EMBRACING CHAOS

This talk was given at @queens_js and is an overview of a process I developed to handle ad-hoc requests that get routed to engineering teams.

Transcript

1. Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - splice.com @buritica BUILDING EFFICIENT TEAMS THROUGH ENGINEERING SUPPORT EMBRACING CHAOS
2. STORY TIME
3. BEFORE I WAS AN ENGINEERING MANAGER I WAS AN ENGINEER "
4. THIS MEANT I TRIED TO EMBRACE WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALLED "TRUE AGILE" OR SCRUM (I know I'm butchering these terms, sry not sry)
5. I DREAMED IN POINTS
6. THOUGHT IN ITERATIONS ⌛
7. LIVED SPRINT BY SPRINT
8. PLANNED ALL THE THINGS!! ✅
9. TALKED TO STAKEHOLDERS
10. I SCRUMMED THE SCRUMS
11. EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE...
12. A HOVERING SUIT WOULD APPROACH
13. XXXX NEEDS THIS FIXED ASAP
14. UH, OH... WE MUST...
15. .....
16. ...BREAK THE SPRINT
17. OHHHH, THE VELOCITY!
18. I WONDERED WHY EVEN AFTER ALLOCATING FLEXIBLE POINTS TO PREVENT THIS, EMERGENCIES KEPT KILLING OUR SPRINTS
19. "WHEN I AM THE BOSS, I WILL NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN"
20. AND THEN IT HAPPENED...
21. ...JUAN BOSS
23. IN ORDER TO FIX THIS I DECIDED TO EMBRACE CHAOS
24. PRODUCTS IN EARLY STARTUPS ARE EXPECTED TO CHANGE CONSTANTLY
25. SHORT PLANNED ITERATIONS ARE GREAT FOR CONSTANTLY SHIPPING NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS
26. BUT THEY DON'T SERVE WELL NEEDS LIKE EMERGENCIES OR KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON
27. I BROKE DOWN ENG INTO DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK AND TRIED TO ORGANIZE AROUND IT
28. THE 3 MAIN TYPES OF WORK I PREFER TO GROUP ARE:
29. FEATURES PRODUCT/BIZ FOLKS TEND TO OVER PRIORITIZE
30. - ARE PLANNED - WHAT TO WORK ON: OWNED BY PRODUCT MGT - WHEN TO SHIP: ROADMAP DRIVEN - HOW IT'S BUILT: SHARED BY ENG & DESIGN - GENERALLY NEW FEATURES OR ENHANCEMENTS GO HERE FEATURES:
31. MAINTENANCE ENG TENDS TO OVER PRIORITIZE BIZ TENDS TO UNDER PRIORITIZE PRODUCT SOMETIMES ONE OR THE OTHER
32. - IS CONSTANT - NOT GENERALLY ROADMAP DRIVEN - WHAT TO WORK ON: OWNED BY ENG - WHEN TO SHIP: OWNED BY ENG - HOW IT'S BUILT: OWNED BY ENG - IT'S LIKE KEEPING YOUR KITCHEN EQUIPMENT CLEAN - REFACTORING, DEPENDENCY OR SYSTEM UPDATES, UPGRADES, ETC MAINTENANCE:
33. EVERYTHING ELSE EXEC/BIZ/PRODUCT/CUSTOMER SERVICE/NEED IT TO OPERATE BUT ARE NOT GENERALLY AWARE OF THE RIPPLES ENG UNDERSTANDS URGENCY, BUT TENDS TO NOT COMMUNICATE BROADER IMPACT ON EXISTING PROJECTS
34. a.k.a. ENGINEERING SUPPORT -
35. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PRODUCT OR CUSTOMER SUPPORT WHICH HEAVILY RELY ON ENG SUPPORT, BUT BELONG TO OTHER DEPTS
36. - ADHOC & UNPREDICTABLE - NOT ROADMAP DRIVEN - WHAT TO WORK ON: OWNED BY REQUESTER - WHEN TO SHIP: ASAP ASAP ASAP ASAP - HOW IT'S BUILT: OWNED BY ENG AND/OR REQUESTER - KNOWN AS FIREFIGHTING - GENERALLY A COLLEAGUE IS ASKING FOR ENG HELP OR A CUSTOMER VIA CUSTOMER SUPPORT ENGINEERING SUPPORT:
