How to motivate creative devs?

kripstoe

kripstoe

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What has worked for you to motivate and/or have motivated you the most.

It's not uncommon for people in any profession to go through periods where they do not feel very motivated or where they lose interest in what they are doing. Specifically for the developer/coder/[insert IT related title here], what do you feel has an impact?

Go! :)
 
As a developer that is not motivated anymore, something as simple as a "Thank You" would get my mood up.

Some recognition would be nice...damn, we the ones that should be on the ball and know each and every language and design and blah blah blah and when the project is done, the project manager gets the credit. I've heard many times in the company that I work for: "Oh and I would like to thank [insert Project Manager's name here] for driving this project, without him/her, we wouldn't be able to do this and implement this initiative, it has saved the company x amount of money"....

Really? I mean really?

What about the guy that actually did the work? Some recognition please. [i'm on a other tip]:p
 
This article touches the matter:

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2011/07/12/bored_people_quit.html

Walk through your team right now and tell me the project they are working on that floats their boat. It doesn’t need to always be their main project, but there must be a piece of work on their plates that when they talk about it, their eyes light up
Click to expand...

Michael Lopp's entire site is filled with good info for managers of technical people.
 
whenever my motivation dips i listen to 2 eps of this developers life, a podcast by scott hanselman and rob conery.

the eps are 1.0.8 and 1.0.5
the first is a general interviews about motivation and what gets people motivated.

the 2nd is a set of interviews (one of which is dhh, the guy who invented rails) about their projects and how they took off.
 
sp4ceman said:
whenever my motivation dips i listen to 2 eps of this developers life, a podcast by scott hanselman and rob conery.

the eps are 1.0.8 and 1.0.5
the first is a general interviews about motivation and what gets people motivated.

the 2nd is a set of interviews (one of which is dhh, the guy who invented rails) about their projects and how they took off.
Click to expand...

Have that in my car on the iPod for when I'm tired of music. ;)
 
Input

Hype and expectations are not enough for me. What motivates me is when i see people succeeding off of what i was too lazy to do... also when someone is "breathing down my kneck"...

Edit: Since were talking about motivation and success, the best site for this is TED.
 
kripstoe said:
What has worked for you to motivate and/or have motivated you the most.

It's not uncommon for people in any profession to go through periods where they do not feel very motivated or where they lose interest in what they are doing. Specifically for the developer/coder/[insert IT related title here], what do you feel has an impact?

Go! :)
Click to expand...

BI Developer

My issues would be -
1) I dont like working with morons - those that cause re-work or me have to do THEIR jobs.
2) It would be nice if people said thank you when you put in extra effort. Not that this is what is "just expected"
3) Please will people listen and do something when we ask for help. It shows that we actually care!

Biggest problem that I have right now is that we the developers (3 of us) have to continually do re-work due to bad designs from the data modeler (he calls himself a data & solutions architect on linkedin). Raising this with the PM/HR for the last 5 months has not resulted in anything positive for us.

*sigh*

Motivation is at an all time low due to the above 3 points.

If it wasn't for the other 2 dev guys.. i don't think I would still be able to go to work each day.
 
Great thread. Mainly commenting to get notifications.

My main motivation is recognition, and appreciation. But its generally a difficult thing to achieve, as its like a chicken and egg situation. You need motivation to do good work, and to get recognition and appreciation you need do well and be motivated. At some point you need to just put your head down and graft, but I find external factors in my personal life can really hinder this. Maybe money is low, stress levels are high etc. Stuff like that.
 
What motivates me is the fact that I need to eat, pay the bills, have money to do fun things and also have some self-respect. That governs my choices and provides my motivation. If I find a work situation that I dont like, then I raise it. If they dont do anything about and it bugs me enough, I leave. No hating. Just tell them its not working out and so long and thanks for the fish :D

I dont need any flippin management singing kumba-ja to me, telling me I am special and everyone loves me. In fact that is probably gonna cause me to run like hell.

Fortunatly I have mostly worked with adults so I havent had too many problems :D

PS, I have a performance appraisel coming upwhere I have focus all me efforts on not staring at my boss's cleavage and legs. What a bloody nightmare. :D
 
Personally I enjoy a challenge and I think most will agree that as soon as the challenge goes away, the motivation also falls away slightly. I guess that's where personal projects help, but in a company environment I feel that individuals need constant challenges more than a steady stream of work that they've done before.

Peer recognition seems to be quite important amongst you guys.

I thought compensation would have been mentioned more. :)

zippy said:
PS, I have a performance appraisel coming upwhere I have focus all me efforts on not staring at my boss's cleavage and legs. What a bloody nightmare. :D
Click to expand...

Sounds terrible!
 
I hate to sound like the big capitalist, but above all I want to be paid well. Talk is cheap and pats on the back don't have a cometetive exchange rate.

