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In my marketing career I’ve asked developers to do a great many things. Like a 4 year old pleading for candy, I’m always asking for something. “Please, please can you move that button?”, “Can you run just one more report, could ya, could ya?” If I have built up a rapport over time with the person, I’m very likely to get a smile and a “sure, no problem”. If I get a growl, it is a sure sign of an unmotivated developer. So, I wanted to find out what motivates a developer…what’s your carrot?I found answers by reading Nick Halstead’s blog entry on what motivates programmers. Another excellent read is Joel on Software’s Field Guide to Developers. Here’s a summary of my learning:

Biggest Carrots for Software Developers

• Better Hardware
  • Computer: hot and fast
  • Monitor: flat and large
  • Tech Gadgets: new and numerous
• Better Projects
  • More Solving Tasks: automation, computation, perspiration
  • Less Non-Solving Tasks: reports, bugs, and documentation
  • Latest Languages/Frameworks: NOT Cobol or Pascal
  • Meaningful: Many users, lofty goals
• Better Office Environment
  • Quiet: (ear buds + cube farm) OR (walled office) OR (work from home) = Sweet Serenity
  • Chairs: Aeron if at all possible
• Better Managers
  • No Micromanaging: Mmm-Kay?
• Better Work Culture
  • Meetings: Preferably never
  • Respect: Programmer experts not typing monkeys
  • Colleagues: Really smart not pretending to be
• Better Pay
  • Seriously

Like other professions, pay becomes less of a concern when the other carrots are being dangled. That’s a good thing because I can’t give my developer friends a raise every time I want a new screen built. What I can do is send a thank you note to their manager, or bring them a t-shirt from the next conference I attend. That should put a smile on their face. As far as long-term developer retention and motivation is concerned though, their bosses better start growing some carrots.

Photo by grumpstone

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