I deal with many different types of technical staff in my work. One profile I’ve seen time and again is the lone developer. Often times, the lone developer is a product of a small company where only one developer is required. The lone developer does it all.

A unique brand of lone developer is that person that has always been the lone developer. This person has not been through the normal socialization of working in a team. The “always" lone developer missed out on their developer kindergarten.

In kindergarten we learn some of the most basic rules in society. We face other people and begin to socialize for the first time. We start out at the center of the universe in our household. Kindergarten puts us into a social environment where there are other equal children.

A developer goes through the same socialization during her first experiences of performing software development with a team. She learns to work with others and cooperate. She learns to share the toys. She learns to handle disagreement and take criticism. She learns that she can make mistakes and it isn’t the end of the world.

The developer who has missed out on their developer kindergarten may be defensive to criticism. He may even fear the criticism and be unwilling to share his work with others for fear of judgement. He will not have had experiences with conflict, and will not have had the experience resolving differences. He may not share the ownership of his software development. He may not understand how to collaborate in a productive way.

You will find yourself working with and managing many different profiles of people on your teams. Recognize the patterns of the “always” lone developer. Consider the teams and assignments you make when you manage someone with this profile. Find others on your team that you know will “play well with others” and be a good role model. Give feedback to your lone developer when she starts to share, collaborate and constructively resolves differences.

The hard stuff is the people, not the technology.