Neglected obstacles hinder production and demotivating yourself or your team, so what’s the best way to get rid of these issues quickly and easily? Picture this component of work to be similar to an emergency department (ER) doctor’s day. Consider a patient who comes in with a physical condition or complaint. Your job as an ER doctor is to rapidly diagnose the problem, treat it, and provide prevention actions.

Everyone hits stumbling blocks, so don’t beat yourself up. Though there’s the harsh reality of coding that does not follow a set of predetermined stages, it is more akin to creativity and scientific discovery. We’ll go over the three measures to help you overcome these obstacles.

1. Diagnose
2. Resolve
3. Prevent

 

1) Diagnose

Limit your search
Start big, then hone in on your strategy. Imagine a funnel with a variety of hurdles for an engineer to encounter when identifying an issue. These obstacles might range from technological challenges to communication breakdowns, but they all have the same effect: they slow down production and demotivate yourself or your engineer teammates. Begin removing obstacles by making a list of general reasons why you could get stuck.

Here’s a rundown to get you started:

• ▪ Ineffective prioritization
  ▪ There is no clear direction
  ▪ New and innovations in technology
  ▪ Learning new languages
  ▪ Communication issues, either vocal or written

 

Clarify

There should be no place for assumptions. Improper communication frequently leads to more hurdles. If your teammate is facing an issue and he or she comes to you, here are some clarifying questions or ways to ensure that you correctly diagnose the roadblock:

• a) If I’m not mistaken, you’re saying… (in your own words, rephrase the question)?
  b) Did I understand what you stated correctly?
  c) Are there any other stumbling blocks you’re encountering or expect to encounter?

 

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2) Resolve

It’s time to remove obstacles. Because different hurdles necessitate different solutions, we’ll go over some of the most typical roadblocks you or your teammate engineers may encounter and how to overcome them.

Changing priorities 

Your engineers may become discouraged or overwhelmed by a lack of organization if goals or project priorities are continually altering. The following are some of the solutions to shifting priorities:

• ▪ Kanban board is a visual representation of timelines and projects.
• ▪ Communication with project management and your team is always open.
• ▪ For all information, there is open documentation.

 

Limited resources

Is your team equipped with the necessary technology and resources to accomplish the job on time? Consider making a comparison between the software you use and the software your team will be utilizing. This phase might help to simplify communication and consolidate project notes. Here are some lists to think about making based on what you observe and what your team sees:

• ▪ Channels of communication available
• ▪ Apps for task management
• ▪ Documentation

 

Debugging

Using keyword expertise, tap into the abundance of knowledge supplied by external and internal resources. For example, a recent talk with an engineering manager acquaintance revealed that understanding what keywords to search into Google, Stack overflow, or internal wiki documents is a useful skill for removing barriers. Furthermore, don’t be hesitant to reach out to diverse developer communities and use tribal wisdom to help you overcome obstacles. Here are some of the most typical sites to look for answers:

• ▪ Google
• ▪ Stack Overflow
• ▪ Google Reddit
• ▪ Slack channels
• ▪ Internal wiki documents

 

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3) Prevent

Every resolve should be followed up by a room for input. Prevent obstacles by anticipating and preparing solutions for identifying and resolving roadblocks the next time you or your engineers encounter a problem. The cornerstone for good barrier prevention is communication.

What could we do differently to improve?

Spend time asking your engineers what may have been done to prevent the barrier in the future after any process of discovering and resolving a roadblock. Roadblocks may certainly appear in the future, but each experience should improve the efficiency of the unblocking process. Spending the extra time to hear comments shows your support for the engineer and streamlines the procedure for the next roadblock.

During 1:1’s, you can ask your teammate engineers the following questions:

• a) What are some of the communication challenges you’ve encountered?
  b) What could have aided you in resolving your problem more quickly?
  c) What could have been done differently to avoid a similar stumbling block in the future?
  c) Is there anything I can offer in terms of resources?

 

Provide enough opportunities for skill improvement

According to a recent research by Pluralsight, inadequate employer support was cited as a hurdle by 21% of developers, while budget concerns were cited by 32% of developers. Assist your engineering team and maintain lines of communication open for feedback on engineering assistance. Providing learning resources for your engineering team achieves a balance between autonomy and competence. One-size-fits-all resources are simple to use, but they aren’t always as effective.

To keep your engineers up to date and avoid future roadblocks, use the following learning model:

• Frequency: Monthly
• Length: 3 hours
• Time of day: During working hours
• Technology of interest: Cloud management
• Course Difficulty Level: High

 

All the best!