Code, Leadership & the Remote Dev Life

Tag: Remote Work

  • Scaling PHP Projects: Management Tactics That Actually Work for Remote Teams

    Scaling PHP Projects: Management Tactics That Actually Work for Remote Teams

    Scaling a PHP project while leading a remote team can feel like juggling fire—with one hand tied behind your back.

    The good news? It’s not magic. It’s management. And if you do it right, it actually scales.

    Here’s what’s worked for me.

    1. Codebase ≠ Product ≠ Project

    This sounds obvious, but it’s a trap I’ve fallen into more than once.

    Just because the code is growing doesn’t mean the product is scaling. And just because your project is active doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

    Scaling requires clarity across all three:

    • Codebase: modular, testable, readable
    • Product: valuable, usable, maintainable
    • Project: scoped, predictable, prioritized

    If even one of those lags behind, the whole thing eventually buckles.

    2. Document Decisions, Not Just Code

    Remote teams lose context faster.

    Every workaround, workaround-for-the-workaround, and architectural debate? Log it somewhere. It doesn’t have to be fancy—a decisions.md, a Google doc, even an email to the team.

    What matters is that new devs (and future you) know why things were built the way they were.

    3. Choose Process That Scales With Autonomy

    Remote PHP teams thrive when they’re empowered. But empowerment without direction is chaos.

    My tactic? Light process, heavy alignment:

    • Clear roadmaps (3–6 months out)
    • Weekly async updates
    • Monthly syncs for big-picture recalibration

    We do enough to keep momentum, not enough to drown in Jira tickets.

    4. Let the Team Shape the Tech

    This one took me a while to get comfortable with.

    When we started scaling, I wanted to keep the architecture tightly controlled. But as the team grew, that control started to strangle progress.

    Now I give teams ownership of their domains—with a few guardrails:

    • Code conventions enforced via CI
    • Shared utilities and logging
    • Designated leads for review & mentoring

    This keeps the architecture coherent without making me the bottleneck.

    5. Use Metrics—But Human Ones Too

    Yes, we track deploys, error rates, PR velocity, and test coverage.

    But we also track:

    • Time-to-onboard for new devs
    • How often people feel blocked
    • Developer satisfaction (we literally ask)

    Scaling is as much about team health as technical output.

    6. Prioritize Tech Debt Like You Prioritize Features

    Scaling reveals what’s fragile. You can either keep duct-taping… or plan refactors like real deliverables.

    We treat tech debt as first-class work:

    • Logged with clear impact
    • Prioritized alongside features
    • Tracked to completion

    The result? A codebase that doesn’t collapse the moment you add two more developers.

    7. Be Explicit About What’s Not Getting Done

    This is huge.

    When you’re scaling, you will make tradeoffs. The mistake is pretending you’re not. Be loud about what’s been pushed, paused, or shelved. This builds trust with both devs and stakeholders.

    It’s better to say “We’re not doing that yet” than to silently let things rot on the backlog.

    8. Mentor, Don’t Manage

    Your developers aren’t there to be task rabbits. They’re there to grow, contribute, and lead.

    The more your team can make good decisions without you, the more scalable your project becomes.

    Make room for that.

    Final Thought

    Scaling a remote PHP project is about more than frameworks and deadlines. It’s about people, priorities, and process that adapts.

    There’s no single magic tactic—but if you build the habits, you build the scale.

    And honestly? That’s the part I’ve come to enjoy the most.

  • How to Lead a Remote PHP Team Without Burning Out Your Developers

    How to Lead a Remote PHP Team Without Burning Out Your Developers

    When I first started managing a remote PHP team, I made all the rookie mistakes: too many meetings, too few boundaries, and way too much Slack.

    Burnout wasn’t immediate—but it was inevitable.

    I’ve since changed the way I lead. Here’s what I’ve learned about keeping remote PHP developers productive without running them into the ground.

    1. Start With Trust, Not Surveillance

    Remote work isn’t about fancy time trackers or monitoring keystrokes. If you’ve hired professionals, treat them like professionals.

    Set expectations around outcomes, not hours. Give clear goals and let the team figure out how to get there.

    Micromanagement doesn’t scale—especially remotely.

    2. Protect Focus Like It’s Sacred

    Developers need uninterrupted time to build. It’s not a luxury—it’s a requirement.

    I’ve learned to:

    • Reduce daily meetings to the absolute minimum
    • Replace stand-ups with async check-ins
    • Schedule meetings during shared overlap windows (not someone’s 10 p.m.)

    Slack doesn’t have to be on all the time. It’s okay to be “away.”

    3. Create Space for Deep Work

    I encourage “focus blocks”—dedicated time slots for writing and problem-solving. I even block them on my calendar and encourage my team to do the same.

    If something’s urgent, we handle it. If it can wait, it should.

    That quiet space is where the real engineering happens.

    4. Build Feedback Into the Culture

    Just because we’re remote doesn’t mean feedback should be rare.

    We use:

    • Pull request comments for micro-feedback
    • Regular 1:1s for deeper coaching
    • Retrospectives to talk about what’s working (and what’s not)

    This helps me catch burnout early. When someone starts missing deadlines or seems “off,” I don’t guess—I ask.

    5. Respect Time Zones—and Personal Time

    One of my developers is in Egypt, another in the Philippines. If I try to make everyone align, someone suffers.

    So I don’t.

    Instead, I:

    • Schedule critical meetings in shared overlap hours
    • Record calls when needed
    • Push for async documentation wherever possible

    Also: no weekend pings. No late-night emergencies unless something’s actually on fire. Work can wait. Health can’t.

