Non-Technical Leaders: Stop Assuming You Understand Developer Culture | DEVOPSdigest>
Dev Ops Digest – Stephen Atwell Armory io
The article starts by highlighting the significant difference in remote work between developers and the general population.
It states that nearly 86% of full-time developers work entirely from home, compared to only 12.7% of the general population.
The IT sector, even before the pandemic, had already embraced remote work, with 59% of developers working remotely full-time.
The article then discusses the average tenure of developers, which is less than two years, compared to an average of 4.1 years in other industries.
This indicates that there is a problem with the developer experience (DevEx), and the article asks why non-technical leaders might be missing important factors.
Understanding the importance of DevEx is highlighted as the first step to improving it.
The article states that more than two-thirds of leaders believe that improving DevEx leads to positive metrics such as customer attraction and retention, customer satisfaction, revenue growth, and profitability.
It also emphasizes that DevEx is crucial for executing business strategies.
The article then points out that developers are more likely to be productive when they feel respected and fulfilled at work.
It cites research showing that 82% of workers attribute their productivity to a sense of happiness at work.
For developers, productivity and DevEx are even more intertwined.
Empowered developers, who are given challenging and intellectually stimulating tasks, tend to be more productive.
The concept of “shifting left” is mentioned, which refers to finding innovative ways to expedite development processes and empower developers.
The article identifies several common issues that impede developer momentum.
These include non-intuitive documentation and processes, multiple non-integrated toolchains, overly complicated CI/CD pipelines, and reliance on outdated legacy systems.
These factors can lead to frustration, reduced productivity, and hinder the progress of developers.
To address these challenges and improve DevEx, the article suggests the importance of platform engineering.
Platform engineers provide developers with the necessary tools and frameworks to enhance their productivity and satisfaction.
It is mentioned that non-technical leaders often don’t understand the difficulties arising from developers’ specialized and complex tools.
Implementing a platform engineering team, which acts as product leaders for internal operations, can help address these issues and provide tailored solutions for developers.
The article concludes by emphasizing the need for non-technical leaders to listen to their developers and make real changes to improve the developer culture within their organizations.
It suggests that either establishing a platform engineering team or a dedicated organizational effort can help break the cycle of high turnover rates and create a more positive and productive environment for developers.
Link: https://www.devopsdigest.com/non-technical-leaders-stop-assuming-you-understand-developer-culture