"Software development projects involve many ups and downs, and there are always some trying times for teams. However, amidst the setbacks, unforeseen challenges, and pressures, team morale can suffer, impacting employee engagement and productivity.\nTo ensure that you get the most out of your development team, it’s essential to keep all members motivated, even during difficult times. Here are some tips for how the best managers keep their teams motivated.\nhttps://twitter.com/randyshoup/status/1075055514097205248\nCommunicate Clear Responsibilities and Expectations\nFew things are more frustrating to developers than doing duplicative or unnecessary work. It almost immediately hurts morale and leads to less invested and motivated employees. Unfortunately, it’s an issue that happens all too often with developer teams.\nTo avoid this, ensure that you provide your team with clear specifications and effectively communicate each team member’s responsibilities. Additionally, regularly check in with team members so that you can quickly identify any miscommunications and make sure the entire team is on the same page.\nFinally, give team members clear deadlines. Confusion or ambiguity about when team members need to complete work can lead to frustrations for everyone. Avoid this issue by being clear about expectations and deadlines.\nEncourage Creativity\nWhile it’s important to provide guidance on each team member’s responsibilities, it’s also helpful to give team members space to be creative. This means giving project specifications and needed outputs from team members and encouraging them to be creative.\nAfter all, software development is one part of engineering skills and one part of creative thinking. You want your team to use their creative thinking to develop the best solutions possible. Additionally, letting developers be creative will lead to increased engagement and productivity.\nBuild Personal Relationships\nhttps://twitter.com/mercywarren76/status/1377038788275343360\n\nWith looming deadlines and lots of pressure from stakeholders, it can be tempting for leaders to forget about the importance of building personal relationships with all team members. This is particularly true when teams are working remotely.\nHowever, you’ll get better results from your employees if they feel like they’re part of the team and that they’re valued as individuals. As a result, it’s important to be intentional about getting to know each team member and helping all team members get to know one another.\nFor in-person teams, this could mean social gatherings, team lunches, or even a team outing. For remote teams, it might mean regular video chats just to catch up, calling each team member to check in, and taking the time to learn about each person on the team. Again, you don’t have to do anything fancy, but the key is being genuine and meaningful. You need to actually care about getting to know each person and value making them part of the team.\nCelebrate\nA good way to build upon relationships is by celebrating your team. If there are individual or team wins, go out of your way to celebrate them -- no matter how small. This shows the team that you notice what they’re doing and appreciate their great work. While individually celebrating work is important, public celebrations can also help inspire employees.\nIn addition, make sure that you celebrate personal accomplishments. Celebrate any milestones that happen - birthdays, babies, weddings, or significant accomplishments outside of work. Not only does this help to make teams feel valued, but it also sends the message that you’re aware of what’s going on and appreciative of what the people on your team are doing. This not only leads to increased motivation but also will help to set a positive workplace culture that further drives productivity and engagement.\nReward Exemplary Work\nEveryone can use a little extra motivation sometimes, and extrinsic rewards like bonuses and friendly competitions can be a great way to do that. So, when possible, offer bonuses for work that goes above and beyond or consider a friendly competition among your team.\nIt’s important to note that if not handled well, competitions can end up negatively impacting morale, so it’s essential to be clear about expectations, leave no ambiguity about what it takes to qualify for rewards, and ensure that all team members have an equal shot of earning the bonus.\nIt doesn’t always have to be a huge reward, but finding ways to reward employees for their work is a great way to keep your team engaged and motivated.\nStart With a Great Team\nA key to having a motivated, engaged, and productive team is ensuring that all team members have the skills needed to handle their responsibilities and carry their weight with the team. Therefore, starting with a talented team is an important first step toward having a motivated and successful development team.\nUpstack can help ensure you’ve got the team members with the specific skills you need. Contact us to start hiring the developers you need today."

Software development projects involve many ups and downs, and there are always some trying times for teams. However, amidst the setbacks, unforeseen challenges, and pressures, team morale can suffer, impacting employee engagement and productivity.

