

Ask HN: What do you do to make normal people more productive? - diminium

I've read blogs after blogs about the absolute need to hire "rock star programmers" or the "best of the best" and what you need to do to make them productive.<p>That's cool and all but I want to hire normal and average people.  People who are just your average day to day programmer/developer/analysts/accountant/etc.<p>What techniques are there to make NORMAL people more productive in their jobs?
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bartonfink
Do everything in your power to communicate clearly, including making sure your
employees know that they are expected to ask ?'s if they aren't sure of
something. The cost of an average employee isn't necessarily paid in the fact
that they work more slowly than the superstar - it's that they aren't sure
what to do and either do the wrong thing or spend time spinning their wheels
trying to figure out what the right thing is. If you can circumvent that
through excellent communication, you can effectively farm out your own
intelligence (assuming you are, in fact, intelligent) and get by with less
intelligent employees.

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johnsocs
Being a developer I've worked closely with lots of other developers, and been
on both sides of this equation; Sometimes I'm the 'normal guy' and sometimes
I'm the 'rock star' depending who I'm sitting with.

As the 'normal guy' I observe what tools they are using, how they navigate
them and what they are doing, because often times we both know the language
equally or close to equal yet have a different selection in tools to aid the
development process either 'go to' libraries or editors.

As the 'rock star' I may interrupt the developer to show them a faster way to
do the same thing, either algorithm or editor functions. Because face it, the
only thing that makes you a rock star is that you can get it done faster and
more efficient then the other guy.

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johnsocs
Yet you have to have 'rock star' qualities to even want to learn IMO.

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MarkBruns
you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him put on his swimming suit

try to understand what the horse wants to do ... try to help the horse be more
productive doing what he wants to do ... don't try to get your normal horse
into your abnormal swim suit

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MarkBruns
Hire the right person for the job ... sometimes you have hired the wrong
person; it happens a lot; help that wrong person find his right job as rapidly
as possible ... pay him to quit (Zappos-style) if that's what it takes.

~~~
diminium
Why do you need to pay them to quit?

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cpt1138
Put them around ABnormal people that are more productive.

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Mz
I would take a page from Google's play-book and feed them well. Good food has
health benefits, it's a bonding experience, and lots of people really don't
cook well or do a good job taking care of themselves. Taking care of them in
this manner can be good for the bottom line.

My current supervisor buys us lunch when she wants us to work through lunch
because we are behind. I think she's got the right idea. It doesn't
necessarily have to be "free food" per se the way Google does it but anything
you can do to help your people eat well is going to be a good thing.

