How can you keep software developers engaged in projects?

I like to provide context - "Why are we doing X activity?" and "What is the value created by this project?" Creating a sense of purpose makes the work more meaningful and helps the team think creatively about how to solve the problem.

Put them on challenging assignments and understand their challenges at the same time. Cross-skilling is important but I believe everyone has inclination towards some or the other area and that should be honored.

Understanding their career plans (learning paths) and giving them opportunity to align their self improvement plans with the project.

Following things would make them engaged: 1. Purpose: People should know why they are doing the project. They should know what value it is going to create at the end user's end. Knowing the purpose and the big picture keeps them motivated with the sense of the impact they are going to create. 2. Freedom : They should feel freedom in taking decisions. They should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from it. However they should fail fast and fail cheaper. 3. Challenge : They should feel challenged while doing the project. It should not be very easy or boring for them. Along with that it should NOT be like, they dont know anything about it or they dont know how to proceed further. They should be provided adequate guidance and mentorship.

To keep developers engaged in projects. I provide clear goals, challenging tasks, and autonomy while offering regular feedback and opportunities for skill development. Foster a collaborative environment, recognize their contributions, and offer flexible work arrangements. Ensure they have the right tools and resources, promote work-life balance, and vary their tasks to prevent monotony. Cultivate a positive company culture that values innovation and well-being, acknowledging that engagement is an ongoing process tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Involving software developers in project planning is crucial for success. It begins with including them from the onset, providing a platform for them to offer insights on technical feasibility and challenges. Active participation in regular planning meetings empowers them in decision-making, especially regarding technical aspects. Establishing feedback loops is essential for continuous updates and adjustments in planning. Transparency about project goals and objectives ensures developers understand the larger context of their work. Most importantly, respecting their technical expertise fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, leading to better project outcomes and increased motivation.

Involving engineers in planning always have proven to be the best thing to keep engineers engaged and motivation. But one can only plan when he/she is aware of the big picture. Help them see the bigger picture. Planning can be very essential tool to keep the partner feeling going on. Arrange customer feedback calls, live environment exposure and business planning and milestone sessions for engineers, so that they can see and support the vision.

This is topic I constantly enforce in every project I'm involved in. At least find one person that is technical lead and can act in the name of the developers. The input and feedback from developers in the earliest stages of project planning will uncover some facts and truths that only developer can foresee.

At the heart of agile lies the close collaboration and openness to change. There is no other (successful) way to deliver a project than with the involvement of all stakeholders from the very beginning. After all you have a team of software developers because they know things you don’t. Let them use and share this knowledge. This will help you avoid unrealistic expectations, unexpected scope changes, deadline pressures and poor fit between your team and your project.

Talvez a parte mais difícil de um projeto seja manter o time engajado e acreditando naquilo que desenvolve. É necessário todos os dias encontrar pontos de interesse dos desenvolvedores em meio as atividades do projeto. Conseguir organizar todas as tarefas de uma forma agradável para os desenvolvedores irá auxiliar muito na execução do projeto como um todo.

Daily stand-ups are powerful tools for balancing autonomy and guidance. Developers are curious, and enjoy resolving issues using their own intellect and experience. In a recent project, one of the developers was tasked with providing an internal UI. His creativity and proactive approach solved three additional challenges, including the one assigned. Autonomy provided him with a sense of freedom to solve the initial issue and design a future-proof UI that addressed scaling issues quickly. During the daily stand-up, he demo'd his new UI and his peers provided input and valuable approval. But they also encouraged him to return to the tasks assigned for that sprint.

As a Software Engineering Manager, I strongly agree with the idea of granting autonomy to developers. It's crucial for fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility. Allowing them to decide how, when, and where they work, as long as they meet expectations, not only keeps them engaged but also boosts their creativity and productivity. It's important, however, to balance this freedom with clear expectations and regular progress monitoring. Providing guidance and support when needed ensures that autonomy doesn't turn into anarchy, maintaining a structured yet flexible work environment.

As the quote goes „with great power comes great responsibility” but also come great benefits. When culture of mutual trust and support is nurtured and valued within your team things like „office presence”, daily stand-ups or status reports become redundant. Nothing speaks louder than a working product. There are numerous well researched and longstanding practices you can incorporate to help build high quality, valuable software without impediments to individual autonomy and team-wide transparency. You don’t have to jump on a quick call with the local baker in the middle of the night to know he’ll have freshly baked, tasty bread you like when you visit in the morning. It’s a professionals way to make it so.

