit internet connection / shit pc / shit environment / shit coffee / no AC (this is big one. you can't think critically with sweat runnin' down your ass crack)

there are more things, but there is my 2 c.
 
+1 to everything else.
Being able to work from home solves a lot of issues:
Coffee as you like it
AC as you like it
Not micro managed
Not interrupted needlessly
Internet connection up to you, at least it's not shared/firewalled etc
Effectively helps with money a bit, depending on your distance to work, fuel consumption and amount of coffee you drink...

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
Reviving this thread - desperately looking for companies willing to offer me the opportunity to survey their staff. Offering a R500 gift voucher to the facilitator and a raffle at the company for everyone participating for a R500 gift voucher - as long as there are 10 respondents or more.

All boxes are checked - Proposal has been evaluated by ethics committee, data is anonymous, data from different companies will be randomised, minimal demographic questions asked.
 
Just to add to hear of what 90% of devs tell me what helps them preform it's this:
1. Amazing coffee
2. Don't micro manage me
3. Like really amazing coffee
4. make sure that I am heard when talking about an issue
5. Like really, coffee
6. Don't cause unnecessary distractions, we have QA that can answer a question of 'should it work this way'?
7. I cannot stress enough about the coffee

But this is just my input with devs I worked with (for is the better term as I am usually employed to ensure they can just work)
I agree with all of the above. Especially 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Point 2 happens because most devs miss deadlines and have shitty excuses when it happens. Only way business can counter this is if they sit on their heads.

edit This is a year old. Soz.
 
Last edited:
I agree with all of the above. Especially 1, 3, 5 and 7.

Point 2 happens because most devs miss deadlines and have shitty excuses when it happens. Only way business can counter this is if they sit on their heads.

edit This is a year old. Soz.
but still valid, being managed to choking point is a big no no
 
I think the biggest thing for me is your team understanding and valuing your input especially in issues. Nothing worse than offering up a solution and being shut down to do it another way because of time, budget or whatever and down the line the shit starts to reveal itself and its that I told you so moment and it's now your responsibility and ass in the line to fix it yesterday. It's a sure way to put a cat in the corner..
 

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