Knowledge shared by our community

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.

Know Your Customers Needs

This article discusses the challenges of product positioning and messaging in the early stages of a startup. It outlines the actions taken by the author, who worked as an outsourced consultant, to help the company uncover what they wanted from their product. The article also highlights the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of collaboration, knowing one's strengths and interests, and being able to accept failure and learn from mistakes.

How to Manage Managers

This article is about the challenges of being one of the first few employees of a travel-based company and how to overcome them. The author emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, 1:1s, and good people skills. They also learned to take criticism and challenges, as well as to look for improvements and personal development opportunities.

Reinvent a Product From Scratch

This article discusses the challenges of reinventing a product and the actions taken to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of good market research, working with a team of intelligent people, and putting yourself in the shoes of your juniors. It also highlights the importance of enjoying the process and being confident to move forward with your vision.

How to Manage an Employee With Depression

A team member was on a "return to work" programme after an ongoing depression. The team was small and timelines were short, creating pressure. The person needed to take time off on short notice, and the manager had to balance the person's wellbeing with client priorities. The manager was supportive and understanding, signposted the person to relevant support services, and communicated with the team about the person's condition. The team member was allowed to work part-time, and the manager encouraged them to join a mental health programme. The manager also learned to do research, not make assumptions, and be vocal about support for various diversity segments.

How to Address Challenges in Geographically Distributed Team

As a lead architect at a multinational retailer, I had to ensure the software could scale when demand increased. There was a challenge in delivery due to the offshore team expecting more details in the solution designs than the onshore team could provide. I brought both teams together to discuss their challenges and agreed on a middle-ground solution. Cultural differences were addressed with training and a design template was implemented to monitor improvement. Lessons learned included bringing people together to understand the root cause, being mindful of cultural differences, and monitoring specific metrics.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Cultivating Self-Discipline

This article discusses the importance of self-discipline and how to cultivate it. It suggests setting achievable goals, creating an action plan, allowing for failure, visualizing the end goal, and seeking support from others. It also emphasizes that failure is a friend and that it takes 21-30 days to form a habit.

How to Make an Impact

Making an impact in one's career is not easy, but it can be learned. To make an impact, one should identify a SMART goal, engage stakeholders, communicate with peers and team members, and stay positive. Communication is key, and it is important to stay motivated and celebrate small wins. Difficulties should be seen as learning opportunities.

Overcoming Remote Work Challenges

Remote work has become a reality due to the global pandemic, and it comes with both benefits and downsides. To make the most of it, organizations should double down on documentation, establish a common time zone, and use that time efficiently. Additionally, individuals should create a routine to stay focused and productive. Lastly, collaboration can be worked around with a solid plan and reliable tools.

Build Your Product Quickly

This article outlines a four-step approach to quickly build a product, based on the author's successful delivery of a brand new product in nine months. The steps involve identifying the problem to be solved, setting an achievable goal, keeping customers in the loop, and partnering wisely. The author emphasizes the importance of keeping the product simple, engaging with external stakeholders early on, and setting realistic milestones.

When Legacy Codebase Stalls Innovation

The leader of a legacy codebase wanted to instill an innovation mindset in their team and took various steps to do so, such as surveying the engineering team, securing buy-in from leadership, researching innovation, organizing hackathons, and establishing internship opportunities. Through these steps, the team was able to move away from the legacy codebase and track their progress incrementally while still delivering features to stakeholders.

Making Delivery Faster

This article outlines the steps taken by a software development team to improve their release cycles from two weeks to daily releases. The team identified process bottlenecks and worked to alleviate them by moving some of their back-end and API pods to Kanban, establishing regular check-in meetings, and creating a feedback loop with third parties. The team was ultimately successful in their endeavor, and the lessons learned included the importance of communication and the benefits of daily releases.

Building an Organization From the Ground Up

This article discusses the challenges faced by the engineering leader of a startup in the mom-and-pop gardening space. The leader had to quickly scale the product up, attract users, and generate marketplace transactions on the platform, while also growing the engineering team. To do this, the leader had to decide on technical foundations, explore scenarios for the MVP, familiarize themselves with the domain, choose infrastructure, and hire new team members. The article also provides lessons learned, such as being aware of the consequences of rapid growth, having the right MVP, and being cautious.

Alleviating the Infamous QA Bottleneck

In order to alleviate the "QA bottleneck" in an organization that had doubled in size, the QA team identified the root causes of the problem and mapped out solutions. Through developing written guidelines, the QA team enabled product teams to perform their own test plan reviews, reducing wait times and increasing velocity. This also encouraged a better dialogue about quality within product teams and helped to break down silos. The leader of the QA team also practiced managing through their managers, leading to successful results.

Establishing a New Function

Niche's QA team was struggling to keep up with their increased automation needs, so the QA team leader proposed a new departmental structure with a separate function for automation. This new role, the Software Engineer in Test, would be dedicated to automation, allowing the QA Analysts to focus on manual testing. After a year of refining the role, the team was able to hire additional Software Engineers in Test and begin revitalizing their automation efforts. The lessons learned from this experience included the value of specialization, the importance of face-to-face communication while vetting candidates, and the importance of trusting in the expertise of team members.

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

Relationship-Based Development

This article discusses the importance of building relationships in order to help team members grow and develop. It emphasizes the need to assess where team members are at, understand their areas of interest, and come up with actionable items to help them improve. It also highlights the importance of trust and the need to nurture individual authenticity. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of embracing new challenges and learning new things in order to achieve success.

Product Transformation: Why Prioritization Is Critical

This article discusses the challenges of transforming an existing product to meet changing user needs. It outlines the importance of understanding the reasons for the transformation and breaking down the necessary actions into manageable pieces. It also emphasizes the importance of prioritization and remaining calm during the process. Finally, it stresses the need to take the time to understand the problem before jumping into implementation.

Balancing Good Enough and Perfect

Product managers must find a balance between getting a product out the door quickly and ensuring its quality and adoption. This balance will depend on the product's context and market segment. It is important to understand user needs and differentiate between users and buyers. Quality should never be compromised, but tradeoffs can be made in execution. Product managers should also be mindful of overprescribing requirements to engineering, as this can stifle innovation. Ultimately, balance is a journey and each product will require a different approach.

Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Product Teams

This article discusses the challenge of dealing with ambiguities in software development and how to bridge the gap between product teams and engineering teams. It outlines the steps taken to set up fundamental agile principles, conduct workshops, and introduce lightweight, agile practices. It also highlights the importance of understanding the “why” behind a need and building trust in order to foster collaboration and innovation.