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When a company brings on a talented new team member, it’s primarily with the company’s needs and objectives in mind. However, it’s wise to also focus on facilitating that team member’s personal and professional growth—not only does it lead to a happier, more engaged employee, but it also can pay dividends for the company to tap into every team member’s creativity, perspective and unique skills.
According to many experienced tech leaders, one way to boost creativity and growth in developers is to support side projects. Below, 16 members of Forbes Technology Council share why they encourage their developers to have side projects and how they support these efforts.
1. It Boosts Productivity
I encourage my developers to have side projects as long as it doesn’t interfere with their delivery timelines and expected performance. The truth is, this is a workers’ market, especially with the huge global tech skill gaps and the high demand for tech skills. Most young developers see engaging in multiple projects as fun, and I believe they are more productive that way! - Dr. Samuel Mbonu, Tangerine Africa
2. It Shows And Builds Passion For The Work
We don’t even hire senior developers without a side hustle. That’s technically the only proof of pure passion for software development. If someone is genuinely passionate, they have tried things outside of the university setting and their daily job. We encourage them and give them the opportunity to make that side project part of the mainline product so that they can see their “baby” growing and enjoy their contribution. - Arash Aghlara, FlexRule
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3. It Supports Continuous Learning
I love it when developers have side projects! It shows that they are passionate about their profession and are constantly learning new things. When I interview developers, I always ask about side projects. Some of the best candidates I’ve hired have been people with really cool side projects that they were passionate about. - Aron Brand, CTERA
4. It Gives Deeper Insight Into Customer Needs
I wish more developers demonstrated ingenuity within our framework. We purposely connect our developers with the support team and our clients. They gain awareness and deeper insight into customer needs, which gives the developers the impetus to produce better, more effective solutions. We can then recognize developers for their creativity and initiative. - Henri Isenberg, ReviewInc
5. Side Projects Can Become A Growth Engine For The Organization
Side projects are awesome because they are fun and they can become a growth engine for your company. To quote Marty Cagan, “The best single source for innovation is your engineers”—so side projects are a critical piece of the DNA of empowered product teams. We carve out dedicated time for unstructured work, hold internal hackathons, and showcase and praise side projects to inspire more. - Maya Mandel, Helios
6. It Can Lead To Innovation And Paradigm Shifts
Innovation is core to our company culture, and some of our greatest innovations come from the exposure and experience our employees garner throughout their lives. We support and encourage this because the creativity, job satisfaction and problem-solving skills gained have the potential to shift not just our operational paradigm, but those of our customers too. - Neil Lampton, TIAG
7. It Can Lead To Interesting, Unexpected Ideas
At our company, we reserve one week per quarter for developers to explore open-ended projects with the goal of improving our product. Interesting and unexpected ideas often surface during these weeklong sessions. We also organize annual themed hackathons where developers build products in groups (the themes are often unrelated to the company). Ultimately, development work is a creative process. - Greg Soh, RoadFlex
8. It Helps Devs Explore New Ideas And Learn New Technologies
I believe side projects are a great way for developers to explore new ideas and learn new technologies. This allows collective thinking and new ideas to emerge outside the decision-making team and, in some cases, these ideas become our company’s new features. I support their efforts by providing them with time and resources to design, create and test their projects. - Sean Toussi, Glo3D Inc.
9. It Leads To Deeper Engagement And, Sometimes, New Products And Services
Working on side projects can keep developers more engaged, as they can work on something that they are passionate about. Moreover, such side projects could also help the company increase its product and service offerings. For this reason, we encourage all developers to spend 20% of their time working on something that they are passionate about and that aligns with company values. - Somdip Dey, Nosh Technologies
10. It Breaks Up Monotony And Unlocks New Ideas
I do encourage my team to have side projects. In my experience, small side projects help break up the monotony and unlock new ideas in the office. I support these efforts by encouraging our team to talk about their projects in our family channel on Slack. We often spend time sharing feedback and learning from one another, which is a great way to build rapport with your team. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
11. It Challenges Devs And Helps Protect The Company From Being Blindsided
We have developers help us with “non-core” products. The reason is that we have three horizons: what we need to do today to survive, what we need to do tomorrow to prosper and what we think we should do to ensure we’re not disrupted. Enlisting the support of developers for the latter two projects helps them stay challenged and helps us reduce our risks of being blindsided. - Blair Currie, Snibble Corp.
12. It Provides Growth Opportunities
We care a lot about how happy our developers are with their daily tasks and growth opportunities. Flexible scheduling and work-from-anywhere policies help our engineers carve time for their pet projects or side hustles without sacrificing sleep. The only condition is that these should comply with our clients’ non-compete agreements. We also cover conference and professional literature fees. - Konstantin Klyagin, Redwerk
13. Creative Minds Need To Be Nurtured
I have always encouraged developers to have side projects or learning experiences. These are people with creative minds, and those minds need to be nurtured. One thing remains explicitly understood: They should not work on side projects during work hours. If they choose to take on a gig outside their full-time employment, I am okay with that. Or, if they want to learn additional skills to build their knowledge base, I have arranged for sandbox environments. - Bhushan Parikh, Get Digital Velocity, LLC
14. It Helps Keep Individuals Sharp And The Company To Meet Overall Strategic Objectives
We have a mentorship program where we connect developers with senior leadership in other parts of the business to support growth in other areas, encouraging them to continue to learn and work on side projects when there’s time. The trick is always making sure that the development of the individual is serving the dual function of keeping them sharp while also aligning with our strategic objectives. - Lewis Wynne-Jones, ThinkData Works
15. It Promotes Ambition And Readiness For New Challenges
Side projects are crucial for keeping our devs’ minds ambitious and always ready for new challenges. They are a great way to test the waters with a new idea while maintaining peace of mind by not dropping out of your primary full-time work. They develop new skills and provide a creative outlet where our devs can take risks without fear of disastrous consequences. - Cristian Randieri, Intellisystem Technologies
16. It Helps Devs Keep Up With The Latest Tech Trends And Show Off Their Skills
We absolutely encourage our developers to have side projects! We believe that it helps them stay sharp and keep up with the latest technology trends. Plus, it’s a great way for them to show off their skills to the rest of the team. One way we support these efforts is by giving them access to our development servers and tools. - Andres Zunino, ZirconTech