Feedback & Reviews

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Internalizing Your Company Values

This article discusses the importance of having a strong, values-based culture in a company. It explains how having a documented culture and values can help bridge cultural differences, solve conflicts, and form hiring processes, rewards/promotions, and increase employee engagement. It also suggests ways to reinforce values, such as using discretionary bonuses and publicizing values.

Maximizing Positive Impact as a Company

Silicon Valley used to have a collaborative vibe, but now it has become an advertisement machine. The author's current start-up is challenging this new normal by trying to have a positive social impact. The author has learned that it is important to find a mission that is bigger than just making money, and to take a step back to understand how their product is impacting people's lives.

A 4-Step Structure for Improving Your Pull Request Review Process for Better Code Delivery

The text discusses the importance of providing context in pull requests (PRs) to improve the PR review process and code development speed. It suggests that a strong PR should include sections such as an overview of the problem the change solves, the context for understanding the impact of the change, instructions for evaluating and replicating the change, and additional information like screenshots or documentation. By providing this context, reviewers can better understand the purpose and impact of the change, leading to more effective and efficient reviews.

Hiring the Right Staff and Knowing Who the Right Staff is

In order to ensure the right staff is hired and to maintain a great team, it is important to address problems quickly. This includes talking to team members about any issues that arise, pointing out unacceptable behavior, and taking remedial action such as training and helping team members. If the behavior continues, it is best to remove the person quickly.

Proactively Minimizing the Burden of Technical Support on Your Organization

A team had three full-time engineers dealing with support issues, but the process was costly and not beneficial to the business. After conducting surveys and analyzing data, it was determined that the delivery time was four days longer and the cancellation rate was 50% higher on orders with reported issues. To address this, an automated ticket routing system was implemented which reduced the burden on the centralized rotation and increased accountability of individual teams. After introducing the new process, the number of tickets dropped from 400 to 50 over six months. The lessons learned from this experience were that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization, don't sit idle when you see a problem, and problems are more likely to be dealt with when there is accountability.