How to Handle Jerks in Software Development
Photo by Tom Roberts on Unsplash
I love software development. Everything about it is rather fun, and a time. Hunting for bugs, writing new features, making the best code you can is all part of the fun.
The only slight disadvantage can be the people you need to work with. I find the inadequate bosses I’ve worked with challenging. Worse I’ve come in contact with jerks who are just bores.
They’re hard to deal with.
So, I’ve come up with this post to help you know how to deal with those software development jerks.
The Nitpickers
I’ve had my fair share of code reviews that felt more like personal attacks. With a little experience, I’ve learned why they feel like personal attacks — these jerks actually were using code reviews as a proxy attack on other developers.
Photo by Noam Cohen @semineural on Unsplash
It’s not just a review about order of imports or the naming of classes.
It’s putting down your arguments in public just because.
Technique: Ignore them. If they want to change our naming conventions, they should set up a meeting and document it. Otherwise, let their comments slide.
The Passive-aggressive
Ah, my favorite. They never say anything in meetings but give them a keyboard and suddenly they’re the Shakespeare of code critique.
“This could be improved…”
Is potentially an acceptable comment, if it comes with a suggestion of how. It seldom does. It also leaves you wondering that if they know so much why don’t they fix it themselves?
Photo by Chris Reyem @chris_reyem un Unsplash
The truth behind this is that they don’t actually know how to fix the issue that you’re working on. They’re using this as a power play to prove how smart they are.
Technique: Set up a call with them to talk over their suggested solution, and watch their criticisms melt away when they can’t back them up.
The Showboater
This one who likes to play up to the boss.
You come up with an idea, they’ll take it as their own. They repeat your technical solutions verbatim and take the credit for doing so.
If left unchecked showboating works, but it should be the culture of the company that throws them out of the organization.
Photo by Annie Spratt @anniespratt on Unsplash
Technique: If the showboater succeeds and gains a promotion you should leave. Don’t stick around in a toxic culture.
Ghost developers
These are the folks who commit incomplete features or comment out blocks of failing tests. They might as well leave a note saying:
“I hope I’ve left the company before we need to deal with this mess.”
Technique: Stop accepting their pull requests, and if you have the political power ask your colleagues to stop doing the same.
The General Solution
But it’s not all doom and gloom. For every coding villain, there’s a team of heroes who genuinely want to make the product better, and who support and uplift each other. It’s these relationships that can transform a toxic team dynamic into a thriving software development powerhouse.
It’s just a shame managers are seldom up to the task. However, it is a great team that we should all be aiming to work for rather than that next pay rise (probably).
Conclusion
Next time you encounter one of these charming individuals, take a deep breath. Engage when it’s worth it, provide constructive feedback, and sometimes, just let their snarky comments slide into the abyss of ignored Git notifications. The best revenge is writing code so clean, efficient, and brilliant that it speaks for itself.
Who knows, maybe your commitment to excellence will inspire Mr. or Ms. Jerk to rethink their approach.