Moving things forward

Hey 👋 - Ilya here.

What's up and welcome to the Weekly One on One!

Here's one quick tip on how to Level Up as a developer.

Today's issue takes about 2 minutes to read.

Enjoy.

In this week's issue, you're going to learn how to create traction and move things forward even if you don't have all the knowledge, expertise, or decision power.

If you follow this blueprint, you'll increase the chances that you can create an enormous impact on the company and team.

Unfortunately, most developers are so busy writing code or avoiding proper communication, that they never stop to examine how they can improve in this area.

We will talk specifically about

1. People and
2. Decisions

The heart of any project you come across as a developer is decisions and their execution by a team of people.

Sitting with the right people at one table ensures that all relevant information is present. It speeds up the decision-making and reduces the back and forth of "let's take it offline|when X is back from vacation". Making decisions in the right way increases the chances of success and speed of their implementation.

Let's dive in.

People to involve

Especially in bigger organizations where no one has all the knowledge you can quickly get stuck in loops.

Some people might know. Some might think they know but they're wrong. Like with code, when changing something in one place can break something seemingly unrelated, some decisions may impact people and projects from other parts of the organization.

Ask yourself:

1. Who cares?
2. Who knows?
3. Who must agree?

By involving people who know things you're making sure that all technical aspects are covered.

Adding people who care or must agree, you prevent potential communication/politics/ego disasters that might impede your project. You might also find overlaps with other projects and get some valuable information you would miss otherwise.

Avoid having too many cooks in the kitchen: Involve as many people as needed BUT as few as possible.

Anatomy of Decisions

Every decision should have those parts

1. Who
2. Does what
3. By when
4. How will you follow up

1-3 are straightforward. Knowing how you will follow up will help you set expectations upfront.

• Status meeting (schedule it now)
• Email/slack update on milestones
• whatever works for you...

Have a place in your notebook or set up a reminder on things you expect a follow up with a date. Helps quickly see whats due, done and whats pending.

Not all decisions are made equal

There are four ways to decide something:

1. Command: You (or someone else) decide. Everyone else follows.
2. Consult: Gather input from others. Then command.
3. Vote: Discuss options, then put them to a vote. Majority decides.
4. Consensus: Only decide if everyone can agree.

Think beforehand about how you want the decision to be made.

That's it.

TL;DR

1. Involve people who care, know, or must agree
2. Decide on who, what, by when, and follow up

That's all for this One on One. 1 tip at a time to Level Up as a developer.

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See you again next week.

Cheers,

Ilya