Listen to Your Experts

Today, we continue our month-long series on "Devs are Different." We first explored how developers can have an outsized impact on your organization due to how technology amplifies their efforts. Last week, we confronted reality: developers are your most valuable assets, not only because they are expensive but because they are too critical to business outcomes "to be managed by Excel sheets and gut feel." Read on to hear how developers are opinionated experts that you should listen to. 

In today's business landscape, developers are the architects behind digital transformation, driving innovation and value creation in companies big and small. But, too often, their insights and expertise are left untapped, relegated to the sidelines in favor of top-down decision-making. The truth is that actively listening to your developers can unearth a treasure trove of invaluable insights that can propel your products, services, and team dynamics to new heights. And it's easier than you might think with tools like DevClarity Pulse, which has been designed to help dev leaders capture and understand the unique perspectives of their teams in real-time. 

Companies often see developers simply as translators of business ideas into lines of code. This misconception does a disservice to developers and the companies they work for. In reality, developers are problem solvers, system architects, and domain experts. They understand the nuances of the user experience, the limitations of existing systems, and the potential for innovation. The best developers also deeply understand business processes, customer needs, and market trends. Reducing them to mere code generators misses the insights and expertise they bring to the table. 

These are highly paid experts you have built your company around. They are the individuals who work directly with the tools and technologies that power your business. They are uniquely positioned to offer insights into system limitations, suggest areas for potential improvements, and provide crucial feedback on your process. The developer's voice can be a decisive factor in the success of a project. Ignoring it is more than just shortsighted; it's a missed opportunity. 

Another stereotype needs dispelling: Developers don't like to talk. What we have found is that developers are not being asked the right questions in the right way. The onus is on CTOs and Development Leaders to engage developers in meaningful conversations. So, what are the right questions? Ask targeted questions like, "Are there any bottlenecks in our current development workflow that you think we should address?" or "What's one thing you think we could change to make our codebase more maintainable?" These types of questions show that you value a developer's expertise and invite them to think critically about the systems they work with daily. Over the last month, we have had a 96% response rate to open-ended questions to developers. 

Active engagement is key for CTOs and Development Leaders committed to tapping into this expertise. Tools like DevClarity Pulse are here to help you bridge the communication gap, offering an easy and efficient way to capture, understand, and act on the insights your developers can provide. In a tech landscape that's more competitive than ever, can you afford not to listen?