Code, Leadership & the Remote Dev Life — by Mike Lopez

Tag: Team Management

  • Keeping Morale High During Crunch Time

    Crunch time. Two words that make most developers groan and most managers sweat.

    No matter how well you plan, estimate, or try to keep the team agile and lean, there’s always that moment when a deadline barrels toward you like a freight train, and suddenly it’s all hands on deck. It’s stressful. It’s exhausting. But most of all—it’s dangerous for morale.

    I’ve been through enough crunches in my career to know that how we manage those moments can make or break a team—not just in terms of productivity, but in terms of long-term trust and culture. So today I want to talk about what’s worked for me when the pressure’s on, and how I try to keep morale from falling apart during those intense sprints.

    Acknowledge the Reality Without Sugarcoating

    When the pressure starts building, the worst thing you can do is pretend everything is fine.

    I don’t like management-speak like “we’re almost there” or “let’s push through just a bit more” when I know the team is looking at 12-hour days for the next two weeks. It feels dishonest, and worse, it makes people feel like their suffering isn’t seen.

    Instead, I try to be real. I’ll say things like:

    “I know this next stretch is going to be brutal. We didn’t plan for this scope creep, but we’re in it now, and I appreciate each one of you stepping up.”

    That kind of transparency sets the tone. It says, “Yes, this is hard. And yes, I see it. I’m here with you.”

    And sometimes, that’s all people need—to be seen and understood.

    Communicate More, Not Less

    During crunch time, communication needs to increase, but not in a micro-managey way.

    I set a rhythm. Quick daily check-ins (async if possible), a short wrap-up every couple of days, and clear updates on priorities. I avoid random pings like “how’s it going?” and instead ask, “Do you need anything to unblock X?” or “Is there something we can cut or shift?”

    The idea is to reduce ambiguity and avoid the “black box” feeling—where team members don’t know what others are doing or what’s expected next.

    When everyone knows what they’re responsible for and what’s on the horizon, they feel more in control, and that’s a big morale boost when the days are long.

    Protect the Team’s Focus

    Meetings during crunch time? No thanks.

    Unless it’s absolutely critical, I cancel or reschedule. The goal is to give everyone long stretches of uninterrupted time to just do the work. If I can act as a buffer—shielding the team from stakeholders, random scope changes, or impromptu calls—I’ll do it gladly.

    Even better, I’ll communicate that I’m doing it:

    “Hey, the client wanted to check in again this week, but I told them we’re heads down and will give them a proper update Friday. Just keep building—we’ve got your back.”

    That kind of message is gold. It tells the team that their time is valued and their focus is protected.

    Celebrate the Small Wins

    One of the fastest ways to kill morale is to make the mountain feel insurmountable.

    I like to break the work down into visible chunks and celebrate the progress. Finished the frontend login refactor? High five. Got the backend cache working smoothly? Take a screenshot and share it in Slack with a 🎉 emoji.

    You’d be surprised how energizing it is to feel like you’re actually making progress—especially when it feels like you’re sprinting on a treadmill.

    Perhaps even throw in micro-incentives:

    • Friday shout-outs in the team channel
    • “Bug squashers of the week” leaderboard (totally optional, no pressure)
    • Or even a simple, great job this week sent as a private message

    It’s not about turning it into a competition—it’s about injecting a little fun into the grind.

    Recognize Human Limits

    Here’s something I learned the hard way: people can’t sprint forever.

    Even if your team is made of high performers, even if everyone is “motivated,” and even if no one complains—burnout doesn’t knock. It creeps.

    So I try to monitor for signs. If someone’s commits are getting erratic, or they’ve stopped responding like they used to, I’ll check in. Not as a manager, but as a fellow human:

    “Hey, I noticed you’ve been pushing late into the night a few days in a row. Everything okay? Want to take half a day off this week to reset?”

    More often than not, the answer is yes. And they come back better the next day.

    Crunch time isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a mental one. If we pretend our teams are machines, we’re going to break them.

    Don’t Forget to Laugh

    This sounds minor, but it isn’t.

    Laughter might be the only thing keeping some teams sane during a hard push. I’ve seen devs running on zero sleep still light up when someone drops a dumb meme in the group chat or makes a terrible pun in the commit messages.

    You don’t need to force it, but leave space for fun. Be okay with goofiness. Share silly gifs. Celebrate inside jokes. In those moments, the stress fades—just for a second—but it makes a difference.

    After the Crunch: Recovery Matters

    Here’s where a lot of managers drop the ball: after the deadline, they just move on.

    Big mistake.

    After a sprint like that, people need time to decompress. Give them a real breather. Cancel non-essential meetings for a week. Let folks start a little later. Say, “Nothing urgent this week—take care of yourself.”

    And thank them—publicly and privately. Acknowledge not just the results, but the effort. Say their names. Share the wins. Let people feel it.

    That recovery phase isn’t just good for morale—it’s the bridge between “We survived” and “We’d do this again with you if we had to.”

    Final Thoughts

    Crunch time isn’t ideal. No one should plan for it. But it happens. Projects run late. Clients ask for too much. Features need rework. Life throws curveballs.

    When it does, our job as leaders isn’t just to hit the deadline. It’s to get there without breaking our team’s spirit.

    That means leading with empathy, protecting focus, injecting fun, and celebrating every little win along the way. And when it’s all over, letting people breathe.

    Morale isn’t magic. It’s a choice—built through small actions, every day, especially when it’s hardest.

    Here’s to surviving the crunch—and coming out stronger.

  • 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.