ZOMG I'm Leading a Project - Velocity 2019

@maltzj 1

@maltzj 2

@maltzj 3 1. Write code 2. Review code 3. Write
JIRA tickets

@maltzj 4 1. Write JIRA tickets 2. Review code 3.
Write code

@maltzj 5

@maltzj 6 When leading a project, everything changes

@maltzj Jonathan Maltz @maltzj 06-13-19 AUTHOR DATE ZOMG I'm Leading
A Project

@maltzj 8

@maltzj 9 Different Names in Different Places

@maltzj 10 Deliver on time, with a high bar, without
people quitting

@maltzj • Accountable for project being successful Responsibilities 11

@maltzj • Accountable for project being successful • Deciding on
a project plan Responsibilities 12

@maltzj • Accountable for project being successful • Deciding on
a project plan • Prioritizing work for delivery Responsibilities 13

@maltzj 14

@maltzj 15 Before

@maltzj 16 You

@maltzj 17 You Engineering Manager Are you happy?

@maltzj 18 You Engineering Manager Are you happy? Project Lead
Here are the priorities

@maltzj 19 After

@maltzj 20 You

@maltzj 21 You Engineer 1 Engineer 2 Engineer 2

@maltzj 22 You Engineer 1 Engineer 2 Engineer 2 What
should we do next? What should we do next? What should we do next?

@maltzj 23 You Engineer 1 Engineer 2 Engineer 2 Team
Lead What should we do next? Is your technical bar high? What should we do next? What should we do next?

@maltzj 24 You Engineering Manager Engineer 1 Engineer 2 Engineer
2 Team Lead What should we do next? Is your technical bar high? Are you being fair? What should we do next? What should we do next?

2 Team Lead What should we do next? Is your technical bar high? Are you being fair? What should we do next? What should we do next? Product Manager Can we get it sooner?

2 Team Lead What should we do next? Is your technical bar high? Are you being fair? What should we do next? What should we do next? Product Manager Can we get it sooner? Other Project Leads Can you unblock us?

@maltzj @maltzj Getting Started

@maltzj 28 Write a design document

@maltzj 29 Write a design document, with milestones

@maltzj 30 Write a design document, with milestones, and relevant
signoffs

@maltzj 31 "I never write a design document without knowing
it will get signed off"

@maltzj Gather Requirements GETTING STARTED 1

@maltzj • What does your product owner want to build?
4 Key Questions 33

• Why do they want it built? 4 Key Questions 34

• Why do they want it built? • What's the core of this feature? 4 Key Questions 35

• Why do they want it built? • What's the core of this feature? • What's less important? 4 Key Questions 36

@maltzj 37 Importance Difﬁculty/Risk

@maltzj 39 "{Feature} seems like it will be hard, can
we do that as a follow-up"

@maltzj Build a Skeleton GETTING STARTED 2

@maltzj 41

@maltzj 42

@maltzj 43 Solution Exploring

@maltzj 44 "So I'm trying to ﬁgure out {problem}, can
we talk about approaches"

@maltzj 45 Fewer people

@maltzj 46 Fewer people: Less conﬁdence in decision, quicker

@maltzj 47 Fewer people: Less conﬁdence in decision, quicker More
people

@maltzj 48 Fewer people: Less conﬁdence in decision, quicker More
people: More conﬁdence in decision, takes longer

@maltzj • Your team lead • Experts on any affected
systems • One/Two People on the Project At A Minimum 49

@maltzj 50 Solution Exploring Solution Deciding

@maltzj Deﬁne Milestones GETTING STARTED 3

@maltzj 52 Shippable Chunks

@maltzj 55 Unblock Future Work

@maltzj Get Sign-Off GETTING STARTED 4

@maltzj 57 Consent vs. Consensus

@maltzj 58 Sign-off Meetings!

@maltzj Kick-off GETTING STARTED 5

@maltzj @maltzj Execution

@maltzj 61 You Engineering Manager Product Manager Engineer 1 Other
Project Leads Engineer 2 Engineer 2 Team Lead What should we do next? Is your technical bar high? Can we get it sooner? Are you being fair? Can you unblock us? What should we do next? What should we do next?

@maltzj 62 Goal #1: Answer all these questions

@maltzj 63 Goal #2: Spend as little time as possible
doing this

@maltzj 64 1. Write JIRA tickets 2. Review code 3.
Write code

@maltzj 65 1. Manage tasks 2. Review code 3. Write
code

@maltzj 66 Task Management

@maltzj • All work is in your task tracker Task
Management 67

@maltzj • All work is in your task tracker •
Ideally broken down in 1-4 day chunks Task Management 68

@maltzj • All work is in your task tracker •
Ideally broken down in 1-4 day chunks • In progress/up next/done work is visible Task Management 69

@maltzj 70 Task Breakdown

@maltzj 71 Meetings

@maltzj • Daily standups (sync or async) Meetings 72

@maltzj • Daily standups (sync or async) • 1:1 with
your product manager every 2 weeks Meetings 73

your product manager every 2 weeks • 1:1s with people on your team every 2-3 weeks Meetings 74

your product manager every 2 weeks • 1:1s with people on your team every 2-3 weeks • Regular meeting (default 2 weeks) to agree on next priorities Meetings 75

@maltzj 76

@maltzj • Confusion about what to work on next Failure
modes 77

@maltzj • Confusion about what to work on next ◦
Have you prioritized your backlog well enough? Failure modes 78

Have you prioritized your backlog well enough? • People are confused about progress Failure modes 79

Have you prioritized your backlog well enough? • People are confused about progress ◦ Are you updating your per-sprint progress? Failure modes 80

Have you prioritized your backlog well enough? • People are confused about progress ◦ Are you updating your per-sprint progress? • Team is working hard but not hitting milestones Failure modes 81

Have you prioritized your backlog well enough? • People are confused about progress ◦ Are you updating your per-sprint progress? • Team is working hard but not hitting milestones ◦ Are you actually doing work on the milestone? ◦ Are you trying to do too many things? Failure modes 82

@maltzj 83 Reviewing Code

@maltzj 84

@maltzj 85

@maltzj 86 Boards + Daily Status

@maltzj 87 Writing Code

@maltzj 88 Enable writing more code

@maltzj 89 Accelerate important areas

@maltzj 90 You'll do this less

@maltzj @maltzj

@maltzj @maltzj 3 Things

@maltzj @maltzj 1. You're responsible for delivering the whole project

@maltzj @maltzj 2. Write a design document with milestones and
get sign-off

@maltzj @maltzj 3. Manage tasks, review code, then write code

@maltzj https://boards.greenhouse.io/nuna/

@maltzj @maltzj

ZOMG I'm Leading a Project - Velocity 2019

ZOMG I'm Leading a Project - Velocity 2019

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