I feel that it's easier just to have clear tasks with deadlines, using decent project management software like say Asana, Monday, or whatever.
If they're meeting the deadlines and the work is good, why bother wasting time being big bro and treating them like a child? Why not just go by results? (you can check commits as well, and CI not going off will at least tell you nothing is broken)
Once had a well paying job that I kind of got tired of not having much to do (long story: tried to quit, offered to be available on contract basis, nope they gave me awesome retention bonus, was asked to just stick around until company does X Y Z). Anyway I came in late, took 2 hour lunch, left early. Still was tired of being bored and was all caught up on YouTube. Got to the point I just told boss I’m not playing this pretend work game anymore, in fact I’m not even going to check my email anymore, call me when you need something from me. I did about 2-4 hours of work per month for several months. Picked up another job, eventually the company had done XYZ and they paid me retention and a 12 month severance. Never understood any of it, but didn’t complain.
I agree. I'm just questioning the management logic of being "expected to be busy at all times even without much to do". I remember some papers linking boredom and leisure activity with creativity. Creativity is important for programming.
If they're meeting the deadlines and the work is good, why bother wasting time being big bro and treating them like a child? Why not just go by results? (you can check commits as well, and CI not going off will at least tell you nothing is broken)