To ensure that you get the most out of your development team, it’s essential to keep all members motivated, even during difficult times. Here are some tips for how the best managers keep their teams motivated.

https://twitter.com/randyshoup/status/1075055514097205248

Communicate Clear Responsibilities and Expectations

Few things are more frustrating to developers than doing duplicative or unnecessary work. It almost immediately hurts morale and leads to less invested and motivated employees. Unfortunately, it’s an issue that happens all too often with developer teams.

To avoid this, ensure that you provide your team with clear specifications and effectively communicate each team member’s responsibilities. Additionally, regularly check in with team members so that you can quickly identify any miscommunications and make sure the entire team is on the same page.

Finally, give team members clear deadlines. Confusion or ambiguity about when team members need to complete work can lead to frustrations for everyone. Avoid this issue by being clear about expectations and deadlines.

While it’s important to provide guidance on each team member’s responsibilities, it’s also helpful to give team members space to be creative. This means giving project specifications and needed outputs from team members and encouraging them to be creative.

After all, software development is one part of engineering skills and one part of creative thinking. You want your team to use their creative thinking to develop the best solutions possible. Additionally, letting developers be creative will lead to increased engagement and productivity.

https://twitter.com/mercywarren76/status/1377038788275343360

With looming deadlines and lots of pressure from stakeholders, it can be tempting for leaders to forget about the importance of building personal relationships with all team members. This is particularly true when teams are working remotely.

However, you’ll get better results from your employees if they feel like they’re part of the team and that they’re valued as individuals. As a result, it’s important to be intentional about getting to know each team member and helping all team members get to know one another.

For in-person teams, this could mean social gatherings, team lunches, or even a team outing. For remote teams, it might mean regular video chats just to catch up, calling each team member to check in, and taking the time to learn about each person on the team. Again, you don’t have to do anything fancy, but the key is being genuine and meaningful. You need to actually care about getting to know each person and value making them part of the team.

A good way to build upon relationships is by celebrating your team. If there are individual or team wins, go out of your way to celebrate them -- no matter how small. This shows the team that you notice what they’re doing and appreciate their great work. While individually celebrating work is important, public celebrations can also help inspire employees.

In addition, make sure that you celebrate personal accomplishments. Celebrate any milestones that happen - birthdays, babies, weddings, or significant accomplishments outside of work. Not only does this help to make teams feel valued, but it also sends the message that you’re aware of what’s going on and appreciative of what the people on your team are doing. This not only leads to increased motivation but also will help to set a positive workplace culture that further drives productivity and engagement.

Everyone can use a little extra motivation sometimes, and extrinsic rewards like bonuses and friendly competitions can be a great way to do that. So, when possible, offer bonuses for work that goes above and beyond or consider a friendly competition among your team.

It’s important to note that if not handled well, competitions can end up negatively impacting morale, so it’s essential to be clear about expectations, leave no ambiguity about what it takes to qualify for rewards, and ensure that all team members have an equal shot of earning the bonus.

It doesn’t always have to be a huge reward, but finding ways to reward employees for their work is a great way to keep your team engaged and motivated.

A key to having a motivated, engaged, and productive team is ensuring that all team members have the skills needed to handle their responsibilities and carry their weight with the team. Therefore, starting with a talented team is an important first step toward having a motivated and successful development team.

Upstack can help ensure you’ve got the team members with the specific skills you need. Contact us to start hiring the developers you need today.

Tips For Motivating Your Development Team

<p>Software development projects involve many ups and downs, and there are always some trying times for teams. However, amidst the setbacks, unforeseen challenges, and pressures, team morale can suffer, impacting employee engagement and productivity.</p>
<p>To ensure that you get the most out of your development team, it’s essential to keep all members motivated, even during difficult times. Here are some tips for how the best managers keep their teams motivated.</p>

          <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center;">
            <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Leading Engineering Teams Through Rapid Change:<br>1. Communication <br>2. Motivation <br>3. Focus<a href="https://twitter.com/lolarobot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lolarobot</a> at the NASDAQ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ctosummit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ctosummit</a> <a href="https://t.co/oQKGNwq5u1">pic.twitter.com/oQKGNwq5u1</a></p>&mdash; Randy Shoup (@randyshoup) <a href="https://twitter.com/randyshoup/status/1075055514097205248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2018</a></blockquote>

