Last updated on Jul 13, 2024

Your team is divided on coding standards. How can you unify them for smoother collaboration?

Coding standards are the backbone of any development team, ensuring consistency and quality in the codebase. However, when your team is divided on which standards to follow, it can lead to confusion, wasted time, and frustration. The key to unifying your team lies in finding common ground and establishing a collaborative approach to coding practices. This can be achieved through open dialogue, the adoption of widely recognized standards, and the implementation of tools that enforce these standards automatically. By doing so, you can create an environment where team members work together more effectively, leading to smoother collaboration and a more cohesive codebase.

1 Open Dialogue

Initiating open dialogue is the first step towards unifying your team on coding standards. Encourage team members to voice their preferences and concerns. This fosters a culture of inclusion and respect, where each voice is heard. During these discussions, focus on the benefits of having unified coding standards, such as improved code readability and easier maintenance. By understanding the various perspectives, you can work towards a consensus that balances individual preferences with the collective good.

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MD ARSH

Aspiring IT Professional | BCA Student at JIMS Vasant Kunj, IP University | B.Com(BPM) Foundation Achieved
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1. Start with open dialogue on coding standards. 2. Encourage team members to voice preferences and concerns. 3. Foster a culture of inclusion and respect. 4. Highlight benefits: improved readability, easier maintenance. 5. Understand various perspectives. 6. Work towards a consensus balancing preferences and collective good.

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2 Recognized Standards

Leveraging recognized standards can greatly simplify the unification process. Introduce your team to industry-wide coding standards like PEP 8 for Python or Google's Java Style Guide. These guidelines are time-tested and widely accepted, making it easier for team members to align with them. Explain how these standards can reduce the learning curve for new team members and facilitate code reviews. When your team sees the value in using standards that have broader acceptance, resistance may decrease.

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3 Decision Process

Developing a fair decision-making process is crucial for reaching an agreement on coding standards. Consider a democratic approach where each team member votes on the preferred standards or aspects thereof. Alternatively, you might form a committee that represents different factions within the team to propose a compromise. Ensure that the process is transparent and that the rationale behind decisions is clearly communicated to prevent any feelings of exclusion or unfairness.

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Declan Kavanagh

Organisation Agility, Team Effectiveness, Digital Capability
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Coding Standards are a CSF for enhanced delivery quality and life cycle maintenance costs. The Full Lifecycle Development Team need to mandate a sub-group to review the existing standards against best practice, the existing development methodology and the business needs and come up with a recommendation to the Leadership Team who make the final decision. Inclusion of analysts, testers, support and other key stakeholders in the sub team is important. Recemmendations should include not only the recommended standard but also the tools, training, records etc required to implement.

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4 Tool Integration

Integrating tools that automate adherence to coding standards can help enforce consistency without constant manual oversight. Introduce your team to linters and formatters such as ESLint for JavaScript or Black for Python. These tools can be configured to match the agreed-upon standards and can run automatically during development or as part of your continuous integration pipeline. This reduces the burden on developers to remember every detail of the coding standards and helps prevent disputes over code style.

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5 Ongoing Education

Continuous education is essential for keeping your team aligned with coding standards. Organize regular training sessions that cover best practices and updates to the coding standards you've adopted. This can take the form of workshops, code reviews, or even pair programming sessions. It's important that all team members feel confident in their understanding of the standards and are equipped to apply them consistently.

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6 Feedback Loop

Establishing a constructive feedback loop is the final piece in unifying your team around coding standards. Encourage team members to review each other's code with an emphasis on adherence to the agreed-upon standards. Create a safe space for feedback where the focus is on learning and improvement rather than criticism. This not only helps reinforce the standards but also promotes a culture of collective responsibility and continuous improvement.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Your team is divided on coding standards. How can you unify them for smoother collaboration?

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2

3

4

5

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1 Open Dialogue

2 Recognized Standards

3 Decision Process

4 Tool Integration

5 Ongoing Education

6 Feedback Loop

7 Here’s what else to consider

Information Technology

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Your team is divided on coding standards. How can you unify them for smoother collaboration?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Open Dialogue

2 Recognized Standards

3 Decision Process

4 Tool Integration

5 Ongoing Education

6 Feedback Loop

7 Here’s what else to consider

Information Technology

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