138: Building A Culture of Quality

Fostering team culture towards quality and improve communication

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Off Topic: Unveiling Insights in Agile

To deliver the right software, it's necessary to focus on the complexity of the entire business rather than just the technical aspect. Tools are only relevant if they're used to solve the problem in the right direction. The complexity of the domain is no longer a problem, so speeding up coding with frameworks is not the solution. Understanding the goal complexity is more important than coding quickly.

Using tools to deliver software quickly doesn't necessarily mean the solution will be cost-effective or scalable. The knowledge about the problem domain is only sometimes sophisticated enough to be turned into software.

When implementing Scrum, the first step is to create a Backlog. As the Product Owner, develop a roadmap of where things are headed. It's important to remember that this is a snapshot in time, so don't over-plan. Plan in enough detail to deliver the next increment of value and estimate the rest of the project in larger chunks. The key message is that everything is done transparently.

During an Event-Storming session, disagreements may arise, which can help identify conflict areas. Participants may have different visions, ideas, and perspectives on the same issue. It's important to note that comments and frictions are part of the model. Use different colors to represent the friction in the business timeline because every comment is part of the story. This distinction can help the team identify bottlenecks.

[^]: Clean Agile: Back to Basics

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Unrelated: Driving Team Communication and Alignment

Awareness of what other teams do, who they are, and how they work helps help communication between teams. Become aware of the cognitive distance between units. A lack of understanding creates a perceived psychological space: it feels harder to go and talk with others. Physical proximity is ideal as it facilitates frequent and informal communication. Encourage teams to talk face-to-face, not over email or chat. Ensure teams have casual or formal points of contact. These people play a vital role in brokering communication between teams.

Encapsulate your approach in your workflows and tooling. Refine your engineering strategy from tech spec to strategy to vision. Documentation of a clear vision is helpful, but some folks won’t study your document. Deliberate tools create workflows that nurture habits far better than training and documentation. Train new team members during their onboarding. Yet, if you get folks pointed in the right direction when they join, that habit momentum will favor remaining aligned.

Conway’s Law argues that organizations build software that reflects their structure. If your organization is structured, this will lead to coupled or tangled software. Having a small team forces you to focus on their roadmap on impact and ensures you’ll maintain focus on the achievable. Be clear about your priorities, and don’t dilute yourself across everything. Give your support to other leaders who are working to make improvements. Make your feedback non-blocking. If you’re deliberate, you can influence your organization’s leaders. Still, you’ll only get that time if you learn to remain in tight alignment at each step.

[^]: Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication

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