The status update

There’s a thing that people do, and software engineers are no exception. We all do it, I certainly have done. I’ve seen ludicrously smart developers do it, and it’s problematic.

The mistake is an assumption, and it looks like this:

I love my work, and I’m heavily engaged with it. I’ve been heads-down churning out really high quality work, and lots of it. My boss can see that.

Incorrect, sorry. Your boss is almost certainly busy with 20 other things, and it’s not their job to notice what you’re up to - it’s your job to inform them.

Why

You don’t need to come across as bragging, but if you’ve done something (especially something good!), let them know about it. No-one else will.

Managing Up. Make sure you have a real clear shared understanding of your priority list with your boss. If you don’t want random extra work thrown at you, be clear about what’s currently on your plate.

If you’re a manager or leader: Use this as an opportunity to praise people within your team, where praise is deserved.

What

You can make this a wiki, or a regular email - whatever works for you and for your boss. Optimise for clarity - less is more, and they are busy. Make it simple to read and understand.

You’re not writing a novel. Use short sentences and bullet points. Brevity is king!

Prioritise upcoming week. List it out P1, P2, P3, etc. Let them know what you think the most important work is right now - If you are misaligned on this, they will soon let you know!

If you have ongoing priority work, and it’s appropriate: Give them a traffic light: Green: Everything’s on track. Orange: We run the risk of slipping, Red: We are at serious risk of derailing, or already derailed. You’re not bad at your job if your life is full of red… but you are if you don’t escalate this news!

List out the work you don’t expect to start, and give them the chance to swap your priorities around. At this stage it’s a trade-off… 

You: I’m doing A,B and C. I won’t get to D or E

Boss: D is more important than B or C. Do that first.

You: Great, So I’ll do A, D and B. I won’t get to C or E.

This is a way better conversation than “D is important - make sure you get it done next week!” And you end up with A, B, C *and* D on your plate.

Track week on week. Let the boss know that you’ve knocked off the weekly goals. It’s good to show progress.

Your job is to inform, and to reduce the cognitive load for your boss, not to increase it! Avoid asking for advice with vague “how should I solve this?” questions. If you’re genuinely stuck then give a summary of what the issue is, what are the options are to proceed, and make a recommendation - In my experience, they’ll soon let you know if they disagree!

When

As regular as it is useful… I would suggest spending an hour every day carving out a detailed status update is (almost certainly) not a good use of your time but at a minimum this needs to be weekly. Any less frequently than that and you run the risk of disconnecting from your boss - and if you’re not doing the thing they think you’re doing, you’re setting yourself up for a hard conversation down the road…