How to communicate with your Web Developer?

A few weeks ago we were talking about some of the communication skills necessary for developers. We saw that these skills are useful from the moment they want to transmit complex concepts to other people. The goal is to improve collaboration. How to communicate with your Web Developer?

Others must also know how to communicate

However, not only developers need to improve communication in web development. If you are a product owner, project manager, client, or have some other role in which you need to work directly and jointly with a web developer, you also need to work on communication skills and, above all, learn to communicate with your web developer. Therefore, today seems like a good day to share with you 6 suggestions, which without being exactly communication skills, will help you communicate better with your web developer.

Know your requirements and document it

It is very common for the promoters of a web project to be so focused on seeing their product developed that they often forget about its needs or requirements. Does it sound familiar to you?

Knowing how to explain your requirements to the developer should be the first step for the effective development of your web application, but to explain it to another person you must first know your requirements. Descriptions such as " I want my web application to look like Twitter, but different " can be vague and confusing for the developer.

Answer developer questions

That is why you should be prepared to answer some questions about different scenarios, which will be asked by the developer, or the systems analyst. It is true that you should not have all the answers at the moment, but knowing how to discuss (your) project will help the developer, and the project will have a better chance of being a success.

Answering the questions is positive, and you should also be able to document - yes, good documentation matters - about requirements or needs, regardless of the (inherent) difficulty you may have.

Any type of documentation, preferably with UI sketches and flowcharts, will help you to explain and identify the functionalities and will help the developer to understand it technically.

Don't use pseudo-code

On the other hand, if you are not a technologist or a programmer, do not write pseudocode, as it would complicate the interpretation by your developer, who will have to 'work' twice as much to understand what you want to do.

Be clear and decisive

In many web development processes, the developer is the last " worker " in the production chain. That often causes the developer to be seen as the culprit for delays, poor decisions, or bottlenecks.

For all this, and especially when different people are involved in the project, it is important to be clear and decisive so that the doubts that the developer has during the development process obtain an answer that does not stop development, and also that all decisions made in your name, be “good” decisions. Being decisive means deciding what the product will be like, taking responsibility for the initial decision, and facing the consequences if something goes wrong, without getting out of hand.

Illustrative image of poor communication with a developer

Always stay one step ahead of the developer

Getting ahead of the developer is nothing more than "having a plan." Before starting your web development you must have a "development plan".

This plan will allow you to establish the order of implementation of the components and features, and if For example it is worth using the MoSCoW method or not, make an MVP, MMP, or MLP for this development.

Therefore, you must be clear about what decisions need to be made before implementation. It is a good idea to have data and test content ready and to have, at least organized the production content, design (basic structure ready for when necessary), images, videos, etc ...

Set realistic deadlines and avoid scope changes

A developer needs to have an agreed deadline to be able to work better. For the deadline to be realistic - this causes a bit of controversy because developers often have difficulty setting realistic deadlines - it is the developer who must set the deadlines, or at least someone on your team who understands the technical difficulties of your new product, application or system. Failing at this point, setting unrealistic deadlines can result in errors that are “impossible” to fix within the stipulated phase.

At the same time, avoid scope changes if you don't want to jeopardize deadlines. Unless the developer had a problem - we'll see in the next point - don't change the scope!

If during development you have seen that the competition has a functionality that you would like to have, no problem, you can implement it either in another version of your website or in another phase of MoSCoW. You can implement it later. Trying to integrate this functionality by changing the scope of the project is a way of misleading the developer from the agreed tasks.

Alter the calendar when necessary

One way of knowing how to communicate with your developer is to understand him and to understand that the development of certain web applications can be complex, and that along the way you will always find a problem that, together with the estimated time to develop the application, will force you to change the scope of the project. This will force you to change the calendar and you should not be afraid, nor transmit this fear, lack of confidence, or insecurity to the developer. Alter the calendar!

Get involved and keep communicating

I have seen many managers disinterested in their own projects because they are no longer a new toy, or because of time-to-market delays, and express it to their developers without thinking about the emotional consequences.

If you are no longer enthusiastic, remember that it is very likely that others are still because your product is their baby now. That's why you should get involved, communicate with your developer on a regular basis, and ask how things are going.

Of course, you should avoid bothering him, because your project will not finish faster if you ask every 30 minutes if it has already finished. Use communication to allow your developer to do his job!

Conclusion

The suggestions referred to in this article are just some of those that you should take into account if you want to communicate, or create a healthy environment and healthy relationship, with good communication with your web developer or application developer in general.

Above all, don't assume anything. It is not true that developing a new search engine "will only take a few hours", if you think so, before putting the developer in a tight spot, go back to point one of this article!

There are many other tips and suggestions on how to communicate with your developer. Can you share your experience in the comments?