Dominique Stender Good software is only the beginning

‘Resources’ or ‘Team’?

My friend Raj just posted a new article on his website on 13apples.com about what I would call respect. I believe every one of us, working in IT or not has encountered a situation similar to the one he describes: Being called a 'resource' and how disrespectful that feels.

I can't help but think that this behaviour of considering the printer paper and the developer team as 'resources' alike must come from companies where the people that plan the work are so far away from where the work is actually done that there indeed is no difference between the printer and the system architect.

Luckily I use to work for rather small companies, where this is not so much a factor. Yes, there also is a 'human resources' department but it doesn't feel like that. If you meet the head of HR while fetching a coffee in the morning and the conversation starts like 'Hi Eva, how have you been?' rather than 'A very good morning Mrs. Koul, I hope you had a pleasant weekend?' and continues with swapping the latest gossip rather than stock market tendencies most of the battle is already won.

It is on each and every one of us to treat everyone with respect. A couple of years back I used to say that 'I'm not here [at work] to make friends' but I realized over the years that it is actually really helpful to be friends with everyone around you. Friendship is about give and take, we all should keep that in mind.

What I do is my passion and I realize that this is not necessarily the case for every other member of the team. For some, IT is actually just a job. It took me a while to realize that and to accept that it is perfectly ok this way. Probably most other industry sectors are much worse at that than IT.

Coming back to respect, I realized that it pays off to treat the people who work with and for you with respect. Kind of obvious when you think of it but knowing it and acting like it are two separate pairs of shoes, right? Treating people with respect obviously includes the team of developers. But I realized that this also includes a few other groups:

The back office people who book your train tickets for business trips and your hotels, they might actually see to it that you have a pleasant trip, not only that the company saves every possible penny.

The system admins who replace your defective keyboard without you filing a ticket in the support system first.

The graphic designer who might just give you those five icons you'd like to have in his free time because he likes the idea.

Notice that I didn't mention those people above you. I believe it is natural instinct to treat them well. But yes, that also pays off.

Bottom line for me: Realize that you are human and every one else is, too. I crack jokes during my sprint planning sessions these days. Yes, in the hierarchy I may be above the team, but who cares. I'm working on one project with them so we might just as well have a great time together while making the project a success.