Every team leader knows that keeping team members engaged at 100% at all times is just going to drain their energergy and demotivate them, have opposite effect of what you ultimately want which is giving them opportunity to grow their skills as much as you give them opportunity to employ their skills. Finding room to grow professionally is everyone's desire, but it is the leaders in their workplace that create that environment, not themselves.

Trust them. Engineers who spend 8 hours per day on product work and spare time for pet projects know what technology is on the cutting edge. Give them the opportunity to participate in tech talks (as listeners or contributors), organize hackathons, and ask if there is room for improvement in already existing solutions. There are numerous ways to find challenging tasks.

Many professional developers will already have a trove of ideas, tools, and new toys they’d like to experiment with. You can take up on such a challenge as well. Look for opportunities where you can loosen the requirements and allow for experimentation. Just because the other teams in the organization are using Java doesn’t mean you can’t have an internal tool in Rust or API in Go. Just think about each of your competitors that don’t experiment in this way and how many more tools will you have to deliver better software faster.

One thing I've found useful is appreciation exercise in retrospectives. I find that the best place for appreciation is at the end because it's a great way to close the discussion. It encourages the team to share positive feedback. After doing the exercise a handful of times, my teams will typically include appreciations in other meetings as well. It's one of the best ways to deepen relationships and increase engagement overall.

Recognitions are a must to grow and boost morale. Find a ways to recognize and reward your team member for their smallest achievement. For you and the company it may not sound like a big achievement, but for the team member it may be much bigger and more meaningfull than you can imagine.

I would always emphasize the importance of "invest in employees" as they are the cornerstones for any companies success. Appreciate them by rewards and incentives and they will make your business be more profitable in future. A happy employee is more motivated and more productive.

Motivate all team members to promptly inform the relevant people about any issues and do it with respect and kindness. Regular performance evaluations, appreciation, recognition, awards or positive feedback should be set up for every milestone or sprint. By doing this, team will have a better bonding, engagement, understanding of what they are doing well and which areas they need to improve on.

Celebrate success - both internally as well as publicly. Encourage and support education, upskilling and certification (both financially and by making space in the schedules and plans). As a project manager one of the biggest parts of your job is to build great project teams. Showing how great your team got reflects positively on you as a manager.

I believe is 3R formula. Respect Recognition Reward Give this medicine to anyone in your team and company and leave the rest on them.

A key part of a positive culture is to recognize risk takers. Fail fast recognition encourages developers to try ideas, fail, learn, adjust. When developers appreciate that failing is learning, and that they will be recognized for trying new things, then the lights come on.

Fostering a positive culture is crucial as it directly impacts productivity and job satisfaction among software developers. It's about creating an environment where developers feel valued and are encouraged to communicate, collaborate, and continuously improve. Aligning the team with the startup's vision and values, recognizing achievements, promoting continuous learning, and ensuring a healthy work-life balance are some of the key aspects. A positive culture not only keeps developers engaged but also attracts top talent, thereby contributing significantly to the success and growth of the startup.

Accountability for delivery is the cornerstone of keeping software developers engaged. This form of accountability is cultivated through context-specific best practices that offer measurable metrics for both individual and team independence. Independence here is not an end in itself but serves the higher goal of project delivery. To ensure a comprehensive approach, focus on all scopes directly related to delivery—be it technical, emotional, or work-life balance. While direct engagement with higher-level management may not be feasible for all developers, a structured information flow featuring transparency and accessible observability ensures that their contributions are recognized and valued across organizational walls and announcements.

I would encourage creating a shared vision / goal for the project as a very first step and get everyone aligned on that vision in the initial stages of the project. This is a very important aspect in a project and a common failure mode too in many projects as different stakeholders/ team members tend to perceive different goals or have their own agendas. Collective definition and agreement of aspects that are critical to success of the project helps team to align on the priorities of the project across the board.

You’d do well to make sure they understand business goals and priorities, and why we develop what we develop really well. Share with them results of product work and don’t skip providing them with wider business context and planned goal. This will - create motivation, by understanding meaning and value of work - empower them to make their own good decisions and suggest you options, improving results and building bonds - help their professional development, as senior developer isn’t the one who knows a lot of technologies, but the one who knows how to turn their knowledge in working solutions

To keep software developers engaged in a project, provide them with challenging tasks that align with their skills and interests. Foster a collaborative and supportive work environment where they feel valued and have opportunities for growth and learning. Offer regular feedback and recognition for their contributions, and involve them in decision-making processes to promote ownership and autonomy. Encourage open communication, provide clear goals and expectations, and ensure a healthy work-life balance to sustain their motivation and enthusiasm throughout the project.