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> As an employer however, we've found it hard to always keep our developers motivated and executing on time. The only time I've seen this to be a "problem" is

> As an employer however, we've found it hard to always keep our developers motivated and executing on time. The only time I've seen this to be a "problem" is when one of the following is true: A) Non-technical people are responsible for the estimates and/or have the ability to make changes to the requirements without understanding the complexity of the new requirements. B) They are stuck fixing bugs instead of doing new feature development due to technical debt. C) There is a serious communication problem. D) People want fixed, written in stone deadlines before the prototyping is done when things are still too fluid for anything resembling a good time estimate is possible. For instance, the only deadline I've majorly missed at my present workplace is the one project I told my boss was impractical, a terrible idea, and to please give it to someone else because I don't have the temperament to handle such requests. I'm sure some "business" person responsible for it considers it a "motivation and executing on time" problem despite the fact I basically said this was a terrible idea in front of the entire IT department in an official meeting with minutes being taken. Are you completely certain none of these 4 exist as an employer?

georgehotelling 11y ago
A, B and D would be affecting on-site developers just as much as the remotes, but C (communication) is the thing that requires unique abilities for a remote worker. If either the worker or the company is not good at communicating, that will cause serious problems. Poor communication from the managers can easily cause poor motivation and execution problems from the workers. If a worker is not communicating blocks or reaching out for the help they need, that can also lead to those problems.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  Yes but I don't agree "C" is a "unique" ability for remotes. Our operations/IT stuff always has someone who is technically remote due to business travel. I have a side project with volunteers working on it remotely as well. I don't see it as a separate problem. People either can communicate effectively via text/phone....or they can't. In an office environment, you still need that. About 50% of my stakeholders are "remote" as they work in other companies many miles away.

georgehotelling 11y ago

A, B and D would be affecting on-site developers just as much as the remotes, but C (communication) is the thing that requires unique abilities for a remote worker. If either the worker or the company is not good at communicating, that will cause serious problems. Poor communication from the managers can easily cause poor motivation and execution problems from the workers. If a worker is not communicating blocks or reaching out for the help they need, that can also lead to those problems.

fweespeech 11y ago
Yes but I don't agree "C" is a "unique" ability for remotes. Our operations/IT stuff always has someone who is technically remote due to business travel. I have a side project with volunteers working on it remotely as well. I don't see it as a separate problem. People either can communicate effectively via text/phone....or they can't. In an office environment, you still need that. About 50% of my stakeholders are "remote" as they work in other companies many miles away.