How to keep engineers out of meeting hell

Why are most meetings hell for engineers? Meetings aren't as interesting as coding Most attendees aren't needed to contribute for the whole time An engineer's impact during a meeting is less tangible compared to coding Meetings are interruptions that cause context switches As an engineering manager, you will need meetings to get some things done. … Continue reading How to keep engineers out of meeting hell

The “3 standup questions” are terrible and need to die

How did we end up in this place? Thousands - maybe millions? - of developers sit in standup meetings daily and answer the same 3 questions ("What did you do yesterday?", "What are you going to do today?", "Any blockers?"). Managers around the world blindly adopt the same standup meeting format, without critical thought to … Continue reading The “3 standup questions” are terrible and need to die

Want to write better user stories? Stop using “can”.

Feature Factories are dangerous things. You might even work in one and don't realize it yet. Here's a test: if your team built something 6 months ago and you've no idea if anyone is using it, or if anyone even finds it valuable, you may well work in a Feature Factory. If a new hotel … Continue reading Want to write better user stories? Stop using “can”.

Disconnecting From Work is a Skill We Need to Rebuild

Almost all software work used to happen in office buildings. Engineers commuted there, booted up their desktop computers, did their work, then turned them off and went home. There was no way to perform work anywhere else because the machinery needed stayed stowed away in company offices, inaccessible from outside. The rise of laptops, VPNs, … Continue reading Disconnecting From Work is a Skill We Need to Rebuild

Software estimation is your most costly activity. Why not reduce it?

If your first reaction to this article's title was to think of other activities in software that are more expensive than estimation, that's ok! There are probably plenty of expensive things you are doing like sending large bags of money to AWS each month. However, the title says "most costly" and not "most expensive". Estimation … Continue reading Software estimation is your most costly activity. Why not reduce it?