          </div>
        
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Communicate Clear Responsibilities and Expectations</strong></h2>
<p>Few things are more frustrating to developers than doing duplicative or unnecessary work. It almost immediately hurts morale and leads to less invested and motivated employees. Unfortunately, it’s an issue that happens all too often with developer teams.</p>
<p>To avoid this, ensure that you provide your team with clear specifications and effectively communicate each team member’s responsibilities. Additionally, regularly check in with team members so that you can quickly identify any miscommunications and make sure the entire team is on the same page.</p>
<p>Finally, give team members clear deadlines. Confusion or ambiguity about when team members need to complete work can lead to frustrations for everyone. Avoid this issue by being clear about expectations and deadlines.</p>
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Encourage Creativity</strong></h2>
<p>While it’s important to provide guidance on each team member’s responsibilities, it’s also helpful to give team members space to be creative. This means giving project specifications and needed outputs from team members and<a href="https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-unlock-your-teams-creativity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> <u>encouraging them to be creative</u></a>.</p>
<p>After all, software development is one part of engineering skills and one part of creative thinking. You want your team to use their creative thinking to develop the best solutions possible. Additionally, letting developers be creative will lead to increased engagement and productivity.</p>
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Build Personal Relationships</strong></h2>

          <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center;">
            <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1) personal motivation/desire to better oneself (relationship can only be a team if both sides pull their weight-can’t have a stallion and a donkey pull a wagon evenly)<br>2)shared values<br>3) personal responsibility (otherwise ur blamed for their problems in life)<br>4)chemistry</p>&mdash; Mercy Warren (@mercywarren76) <a href="https://twitter.com/mercywarren76/status/1377038788275343360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2021</a></blockquote>

          </div>
        
<p><br></p>
<p>With looming deadlines and lots of pressure from stakeholders, it can be tempting for leaders to forget about the importance of building personal relationships with all team members. This is particularly true when teams are working remotely.</p>
<p>However, you’ll get better results from your employees if they feel like they’re part of the team and that they’re valued as individuals. As a result, it’s important to be intentional about getting to know each team member and helping all team members get to know one another.</p>
<p>For in-person teams, this could mean social gatherings, team lunches, or even a team outing. For remote teams, it might mean regular video chats just to catch up, calling each team member to check in, and taking the time to learn about each person on the team. Again, you don’t have to do anything fancy, but the key is being genuine and meaningful. You need to actually care about getting to know each person and value making them part of the team.</p>
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Celebrate</strong></h2>
<p>A good way to build upon relationships is by celebrating your team. If there are individual or team wins, go out of your way to celebrate them -- no matter how small. This shows the team that you notice what they’re doing and appreciate their great work. While individually celebrating work is important, public celebrations can also help inspire employees.</p>
<p>In addition, make sure that you celebrate personal accomplishments. Celebrate any milestones that happen - birthdays, babies, weddings, or significant accomplishments outside of work. Not only does this help to make teams feel valued, but it also sends the message that you’re aware of what’s going on and appreciative of what the people on your team are doing. This not only leads to increased motivation but also will help to set a positive workplace culture that further drives productivity and engagement.</p>
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Reward Exemplary Work</strong></h2>
<p>Everyone can use a little extra motivation sometimes, and extrinsic rewards like bonuses and friendly competitions can be a great way to do that. So, when possible, offer bonuses for work that goes above and beyond or consider a friendly competition among your team.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that if not handled well, competitions can end up negatively impacting morale, so it’s essential to be clear about expectations, leave no ambiguity about what it takes to qualify for rewards, and ensure that all team members have an equal shot of earning the bonus.</p>
<p>It doesn’t always have to be a huge reward, but finding ways to reward employees for their work is a great way to keep your team engaged and motivated.</p>
<h2><strong class="font-bold">Start With a Great Team</strong></h2>
<p>A key to having a motivated, engaged, and productive team is ensuring that all team members have the skills needed to handle their responsibilities and carry their weight with the team. Therefore, starting with a talented team is an important first step toward having a motivated and successful development team.</p>
<p>Upstack can help ensure you’ve got the team members with the specific skills you need.<a href="https://upstack.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> <u>Contact us</u></a> to start hiring the developers you need today.</p>

Engineering Management

Tips For Motivating Your Development Team

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