Dock Preferences

I think it is important, if you you do have the Dock showing at all times, to have this box checked in the Dock system preferences:

Checking this box will help keep your workflow streamlined, even in the middle of the day when you are running from task to task with 5-10 apps open.

You don’t want to see this:

You could see this with the same number of apps open and windows minimized: