When To Pass and When To Play

A little blurb about pay and work. In deciding what work I need to do and what I should pass off, I think about the amount of time that needs to be put in versus how much output is produced. For example, I spent a few hours debugging a message-sending program. In a few hours, I got it from non-functional to 99% working. One bug was left regarding an erroneous piece of data. I knew enough to see that it would take another few hours to fix, and it's something that a client may never notice or care about. But should it be fixed? Yes, it should.

That's when it gets handed off to a junior developer. Typically paid less, it's a better use of my time to continue focusing on the higher-level development which in and of itself has more value. That's the best use of my time, which as a senior developer, is typically worth more.

I also have to take into account how much time it takes to get the junior developer up to speed. If the JD has been involved in the project and can jump in easily, great, it's a no-brainer. The JD gets assigned the work. If on the opposite end of the spectrum, the developer is "cold" on the project, it may end up being a break-even proposition to pass the work off. Especially if the JD loses time on his/her current project.

I currently have no hard-and-fast rules for making this decision. I know a few basics about time and value, and I use my gut.