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How many projects do you manage/work on at a time at your workplace or as a freelancer?
I got frustrated while handling multiple projects, working full-time (as a dedicated 8 hours resource) in one project + managing 1-2 projects which took around 1-2 hours of my time as some junior developers were working on those projects so I have to guide them a lot.
I don't know if this is only me or it is really frustrating for anyone. Is managing + working on different projects at the same time normal?
Also, how will you handle these cases together, or will you also get frustrated?
Top comments (1)
I manage a team of four developers and have individual contributor responsibilities as well.
I help tend to the projects for my team members, but try to have them manage that project but do two things: 1) check in on them both explicitly and by being curious about their daily stand-ups; 2) re-iterate to them that I'm available to pair at anytime (with the promise that my calendar is up to date). The philosophy in this is do what I can to keep them from getting stuck.
Then on the flip side, I have one main project and one side-project. The main project is what I'm focusing on but when I need a change of pace I can look at the side-project. Sometimes there might be a 3rd or 4th project, but those are often in an incubating stage.
Ultimately, my strategy for self-management is:
A bit more on the latter. For an earlier career developer, that project board might have more details for task breakdown. The exercise in breaking things down is helpful for all involved. The sensation of accomplishment in checking off items is tangible.
For other projects that might be mostly me, the breakdowns are more vague. But what I'll instead do is make sure that I've gathered up as many bits of information that can help me re-orient quickly (links to code that may need touching or review; links to prior work or documentation that could be helpful). What this allows is for me to be a bit more "interruptible". I can go back to my tickets and re-orient with minimal effort.
And last, I keep a daily checklist of the tasks I've done and am doing. For a few reasons: 1) if I need to touch base with my manager to re-prioritize I have a list of where I'm spending time. (I'll be adding this response to that checklist). 2) I can plan what I need to work on. 3) again checking something off is quite rewarding.
I've settled into this daily checklist to help me have a place where
Also, one of my favorite tasks is writing my end of week status reports for the various projects. This is my time to revisit what's on my plate, what my teams working on, and ultimately reflect on where there might be future risks.
tl;dr - I spend time writing about the work as a means of centering and orienting to my work.