Developers crank out code.
Not by how many lines they do, or how much they get out the door, but by how they design it, test it, debug it, architect it, smoke test it, and compare it against different frameworks, etc, etc, etc.
They do all that work to crank out code.
When doing all those tasks, developers go into a tunnel (or the cave). I love working in the cave, my headphones are on (sometimes no music), and I’m just working away focused on those problems because I need to get them done.
To crank out code.
As a Dev leader, it’s important to give your team this time to work in a cave, get in the zone, find their happy place, grind through it and deliver. But you also need to know the pulse, you need to know how far they are going and whether they are still on track. The hard part is figuring out what it takes to get that answer without asking your team every hour and finding the right balance for them to succeed and for you to know what is happening.
Remember, the most asked question of every Dev Lead – What is everyone working on?
By having the pulse of everyone on your team, you will always know this answer.
