Lies Developers Tell: What Your Team’s Status Updates Really Mean

Software and communication go hand-in-hand — it’s a codependent relationship, and there’s a lot of it over the course of a project. With all that practice, it’s no surprise that developers pick up creative ways to deliver status updates that soften reality and avoid hard conversations.

Over time, managers can pick up on the tells, understand the subtext, and work towards an environment where some of these tactics aren’t necessary.

In this white paper, we dig into some communication problems common to software development — and why developers seem to have “developed” their own language. We’ll cover:

• What the “lies” sound like
• What they really mean in context
• Why developers turn to that turn of phrase
• How to avoid issues behind these “lies”
• And as a bonus: truths that sound like lies