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You're facing pushback on new coding style conventions. How can you win over your team members?

Introducing new coding style conventions can be challenging, especially if your team is resistant. To foster acceptance and collaboration, consider these strategies:

  • Explain the benefits: Clearly outline how the new conventions will improve code quality, readability, and maintenance.

  • Involve the team: Seek input and feedback from your team members to ensure they feel heard and valued.

  • Provide training: Offer resources and training sessions to help everyone get comfortable with the new standards.

How have you successfully introduced new coding conventions to your team?

Programming Programming

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  2. Engineering
  3. Programming

You're facing pushback on new coding style conventions. How can you win over your team members?

Introducing new coding style conventions can be challenging, especially if your team is resistant. To foster acceptance and collaboration, consider these strategies:

  • Explain the benefits: Clearly outline how the new conventions will improve code quality, readability, and maintenance.

  • Involve the team: Seek input and feedback from your team members to ensure they feel heard and valued.

  • Provide training: Offer resources and training sessions to help everyone get comfortable with the new standards.

How have you successfully introduced new coding conventions to your team?

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33 answers
  • Contributor profile photo
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    Gaurav Polekar

    Software Engineer | Top 11% on StackOverflow

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    There's no need to focus on 'winning over' the team when it comes to coding styles. At the end of the day, what truly matters is that the code is properly formatted, consistently structured, and well-documented. While coding styles may vary between teams or individuals, enforcing rigid preferences can often lead to unnecessary friction. Instead, the focus should be on using tools like linters and formatters to automate consistency and ensuring that the codebase remains easy to understand and maintain.

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    Harsha Liyanage

    Associate Tech Lead | Full Stack Developer | Expertise in Java Spring Boot, Angular

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    First, I will outline the advantages of the new coding style compared to the current regarding such aspects as readability, maintainability, and efficiency. The detailed comparisons of new and old conventions with views to show improvement would be given next. Findings are shared with the senior members to seek their view and further validation of the benefit. Then, I would inform the junior members of the team and explain to them the benefits of the new coding style. I would invite open feedback for any apprehensions, allowing sufficient time to get comfortable with the new approach. By effective collaboration and transparency, I hope to make this transition smooth and acceptable for the new coding conventions by the team.

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    Daniel Dohou

    Learner Community Experience at ALX Africa (Nigeria) | ALX Certified Software Engineer | Back-end Developer | AI Engineer | A Beautiful Mind

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    Explaining the benefits of learning a new coding convention can really help with insights into improvements in code contributions and product deployment. However, seeking input and feedback from the team really plays a big part of their involvement in improvement. These steps are all crucial before even thinking of providing resources or trainings.

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    Nils Anthony Checa Aguilar

    Docente - Ingeniero Mecánico Eléctrico

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    I would promote dialogue tables (face-to-face or virtual) to listen to workers' opinions. By compiling the opinions, I would guide the change based on the most accurate comments and clear up any doubts they may have, showing the benefits that the improvement will bring. I would admit that it might produce some extra effort or discomfort, but I would encourage them through recognition, awards and, over time, an analysis would be made of how much the condition of the work has improved thanks to the implementation of the coding.

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    Vidhya Venkatesan

    Systems Engineer at TCS

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    To win over the team on new coding style conventions, I'd emphasize the benefits: improved readability, maintainability, and consistency. I'd present the conventions clearly, explaining the rationale behind each rule. Instead of imposing them top-down, I'd encourage discussion and feedback, addressing concerns and incorporating reasonable suggestions. A gradual rollout with automated linting tools can ease the transition. Highlighting how these conventions prevent future bugs and simplify collaboration can help gain buy-in.

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    Stefan Trenkwalder, PhD

    Software Engineer @ 2RSquared | 15+ Years Across Fintech, Automotive, and Embedded Systems | PhD in Robotics | Advocate for TDD & Extreme Programming

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    It's not about winning or losing. It's about what works for the team best. So, listen to the feedback and try to address it. Maybe the conventions need some changes. Most importantly, the team should be empowered to make their own decisions on how things are done. If it was their decision, they usually don’t push back. To reduce friction, try to provide tools that help with the coding style -- like auto-formatters or linters. So, people don’t need to invest time to change, for instance, where they put the brackets or spaces. Also communication is key when addressing concerns/pushbacks. At a minimum, try to explain the benefits of using certain styles/conventions.

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    André Viana

    .Net Developer

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    I believe the best way to open the eyes of the more resistant ones is by example, implement the new coding style conventions and take a time to explain to the team the benefits also provide the source for this new convetions and them ask them to start implement this in the nexts deliveribles. For this strategy to work is very important a good flow of code review where the developers can discuss and undestand better the technical decisions.

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    Mukesh Khemani

    Data Scientist | Jio Financial Services Ltd.

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    Here's how I aim to gain acceptance for new coding conventions: 1. Demonstrate clear benefits through practical examples 2. Start with small, gradual changes rather than sweeping reforms 3. Gather data on how the new conventions improve code quality 4. Listen to and address team concerns proactively 5. Create easy-to-follow documentation and guides 6. Offer training and support during the transition 7. Show how other successful teams use similar conventions The key is to lead with evidence and empathy, focusing on how the changes will make everyone's work better rather than forcing compliance.

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    2
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    Nupur Singh

    Software Developer at Oracle | C++ | Python | Go | 5G Core | SIP | HTTP | Aspiring Cloud & Data Engineer | Learning Cloud Technologies | Passionate about Building Scalable Solutions | Open to Opportunities

    • Report contribution

    Championing new coding style conventions can be challenging, but here’s my approach: Listen: Understand team concerns. Communicate Benefits: Highlight readability, maintainability, and productivity. Showcase Success: Share real-world examples. Provide Support: Offer training and resources. Lead by Example: Demonstrate conventions in your work. Be Patient: Change takes time and persistence. With the right approach, we can achieve significant improvements in our workflow and code quality.

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