197: How to Create Alignment and Consensus

Alignment through mindful communication and mentoring junior engineers

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Unrelated: How to Mentor Junior Developers and Help Them Reach Their Full Potential

Managers can empower team members to make decisions and solve problems. Agile methodologies rely on collaboration and communication to be successful. Teams should use user feedback to confirm the features they are working on and ensure they meet the customer's needs.

Scrum members work towards Sprint and Product Goals, relying on their skills and abilities to organize their work. Can you share some ways in which you have improved the organization? How has your work had a quantifiable impact? What tasks do you undertake that help keep the organization functioning well? What is the outcome of these tasks? Have you mentored anyone, and if so, what were their accomplishments? Which teams and leaders are familiar with and supportive of your work? What do they value about your job? It's important to ask your sponsor how you can support them. The work can be complex and ambiguous, with many stakeholders to consider. Failure is not an option. It's important to stay aligned with your manager, bring value to meetings, and be present. If you have a sponsor in the room, optimizing for the group and speaking without causing friction is essential. Make sure you are prepared for meetings and volunteer for low-status tasks. Avoid being dogmatic, withholding consent, or dominating conversations. Refrain from embarrassing your sponsor or being flaky. If an appointment isn't helpful, leaving and sponsoring someone else into the opportunity is okay. Regular check-ins or progress reports can also ensure that the team stays on track while allowing team members to voice concerns.

Off Topic: Consistency in language across software development is crucial to reduce translation costs

Acceptance tests are a collaborative effort between business analysts, QA, and developers. The concept of Ubiquitous Language is crucial as it addresses the issue of the "cost of translation." Businesses use language specific to their domain to convey their requirements. This results in two indirection levels, impacting the industry's finances. But, in recent years, the industry has been exploring ways to reduce the "cost of translation" across different levels. One such solution involves using BDD scenarios as a domain model. What if we stopped segregating these efforts and combined them instead? This would help you and your team better understand the business concept behind the user story you're working on.

Additionally, you can place the feature at any level you prefer. You can still use the web interface with a web crawler or focus on developing the domain core first. This approach enforces an architecture that separates the domain from the infrastructure. End-to-end automation is the most common way of using Gherkin-based BDD tools. People think of testing their website when they see Gherkin. Yet, you can use the scenarios written in Gherkin to drive the implementation of the lower layers of your application. It's one of the two most critical concepts in BDD, and the first scenario does not use Ubiquitous Language, while the second one does.

During the development cycle, there's a period of alignment and understanding that many teams call analysis and design. In recent years with the proliferation of tools like Cucumber[^1] and RSpec, many teams have considered practicing BDD using one tool. 

The fundamental aspect of BDD is how it defines the work that needs to be done. The example is the essential piece of information in BDD, and that's the reason why it is represented in user stories as scenarios. Gherkin helps us separate the how from the what, and at the same time, it can provide context for how we ask the right questions. 

Businesses need to understand their domain, especially since technology is crucial today. Yet, many technical teams tend to focus more on the technology rather than aligning it with business strategy and needs. This approach consists in creating a problem domain model using a shared vocabulary. With a clear plan, teams can work and even sprint toward the finish line when necessary.

Current Work: How to Create Alignment and Consensus

Avoiding miscommunication and focusing on success is important when working on critical projects. Consider who would be best suited to lead the project and work with them to ensure their success. Take notes and ask questions to contribute to the discussion. If someone isn't participating, try to involve them in the conversation. Reach out to a respected colleague for advice with a specific question. Writing can help clarify your thoughts and beliefs. When summarizing ideas, always start with the main point. Accept feedback and take responsibility for any issues. Provide solutions when presenting problems. To create alignment, propose a solution that everyone can support. Avoid academic-style presentations and stay flexible in your desired outcomes.

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