While you are trying to hold onto your branch of a profession that is afflicted with “Bugs,” it is possible to be so focused on your hard skills, that you lose track of your soft skills. Even if the quality of your code is crazy good and you can fix bugs like the world’s best pest controller, you need to consider so much more, to not only be a good but a fantastic developer.
We definitely don’t want to make you feel bad! But sometimes it’s important to reflect.
“Am I like that?”, “Am I doing that?”, “Can I be better?”, “Did the pants always fit this tight?”.
This is the first article of a series that will help you become a better developer and maybe even a better person.
If you should think you are already amazing enough and you’d love to marry yourself (Sologamy is a legal thing!) - Congrats!
For everyone else: Here are 8 soft skills, for you as a developer, that is super helpful to have.
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Communication
Effective Communication is probably as important in a job as it is in a relationship.
Don’t just hear, listen, give feedback speak clearly and let people finish talking. Good communication also means for a developer to be able to explain highly technical things, so non-technical co-workers and clients understand. To know when to make it short and when to go into detail. Let’s be honest here, we all stop listening to chatterboxes after a while, right?
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Teamwork
“Teamwork makes the dream work,” you know that! Yes sure, people can be incredibly vigorous, but sometimes, and sometimes happens often, you will need to work in a team. It’s no drama not to have the same opinion on everything, a different point of views can actually be super helpful.
Listen, let them talk (see 1.) and be helpful. Good Teamwork will also create a great atmosphere at work.
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Patience
You want others to be patient, so you should be patient with them too. Not everyone understands how the code works or how long it takes to write it. If someone asks you to do something and underestimates the scope of that task, yeah you might want to implode. Take a deep breath in and out and use your communication skills - everything will be fine!
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Time management
Important!! And the keyword here is routine. You’ve already achieved much, knowing how long it takes for you to do your daily tasks and to block a certain timeframe for it. We at hy are big fans of the so-called “Pomodoro Method.” Meaning, you work 25 minutes and take a 5-minute break. After 100 minutes of work, you make a break of 15 to 20 minutes (Pomodoro Desktop Timer). There are so many more methods, just try them and find one that suits your workflow best.
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Teaching
Even if you’re only at the start of your developer career, you can share more knowledge with people than you might think! Everyone should contribute to the “knowledge pool” in a company. You gather, and you cede, this is how you learn to swim in the working world.
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Adaption
We know, you’re probably already used to change. Looking at the development of the internet in the past ten years, it is relatively clear, why the ability to adapt is so essential. It is guaranteed, that you constantly have to learn new skills, that a project you’re working on can get canceled and you will work with a different company. Of course, it is hard to ask everyone to be happy about every change made, but no one wants to work with an absolute no-man. Be open and see the possibilities and advantages of change. This way you stay motivated and might motivate your colleagues too.
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Focus
To be honest, in the world of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other technical distractions, it is really not easy to focus. And that’s exactly why being able to focus is a trait that a lot of employers are mainly looking for in a candidate. Focus, there or not, influences your ability to address something in depth and primarily as a developer that can’t be underestimated.
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Social Skills
Do you know this colleague, that makes everyone laugh? That never gossips, and that makes you upset if he doesn’t show up for work?
BE THAT PERSON!
Then, at the end of the day, if you can’t connect with anyone, how do you want to sell your ideas? That will ultimately come down to obey orders rather than issue them.
And? Got Skills?
The next article will show you possibilities on how you can challenge yourself to be a better developer. Till then a non-developer related challenge: Don’t complain about anything for a whole month - it’s f* hard, I tell you that!
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