"Who do we want to work with?" is a question that generated a lot of discussion at the Gaslight retreat. The dream is a pipeline spewing out work opportunities as fast as we can put it in buckets and deliver it. It's not always like that, so is it presumptuous to talk about vetting the people we do work for? No, because if we don't, they might get really mad at us someday for not doing it.
Every person who has done any level of independent work, has felt the pain and regret of roping themselves into a bad project that there seems to be no good way out of. It's not because every independent developer is unlucky, but it always happens. The reason is that no developer cares about managing projects until they get sick of failing ones. It's about insuring your own mental health and well being. You learn to ask yourself "Is it both possible and highly likely, that by taking on this project, I can make this person, who is paying me no small amount of money, HAPPY?"
A lot of that depends on who that person is. In our discussion of projects past, lip service was paid to positives factors like green field and project work; and negative factors like brown field, staff aug, and subcontract work. In every case though, an example was posed of a memorably good project having one or more of those negative factors. None was really a deal-breaker in the right situation. None, except for one.
Given a project meets holds some obvious value, lack of direct client engagement was the one deal breaking factor that was discussed more than all others combined.
Lack of attention from your client on a project can provoke negative psychological consequences. Not talking to your client regularly can induce doubt and paranoia. Inability to ship code or get stories accepted, can provoke discouragement and apathy. Clients, treat your development team like an adorable little puppy. Give them plenty of love and attention and guidance. Developers, treat your clients like your kids who are away from home. Kindly request that they call you daily, and encourage them to do their homework.
When we're talking to people who we might to do work for, we're basically asking questions like:
- How many hours can you spend talking to us each week?
- How quickly can you respond to and accept our work?
- Can you / Are you willing to write stories for features?
- What was your previous team like?
Ask the last one. People who speak ill of previous developers are comparable to people who yell at waitresses.
So there it is, touchy-feely engagement is the key to success. Overshadowing all other considerations, the correlation between positive engagement and project health can be downright palpable. Now, go take your development team for a walk!