#6 is the one that resonates most strongly with me. in my last position there was one of these tiny-dog managers that'd pop in every 15 minutes or so and ask i

#6 is the one that resonates most strongly with me. in my last position there was one of these tiny-dog managers that'd pop in every 15 minutes or so and ask if something was done. at which point i'd spend five minutes explaining why it wasn't. he was the single biggest hindrance to my productivity. managers, don't be that guy. watch the trac task list if you must. don't harass the developers. #3 - i take a little issue with this one, but not much. if it's straightforward to make something a little more flexible, the payoff is generally good. this depends on a few things: how sure are you that you'll be moving in that direction, how much work is it to add in the extra flex, how difficult will it be to connect up later? it's worth thinking about, if only for a few minutes. the payoff could be huge, and even it's not, it's rarely wasted time.