What are the most important skills for a web developer?
The title of this article could have variations and from my
point of view, it would still make sense. If you are a web developer,
mobile application developer, engineer, or software developer, this article is
for you.
Therefore, without wasting any more time, I will tell you
which are the most important skills, so that you do not get anxious;). The
most important skills a web developer should have are communication skills! These
skills will help you to be a functional member of the team, they will help you
in your day-to-day - and to grow professionally -, and your team to better
develop its functions.
When do I have to use my communication skills?
Your communication skills are necessary when you have to
write the documentation for an API, framework, or library,
when you have to send emails or messages to your colleagues
or collaborators or even you are forced to get up from your chair
to talk to one of them, for any doubt yours or his.
Communication skills are important if you want
to convey complex concepts to another person and to collaborate with it as
a good software developer. In addition, if you have them well
developed, you will “have an advantage” in the job market, as companies can ask
you for them in job interviews.
Therefore, you can no longer consider these skills, as " secondary" skills, even if they are soft skills. This means that communication skills are important if you want to have a successful career as a developer - positioning yourself as a valued member of the team - and be able to communicate complex ideas to non-tech people, such as communicating directly with your human clients. Is there something more human than communication
As I know you have some " communication problems ",
and you need to be able to communicate technical concepts to non-technical
people, today we will review five (5) of the characteristics, and essential
aspects for you to improve your communication. They are elements that will
help you communicate better as a developer.
1 work on your listening skills
I think there is no better way to start being a great
communicator than to be willing to be a great listener
("listener"). In the same way that before starting to solve a
technical problem, you need as much information as possible before proposing
the best solution, communication also needs access to all the information
previously and will only be effective when both parties reach a point of
understanding. mutual.
Only in this way can we speak of great
communication. We are talking about technical concepts, which can vary
according to training - library vs library -, framework -
module vs plugin -, approach, paradigm - function vs method -, architecture,
language, etc, to say the same thing.
Failure to listen in this context can result in differences
in understanding, implementation, programming errors, extended lead times, or
disappointments due to unmet expectations.
To be a good listener, use the following tactics:
1. Make sure you understand what the other person is saying
2.Listen to the end
I recognize that knowing how to listen to the end without
interrupting is one of the most difficult skills to work with, at least for
me. Especially in those moments when you think you already know
what he is going to say, and you think you already have the solution. :)
This is a conversation, therefore it is important to give
the other enough time to say everything they have to say and then contribute
with your idea, question, or doubt. This action shows that you are
courteous and avoid future problems with your co-workers, or collaborators.
3 use positive body language
Very important. Talking to someone who is physically
interested in the conversation is not the same as talking to someone who is
not. Using positive body language, such as “balanced” eye contact, good
posture, and focusing on the conversation can be very productive for both of
you.
2.Share your ideas, speaking in public
One of the most common ways software developers use
to express or share their ideas is by speaking in public. Speaking in public does not necessarily mean doing it in a congress or conference, it can
be simply in the presentation of a product that your team has developed, and
you have to do it with different people at the same time.
This is interesting because if you advance in your career
you will have more opportunities or possibilities to speak in public and
sometimes your audience will not have technical knowledge, other times you will
have an audience with a lot of technical knowledge. My recommendation is
that regardless of the two, do not stop practicing a lot before the presentation.
3 take care of your tone in writing
I think that written messages are very good and have taken
their place in our digital age. It is very easy to send an
email or message by slack or basecamp, but with this
ease also comes great responsibility.
Although we do not want to hurt, what you write can have a
negative impact on the other person - client, collaborator -, or create
conflicts if the tone in the writing is not careful. It is
almost impossible to know how the other is emotionally at the moment they are
going to read your message, and if the tone is not careful it can cause
problems, especially because the other does not know how you are emotionally
either. That is why it is important to empathize with others.
4. make empathy with others
Empathy is putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying
to understand what they think and what they feel. As a developer, you
must have empathy because you are developing products with people and for
people. On the one hand, it is important that you know how to communicate
by understanding the role of each collaborator - other developers, designers,
directors -, and on the other, understanding the needs of the people who will use
your product so that this product is good for them.
Empathizing with others allows you to understand and
communicate more effectively. For this reason, in your team it is
important, for example, to know the motivations, passions, origin of other
people - not all technicians know all the acronyms you use internally and
all non-technicians need context to understand technical terms and concepts -
so you can adapt your way of communicating if necessary.
I leave you a basic exercise: Review your last sent
emails and imagine for minutes that what you say to someone, someone says it to
you. How's it going? If you think it is necessary to call someone, do
it now!
5.Practice it
"Practice makes perfect", as the saying
went. In the same way that you should practice your staging publicly, you
should also practice other communication skills in controlled environments - at
home, alone, with someone you trust, or even with someone you don't know, and
there is no problem in fail again or again. The important thing is to
improve, practicing it is the formula, because “we are what we do
repeatedly”.
Conclusion
To conclude, I believe that communication skills should be
as for or more important than technical skills, since from my point of view, and I
speak from experience, many of the problems in software development teams have
their origin mainly in problems of communication, rather than technical
problems.
If you are a software developer or are responsible for a software development team, I encourage you to improve or invest in this area by
practicing the points discussed in this article. There are many more
skills, but these will help you establish a good foundation for communicating
effectively with other people.
It is possible and the results can be tremendous as they
allow projects to move forward and organizations move forward!
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