37. - BUG NEEDS FIXING - BUG IS BLOCKING USER OR USER NEEDS HELP - MARKETING NEEDS A MICROSITE FOR TOMORROW - EXECS NEED DATA FOR URGENT BOARD DECK - PRODUCT MGR NEEDS ANALYTICS DEBUGGING RIGHT NOW EXAMPLES:
38. MY TARGET ALLOCATION
39. 60% OR MORE DEDICATED TO FEATURES FEATURES DRIVE BUSINESS
 20% OR LESS DEDICATED TO SUPPORT NECESSARY FOR OPERATIONS, BUT TOO MUCH TIME USED MAY SIGNIFY ISSUE WITH SOFTWARE QUALITY, PRODUCT DESIGN OR PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION
 20% CONSTANT FOR MAINTENANCE KEEP THE LIGHTS ON AND HOLDS PREVENTATIVE MEASURES
40. MY PROCESS FOR ENG SUPPORT
41. EVERY SINGLE AD-HOC REQUEST IN THE COMPANY STARTS IN A TICKET SYSTEM
42. NOT VIA EMAIL
43. MUCH LESS VIA SLACK
44. IF WE DON'T HAVE A TICKET WE'RE NOT SOLVING
45. THIS APPLIES FOR CEO AND BELOW
46. PURPOSE: TO CENTRALIZE VISIBILITY OF WORK LOAD, ELIMINATE SIDE REQUESTS AND QUANTIFY SIDE EFFECTS OF AD-HOC WORK
47. WE HAVE SOME TEMPLATES (PROCESS WILL BE OPTIMIZED DOWN THE LINE, RIGHT NOW IT WORKS)
48. CHORE
49. **Brief Summary** **What do you need done?**: _briefly describe the task needed_ **Why is this important?**: _this helps us prioritize_ **Can you achieve this without engineering**: yes / no **Is this blocking you?**: yes / no **Is there a due date**: yes (set it on the ticket) / no **Additional details for request below** - _label request properly, remove template tag, remove this line_
50. BUG
51. **Brief Summary** As a `___ ` I did `___` and expected `___` but experienced `___`. **Steps to reproduce**: (_if available_) 1. 2. 3. **Logged in as**: `username` or `logged-out` **Client Details** - OS version - Browser Version: `delete if not applicable` **Zendesk Link**: `delete if not applicable` **Mixpanel Link**: `delete if not applicable` - _attach any files and remove this line_ - _label issue properly, remove template tag, remove this line_
52. PRODUCT MGR || LEADER PRIORITIZE
53. PRIORITIES RESET DAILY OR HOURLY IF SOMETHING CRITICAL SHOWS UP
54. ROTATION OF ENGINEERS TACKLE TOP TO BOTTOM
55. THIS IS THE 1ST LINE OF DEFENSE 3
56. IF EXPERTISE IS NEEDED, OTHER ENGS GET INVOLVED TO PAIR, DEBUG OR GUIDE RESOLUTION 3 + 4
57. BENEFITS I'VE FOUND
58. WHOLE ORGANIZATION GETS THEIR NEEDS TAKEN CARE OF IN CONTEXT OF GLOBAL PRIORITY
59. WE SHARE KNOWLEDGE ACROSS ALL ENGINEERING
60. EVERYONE* "TAKES ONE FOR THE TEAM"
61. GREAT PLACE FOR ON-BOARDING ENGINEERS
62. ENG SUPPORT PROTECTS OTHER 2 WORK STREAMS <3
63. AND WE DON'T "BREAK THE SPRINT"
64. DISCLAIMER & CONTEXT: I'VE BEEN V HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS OF THIS PROCESS IN VARIOUS PRODUCT ENGINEERING TEAMS RANGING ON 3 - 40 MEMBERS (MINE & AS ADVISOR/CONSULTANT IN ~6/yrs). AS ORGS GROW PAST THIS, I THINK DEDICATED SUPPORT SEAMS TO BE A REASONABLE EXPECTATION TO SUPPLEMENT ROTATION. WILL UPDATE WITH ANY FINDINGS IN THE FUTURE
65. THANKS Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - splice.com @buritica