It ain’t easy being a web developer. Heavily depended upon, frequently maligned, seldom seen yet largely taken for granted, these folks turn ideas into code. They make a thought consumable, a desired action attainable…stuff that works.

They are mysterious and essential. Great ones are in high demand, especially Drupal chefs. But they’re not machines. They are actually quite human although they do talk kinda funny. They get mixed up and back on track. Tired and revived. Inspired and bored. Cranky and less cranky. Good luck guessing which side they’re on at any given moment, though. That’s fun for the project managers.

Here’s a thought:  a good web developer is neither a slave nor a prophet. Think somewhere in between Chuck Heston as Ben-Hur and Moses and you’re getting close.

When they are working all nighters trying to post an update for a sprint deadline…that’s sweaty rowing, grunting, shirtless kind of work. Down in the dank galley, below sea-level, making the ship move “that way”.

Why “that way”? Just keep rowing, Ben, and don’t go dying on me before I can send this link to the client.

“Galley-slaves lived in unsavoury conditions, so even though some sentences prescribed a restricted number of years, most rowers would eventually die, even if they survived the conditions, shipwreck and slaughter or torture at the hands of enemies or of pirates.”
from wikipedia

Yet, when you’re frantically looking for a custom web dev solution and there’s only one person in the conference room who could even posit a plausible scenario, that’s when you say to yourself “If only I could go up on that mountain and come down with a useful answer (or ten) like he can! What a commanding presence (no pun intended). Take me to the promised land!”

That’s when you start to think of that developer as if he could part the Red Sea…on the low end of your budget range. Well, that hasn’t happened in thousands of years. But there is always hope!

Now we can finally bring this blog post to something resembling a point.

If you think of your developer as the galley slave, you don’t trust him enough. You’re excluding him from the crucial conversations up on deck and you’re ignoring that he’s likely exhausted and apathetic. That’s going to be bad for your project and no one will be happy.

If you treat him like a prophet, maybe you trust him too much. You’re offloading responsibility that is more yours than his. Why?  He’s got enough else to worry about. Or, as brilliant as he is at what he does (code), you are more right about what you do (ideas). It’s impossible to predict which times, so don’t just check out and think the prophet-developer will know “the way”. Explain it well and discuss it thoroughly so you avoid miscommunications. Like what happened to Lot’s wife…

Remember:  the developer should always be thought of as part of your team…challenged, trusted, enabled, and given credit when credit’s due. Just like you, he needs support and guidance to do his best work.

Happy Friday.  Hug a developer this weekend!

Thou Shalt Not Make Me Browser Test for IE6.

blog ping