In my experience, companies that pay well also tend to have far fewer of the environmental and work issues others complain about:
- there are far fewer idiots in companies that pay top dollar for talent
- the work tends to be more interesting and challenging (companies that do run of the mill work also tend to pay run of the mill salaries)
- the environment (the building/office quality, dev hardware, general requests that obstruct work, etc), are easily approved (because your worth vs the cost of the 30" monitor you requested doesn't require a complex calculation)
 
zippy said:
What motivates me is the fact that I need to eat, pay the bills, have money to do fun things and also have some self-respect. That governs my choices and provides my motivation. If I find a work situation that I dont like, then I raise it. If they dont do anything about and it bugs me enough, I leave. No hating. Just tell them its not working out and so long and thanks for the fish :D

I dont need any flippin management singing kumba-ja to me, telling me I am special and everyone loves me. In fact that is probably gonna cause me to run like hell.

Fortunatly I have mostly worked with adults so I havent had too many problems :D

PS, I have a performance appraisel coming upwhere I have focus all me efforts on not staring at my boss's cleavage and legs. What a bloody nightmare. :D
Click to expand...
Ignoring your condescending attitude, I would love to be motivated purely by basic human needs, what a simple life.

In my line of work people are generally quite egotistical and ambitious. In terms of recognition, I mean some sort of career enhancement (promotion, pay bump, more responsibility etc). In terms of appreciation, this is just an ego thing, knowing that you're not just another run of the mill dev. I like to work on the important projects, not the mundane.
 
markface said:
Ignoring your condescending attitude, I would love to be motivated purely by basic human needs, what a simple life.

In my line of work people are generally quite egotistical and ambitious. In terms of recognition, I mean some sort of career enhancement (promotion, pay bump, more responsibility etc). In terms of appreciation, this is just an ego thing, knowing that you're not just another run of the mill dev. I like to work on the important projects, not the mundane.
Click to expand...

Lol. Condescending? Why do I have to be motivated by the same things that motivate you in order to not be condescending ? No need to insult me because I have a different view to you.
 
Where I work we have a bonus system. If we reach a certain target in a month then we get a bonus and if we reach a second target then we receive another bonus. Basically the more we get done with the least amount of bugs so that we don't have to work on it again, the better the chance to get those bonuses.

It works in a way. Money talks and the only better incentive that I can think of is time. Money and free time are the two best motivators that I can think of for developers.
 
Interesting and challenging work is the best way to motivate creative devs I think.
 
zippy said:
What motivates me is the fact that I need to eat, pay the bills, have money to do fun things and also have some self-respect. That governs my choices and provides my motivation. If I find a work situation that I dont like, then I raise it. If they dont do anything about and it bugs me enough, I leave. No hating. Just tell them its not working out and so long and thanks for the fish :D

I dont need any flippin management singing kumba-ja to me, telling me I am special and everyone loves me. In fact that is probably gonna cause me to run like hell.

Fortunatly I have mostly worked with adults so I havent had too many problems :D

PS, I have a performance appraisel coming upwhere I have focus all me efforts on not staring at my boss's cleavage and legs. What a bloody nightmare. :D
Click to expand...

zippy said:
Lol. Condescending? Why do I have to be motivated by the same things that motivate you in order to not be condescending ? No need to insult me because I have a different view to you.
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Condescending.

I dont see how I was insulting? More envious.
 
Solitude said:
Where I work we have a bonus system. If we reach a certain target in a month then we get a bonus and if we reach a second target then we receive another bonus. Basically the more we get done with the least amount of bugs so that we don't have to work on it again, the better the chance to get those bonuses.

It works in a way. Money talks and the only better incentive that I can think of is time. Money and free time are the two best motivators that I can think of for developers.
Click to expand...

my last job used a bonus system. it was an abortion. every 3 months you sit with a manager and "sell yourself" and "display your worth" or whatever.

basically everything was tied to this 3 month schedule. people would delay projects just so they have something to deliver next quarter etc etc etc.

much prefer having a 13th cheque and be done with it
 
sp4ceman said:
my last job used a bonus system. it was an abortion. every 3 months you sit with a manager and "sell yourself" and "display your worth" or whatever.

basically everything was tied to this 3 month schedule. people would delay projects just so they have something to deliver next quarter etc etc etc.

much prefer having a 13th cheque and be done with it
Click to expand...

Luckily our bonuses are purely based on the amount of money made by the team. So luckily we don't have to sit with anyone.
 
Ancalagon said:
Interesting and challenging work is the best way to motivate creative devs I think.
Click to expand...

I agree. It also gives the best chance to prove your skills. When I first came to the UK, I worked for one of the top consulting agencies. Everyone was massively impressed when I would tell them who I worked for. But it was boring as hell. All the significant work was outsourced to India. The UK office was basically just a project management function. When I resigned and they offered me an increase I told them I would actually be getting less money where I was going, but the work was more interesting. However it turns out it was a good move financially because the cost of living is less, and I have been getting better bonuses because I deliver good work and I deliver it on time. Our bonuses are not a given and entirely at management discretion.
 
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