“Some teams are orders of magnitude more effective than others, turning around business solutions in days or even hours. Their secret is a combination of smart technology choices, great development habits and a powerful team dynamic. In this talk Dan describes a number of patterns of behaviour that he’s identified working with some great teams, beyond the basics of co-location, stand-ups and pair rotation. You’ll gain a new appreciation for old techniques like code reviews, and even working in silos won’t seem so bad!”
Dan North @ New Developers Conference in London
How to Develop an Employee Career Path
- Developing an employee across a predefined path can take talented employees out of a role they are good at and fill it with a less talented employee. Instead, develop multiple paths and let the employee decide what path they want to take (role expert vs. trainer vs. manager).
- Establish a model of specific tasks employees can specialized in, while maintaining a general knowledge of others to retaining a loose integration between team silos.
- If an employee wants to transfer from one silo to another, develop a clear path to do so.
- Expecting the employee to be a “Jack of all trades” prevents them from mastering specific roles and inhibits their growth.
- An “earned autonomy” path can be more engaging and motivating for some employees than a management career path.
- Each new step in the path should come with either a perk (ie. earned autonomy, ) or increased responsibility with compensation.
- Identify early what path employees want to take and mentor them across this path.
- Having a clear and defined career path will increase employee engagement.
- Engaged employees call in sick 33% fewer times a year than disengaged employee.
Eric Davis 