Chapter 24. Keep developers happy, reap high-quality work
While at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, I was an unofficial team leader trying to advance our team forward during a unique situation: we were a side project for our manager, who was largely absent due to other responsibilities. He had less and less time for us as the months went on (a scenario that was slowly rectified). Previously, I was the official manager of a small development team at another company, although, admittedly, I learned more about the needs of a development team in a situation with no manager than I did in my prior position. I have a natural inclination toward best practices and learning, and I tried to fill the vacuum on our team as much as possible.
One of the most important lessons I learned is that if you keep your developers happy and motivated, they’ll consequently do some of their best work and will contribute to the betterment of the team and the organization. The tricks involved with keeping them motivated may initially seem counterintuitive to developers and/or management.