You’re at lunch with some coworkers, and you hear someone mention a conversation happening in Slack that has implications for your work, so you ask them to send you a link to the conversation. When you get back to your desk, you open Slack, and immediately facepalm. You now face a dilemma. Do you demand … Continue reading Build libraries, not vaults: minimizing private channels in Slack & Teams
Category: Management
Don’t confuse “bias for activity” with “bias for action”
If you haven't seen the famous TED talk about how kindergarten kids outperform business school graduates in a team challenge, it's worth 5 minutes of your time. (Spoiler: collaboration that leads to iteration and learning is far superior to up-front planning.) In many teams, however, heavy up-front planning is expected and incentivized. Even if a … Continue reading Don’t confuse “bias for activity” with “bias for action”
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
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
More Than Coding 