Programmers need to have many skills. Often times we are quick to assume that the digital talents of programmers are the most important. But in this evolving workplace we are seeing the importance of programmers to have all types of talents. Many workplaces place emphasis on having a team player and being able to work collaboratively. This is especially important in the tech industry where many people work digitally or virtually. This includes having employees working from home, working from another city or even IT nearshoring your employees and having them in another country. These work trends, of digital work communities, seem only to be growing in demand in this ecosystem. Given these new working environments, developers and programmers need to be able to communicate effectively in order to excel in team environments. So what talents and skills, aside from the technical, does the modern techie need?
On the forefront of skills is having a team mindset. Team focused learning has long been considered an important part of the workplace. Teamwork has long been seen as an effective way to collaborate, problem solve, share workloads, brainstorm and support other coworkers. Essentially, teamwork helps companies be productive. However, despite conventional wisdom offering bits of advice there had not been a large scale investigation into the factors that help promote teamwork. Fortunately in 2012 Google, a company well-known for optimizing employee productivity, began an investigation called Project Aristotle. The aim of the study was to see why some teams did exceptionally well while others did not. Their main finding was not revolutionary, but it reinforces the importance of soft skills. According to Project Aristotle, team members need to be heard and valued.
The psychological safety, as they put it, is one of the most important things for team development and efficiency to grow. How can your team develop a space of psychological safety? Well, a lot of that comes from the ability to handle social situations and places. A judge free zone. This means that all of your employees need to be able to express themselves without fear of repurcussion. This also means that employees and managers need to work on how they deliver feedback, implement rules and diffuse negative workplace disturbances.
Being able to communicate effectively is also incredibly important for near-shoring operations. Near-shoring operations have been steadily rising throughout the. The best developers and programmers are the ones who openly ask questions and promote a creative environment to solve issues and create solutions. When looking at the modern programmer we see someone who can effectively communicate, collaborate, and thrive in a team environment by employing the right attitude.
