Stop Overestimating: How to Critically Evaluate Your Skills and Meet Stakeholder Expectations

Overestimating leads to missed deadlines, a damaged reputation, and burnout. To prevent this, we’ll discuss how developers can assess their abilities, understand stakeholders, and improve their skills.

Signs You Overestimate and How to Manage It?

To recognize overestimation of your skills and move forward, analyze primary indicators.

1. You’re Stuck in Your Comfort Zone. If you’ve been working with the same tech stack for years (e.g., Node.js + Express + PostgreSQL) and avoid new technologies, it could signal an inaccurate self-evaluation. Try taking on a task that’s outside your usual scope, get a consultation with a Tech Lead, or learn NestJS to expand your skill set.
2. The Result Doesn’t Match Expectations. For example, you optimized a page, but the render time barely changed or even increased. This could be due to overconfidence, lack of analysis, and knowledge gaps. Look over similar situations — they’ll highlight the skills you’ve exaggerated.
3. Negative Feedback. Did your teammates leave numerous comments during the code review? Reflect on whether you’ve overestimated your abilities and jumped into complex tasks too early. Regular discussions with more experienced colleagues will help you better understand your weaknesses and gradually take on more challenging projects.

How to Understand Your Stakeholder for Better Outcomes

First, identify your stakeholder and their goals.

• Business stakeholders (Product Owners, Managers, Clients, Investors) prioritize speed, results, and profitability. Communicate with them from a business perspective, not in technical terms.
• Technical stakeholders (CTOs, Architects, DevOps, Security teams) focus on your hard skills, multitasking ability, and drive for growth. Showcase code quality, architectural consistency, and security.
• The team (other Developers, QA, UX/UI Designers) relies on your collaboration. Be open to feedback, adhere to shared values, and focus on the group outcome more than on your individual results.

This will help you gain trust and establish smooth communication. Openness, honesty, and transparency are crucial for any stakeholder.

• During weekly/bi-weekly Stand-ups or Sprint Reviews, update stakeholders on progress, challenges, and next steps.
• Demo or Show & Tell meetings are essential for presenting completed functionality.
• Use regular reports to document all processes.

Additionally, leverage tools like Jira, Trello, Slack, and similar platforms for task tracking.

The fundamental step is to discuss expectations and capabilities at the start of collaboration. Avoid making unrealistic promises and communicate risks early to prevent surprises.

For example, if a new feature needs to be developed within a short timeframe, suggest building a basic version with essential functionality first, then gradually expanding it in future releases.

Ways to Enhance Your Skills?

To turn intentions into real achievements, use the SMART framework for goal setting.

Example of a SMART Goal for Learning Kubernetes

S — Specific: Learn Kubernetes to scale projects and improve efficiency.

M — Measurable: Complete a course and deploy a containerized application.

A — Achievable: With experience in Docker and Linux, mastering Kubernetes in three months is realistic.

R — Relevant: Kubernetes expertise will reduce setup time for testing and deployment, aligning with stakeholder needs.

T — Time-bound: Earn certification and integrate Kubernetes into a project’s CI/CD pipeline by the end of the quarter.

Clearly defined objectives will help you grow systematically and obtain results faster.

Explore useful resources: YouTube channels, courses, and industry-specific blogs. OGDSolutions Oü regularly shares insightful content. For example, check out the List of Certifications for Developers at the link.

Practice with open-source projects — we have a few tips to get you started. Begin with bugs you can handle to avoid overwhelm, and gradually polish your skills.

As with anything, time management is vital. Distribute tasks evenly and make time for proper rest. With a balanced approach, you’ll be able to assess your abilities objectively, improve weak spots, and earn positive feedback from stakeholders.

More:

From Job Search to Job Offer: A Step-by-Step Guide

3 Tips for Proper Preparation to Get a Dream Job

Contributing to Open-Source Projects: Boost Your Resume and Skills

How to Advance from a Middle to Senior Developer: A Career Guide

The OGDSolutions Oü platform makes it easy for Fractional CTOs and other Professionals to recruit Developers and build technical teams for their Projects.

Go to the 800+ Developer Pool, choose a Specialist for your tasks, or leave a request and get a personalized proposal: https://ogd-solutions.com/developers?

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