It may be the line of business I am in (consulting), but it seems like finding how to evaluate developers is a common challenge.\u00a0 There are discussions and even arguments about developer value that impact employees, projects, and even companies.\u00a0 Although I do not have some divine insight to provide, I do have some food for thought as you consider this obstacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most significant challenge in finding the correct mix of skills and adequate compensation is that the growth from low to high developers is not a straight line.\u00a0 The increase in productivity is geometric.\u00a0 Thus, a senior developer is often more productive than junior developers splitting the same compensation.\u00a0 That means that pure math is not going to help you compare resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We see this in the way off-shore teams produce when compared to local resources.\u00a0 Not all off-shore teams are lower skilled than local talent.\u00a0 However, they often are.\u00a0 The whole model of off-shore is based on quantity over quality so you can get a team of developers for the price of a local one.\u00a0 The odds would imply that this will always be a better approach (more is better).\u00a0 Unfortunately, that is not the case.\u00a0 Those lower cost resources are not going to bring as much value to the table.\u00a0 There are a few cases where this will work out better, but those are rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thing to focus on when evaluating software developers is that they are problem-solvers more than skilled technicians.\u00a0 The ability to write more code in less time has no value if the code does not provide needed solutions.\u00a0 I often use the terms coder and developer to distinguish between these skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, the real developer value is not in their ability to write code or even understand a language.\u00a0 The value comes from their ability to analyze and solve problems.\u00a0 Now that we have looked at what gives the most developer value, it is time to consider compensation and bonuses.\u00a0 This gets far more tricky.\u00a0 Although you can argue on both sides of this (hours spent or tasks completed), it turns out that both are flawed.\u00a0 Sometimes it takes many hours to slug through a solution,\u00a0 at other times your best developer can crank out a solution in a tenth of the time of lesser skilled ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hate to say it, but I find that honesty on both sides is the best answer.\u00a0 When you balance out the good and bad luck that impacts developers (and dealing with the mistakes of others) then it seems that hourly pay works best.\u00a0 That assumes these things balance out.\u00a0 The good news is that it reduces the level of scrutiny needed.\u00a0 Hours are easy to track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you want to compare developers, you will need to track progress over multiple challenges or projects.\u00a0 If you have a small number of comparison points, then it is easier to make a mistake.\u00a0 If you only check a reference or two (or see only one or two reviews) then the odds of making a mistake increase considerably.\u00a0 Take your time and gather enough information It may be the line of business I am in (consulting), but it seems like finding how to evaluate developers is a common challenge.\u00a0 There are discussions and even arguments about developer value that impact employees, projects, and even companies.\u00a0 Although I do not have some divine insight to provide, I do have some food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[32,18],"class_list":["post-482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-topics","tag-comparisons","tag-team-building"],"yoast_head":"\nHours or Tasks?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ok, Hours Works Best<\/h2>\n\n\n\n