Creating Perception

Posted by berek on Wednesday, March 9. 2011

When you are working on non-visual aspects of your project it can be hard to demonstrate to managers and customers that you are making strides to your goal.  You need to be able to show that things are getting done, you need a way to demonstrate your kicking ass and you need to help create that perception.

Version control and issue trackers can be a very powerful tool to create that needed perception.  You should be using these tools anyway.  Any size development team should be using them, even if it is just you.

Version Control

Version control systems allow teams to backup, share, and collaborate effectively.  You can also use it to show all the commits you have pushed to the code base.  By writing good code and committing new code on a regular basis it shows that your are contributing to the project and getting things done.

Issue Tracking

Managers and customers should really like issue tracker software because is allows them to see what bugs and features are being implemented.  If you are clearing bugs out like the Orkin man then managers will be able to see your work. 

Providing time spent on an issue, on going updates, and estimated time will provide valuable information to your manager for future planning and help them realize your value.

Creating, updating, and removing issues would also help.  By helping to maintain issues you are showing that you care about the project and that you understand what it should be doing.

Integration

Having your version control and issue tracker integrate with each other is also a very good idea.  Many issue trackers will recognize new commits and update the issue automatically.  Some will also give statistics on you is committing and countless other breakdowns.

Doing your work is not always enough.  Your manager needs to know how awesome you are but you want to do it the right way. 

Do great work and use great tools.



The author does not allow comments to this entry

Quicksearch

Search for an entry in /dev/weblog:

Did not find what you were looking for? Post a comment for an entry or contact us via email!

cronjob