    6. Celebrate the Wins—Even Small Ones

    Remote work can feel thankless if you’re not careful. That “quick good job” someone might say in the hallway? It doesn’t exist.

    So I make it a point to:

    • Highlight good commits in team chat
    • Shout out thoughtful code reviews
    • Thank people often, publicly and privately

    It builds morale—and reminds everyone they’re seen.

    7. Let Developers Influence the Process

    Burnout often comes from feeling powerless. To fight that, I involve devs in how we build—not just what we build.

    We’ve had devs help reshape our:

    • Sprint planning cadence
    • Deployment process
    • Tooling decisions

    Autonomy = investment. When they help shape the system, they feel more ownership (and less resentment).

    8. Talk About Burnout Openly

    It’s okay to say, “I’m tired.” I try to normalize that.

    We talk openly about workload, energy, and mental health in our 1:1s. Sometimes that means encouraging someone to take a break—or stepping in to reprioritize the backlog.

    Pretending burnout isn’t real doesn’t make it go away.

    Final Thought

    Leading a remote PHP team well isn’t about squeezing more output from developers. It’s about building an environment where good code—and healthy people—can thrive.

    The best teams I’ve led didn’t just ship great features. They stuck around, supported each other, and grew together.

    That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you lead with intention.

  • Supporting Team Growth Without Micromanaging

    Supporting Team Growth Without Micromanaging

    I used to think being a good leader meant staying on top of everything—checking in constantly, reviewing every detail, giving feedback the moment something was off. You know, just making sure things don’t fall apart.

    But over time, I realized something: the more I tried to stay in control, the less control I actually had. My team became hesitant, overly dependent, and slower to move. And honestly? I was tired.

    Eventually, I had to learn how to support my team’s growth without breathing down their necks. If you’ve ever felt stuck between wanting things done right and wanting your team to grow—this one’s for you.

    1. Set Expectations, Then Step Back

    Micromanaging usually starts from a good place. You care about the work. You want to hit deadlines. You want the team to do their best.

    But here’s the trap: when you start giving too many instructions, people stop thinking for themselves. They become task-takers instead of problem-solvers.

    These days, I try to focus on outcomes instead of step-by-step instructions. I’ll say something like, “This is what we’re aiming for. Let me know if you hit any blockers,” and then I give them space to figure it out.

    The magic happens when people take ownership of their approach. They start coming up with better ideas than I would have thought of anyway.

    2. Be a Coach, Not a Cop

    I used to treat 1:1s like mini status reports. “What’s done? What’s next? Why isn’t this finished?”

    Now I see those check-ins differently—they’re a chance to coach, not command.

    Instead of asking for updates, I ask questions like:

    • “What’s working for you right now?”
    • “What’s been tricky?”
    • “Anything you’re stuck on that I can help with?”

    This shifts the energy completely. People open up, share real challenges, and I can support them without taking over.

    The goal isn’t to catch mistakes. It’s to build confidence so they can handle bigger challenges over time.

    3. Write Stuff Down So You Can Let Go

    One reason I used to micromanage was because I was the only one who knew how certain things worked. Every process lived in my head, which meant people had to come to me for everything.

    Bad system.

    Now I try to document as much as I can. If we have a repeatable process, it goes in a shared doc. If there’s a weird edge case, I note it somewhere searchable. The goal is to make myself less essential, not more.

    The bonus? Once I started handing over more responsibility with clear documentation, I noticed people started improving the process on their own. They weren’t just following instructions—they were making things better.

    4. Give Feedback That Actually Helps

    There was a time when I gave a lot of feedback—most of it unsolicited and focused on what was wrong.

    I’ve learned that if you want someone to grow, feedback has to build them up, not break them down. Now, I follow a pretty simple pattern:

    1. Highlight something they did well.
    2. Explain why it matters.
    3. Offer one area to improve.
    4. Encourage the next step.

    For example, instead of saying, “This design feels off,” I’ll say, “I really like how clean this layout is—it’s a big step up. If anything, I’d push the typography a bit more to match the boldness of the concept. You’ve definitely got a strong eye for detail.”

    It takes a few extra seconds, but the impact lasts way longer.

    5. Trust First, Don’t Wait to “Earn It”

    This one was hard for me. I used to think people had to earn my trust before I gave them real responsibility.

    Now I flip that. I trust them first. I let them lead, take ownership, and even mess up a little. It’s scary sometimes—but it pays off.

    When you start from a place of trust, people tend to rise to it. They take the work more seriously. They double-check things. They come back with ideas and solutions because they know they’re not just executors—they’re owners.

    If someone drops the ball, I treat it like a learning moment. We talk about what happened, why, and what we’ll do differently next time. That’s how people grow.

    Bonus: Busy ≠ Productive

    Let’s be real—watching your team’s every move might feel productive, but it’s not. I used to obsess over who was online, how long tasks were taking, or how often someone was pushing code. None of that tells you if the work is actually moving forward.

    Now, I care more about results. Are we shipping value? Are clients happy? Is the team learning and improving?

    You don’t need to watch every move if you’ve built a system where people are trusted, supported, and clear on what matters.

    Final Thoughts

    Micromanagement feels safe in the short term, but it’s a long-term trap. Your team gets stuck. You burn out. Nobody wins.

    But when you shift your mindset—when you set clear goals, coach instead of control, document and delegate, and give real trust—you build a team that doesn’t need constant oversight. You build a team that thrives.

    And you? You get to focus on bigger-picture thinking, creative work, or just taking a break without worrying the whole thing will fall apart.

    It took me a while to get here, but I’m glad I did. If you’re in the same boat, trying to loosen the grip without losing your edge—know that it’s possible.

    Your team doesn’t need a micromanager. They need a leader who believes in their growth.