Autonomy trumps all: Greater autonomy makes developers happier at work finds survey

A look at India’s developer ecosystem shows autonomy levels for developers is one of the highest in India. Developers who enjoy more autonomy tend to spend more time coding and can work on a greater number of products and services, an Atlassian survey finds.

Indian IT has been on a high for decades, becoming one of the most sought after destinations for business. In April, Cardinal Health, a healthcare distribution company with a footprint in 30+ countries, launched a new global capability centre in Bengaluru, as a global hub for IT, augmented intelligence, product software engineering and business process management.

Read more: What makes a company a great place to work? Case study

However, IT, as a working sector, gets more complicated by the day. For instance, a survey by Akamai Technologies Inc. shows over 50% of DevOps professionals and leaders say their cloud service provider is already a competitor to their B2B or B2C business or is expected to become one.

What can ease a coder’s work life, so that motivation to perform remains high?

Research from Atlassian Corporation’s global State of the Developer report shows that autonomy trumps all. Greater autonomy is making developers happier at work, despite more frequent context switching and increased job complexity. Developers who enjoy more autonomy tend to spend more time coding and can work on a greater number of products and services.

Greater autonomy is making developers happier at work, despite more frequent context switching and increased job complexity

The report reveals that developer attitudes and preferences about their work have changed over the past year, including the rise of ‘You build it, you run it’ (YBIYRI) as a practice, which is now a common software development methodology with almost 60% of teams adapting it. Teams working in YBIYRI require new and diverse roles, especially when they are transitioning into the practice.

A look at India’s developer ecosystem shows autonomy levels for developers is at its highest in the US and India (57% and 56% respectively) with tool sprawl the worst in India with 78% of developers saying they are using more than six tools.

Building People Centric Dev Teams

‘Developer autonomy trumps all,’ advises the research showing that greater autonomy makes developers happier at work. Additionally, developers who enjoy more autonomy tend to spend more time coding and are able to work on a greater number of products and services.

Developer attitudes and preferences about their work have changed over the past year, including the rise of ‘You build it, you run it’ (YBIYRI) as a practice

Autonomy levels are highest for developers who have been in their roles for 6-10 years, within larger companies (250-1000 employees), and in teams running YBIYRI. Also, with the rise of YBIYRI, developers are taking more responsibility.

Read more: Indian job markets continue to face an upskilling crisis resulting in hiring & retention challenges

Greater autonomy is the future of software development. This means more freedom to decide which tools developers use, what they work on, and how that work gets done.

In a bid to be progressive in their outlook, companies are striving to be more people-centric. For example, in May, deep tech startup Log9 introduced a ‘trust’ policy that allows Log9ers to take infinite number of leaves throughout the year. In the workplace, YBIYRI and more autonomy can be ways of achieving a more people-centric process.