Software team development in Africa : Case studies, insights & challenges

Transcript

1. Software team development in Africa Obi Uchenna David @othreecodes
2. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Pactical Summary Challenges 00 Who am I? David (othreecodes) About Me Job title? Senior Software Engineer Job description? Stuff - Ranging from product development to writing code to infrastructure management Hobbies? Making Parfait and figuring things out.
3. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 01 How we work • Sprints • Experiments • Product teams
4. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 02 How we work • Idea • Scope Document/Tech Spec • Design • Implementation • Meetings (Daily/Weekly) • Test<->Feedback How do we Sprint ?
5. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 03 How we work • Short burst ideas • Take less than a week • Push to a % of users • Gather data for if it’ll turn to a full feature What are Experiments ?
6. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 04 How we work • Give specific product features to a group of people cutting across different teams. …and Product teams ?
7. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 05 Fuel • Communication • Feedback • Data
8. What it feels like sometimes • So many “Don’ts” • No clear reason • No repercussion for action or inaction 06
9. Communication Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 07 Fuel • Talking is not communication. Adjust message to enable understanding. • Be aware of your unique perception • Why-based approach • Deadlines
10. The “meet me halfway” myth. • Everyone interprets the message they receive based on their relationship with the other person and understanding of the words used • Equilibrium (Communication and Understanding) 08
11. Feedback Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 09 Fuel • Start with the positives • Focus on the work • Explicitly state what was done wrong • Give clear steps for improvement • It’s a fine line between criticism and bullying
13. Data Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 11 Fuel • Data > Sentiment • Create success criteria • Share with the team • Metabase, firebase, google analytics, etc
15. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 13 Here’s what we’ve built so far #CowrywiseRou ndUp • End of year report 2020.cowrywise.com • Organically pushed • Trended in 2019
16. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 14 Here’s what we’ve built so far #MoneyDuo • Group Savings for Couples • Fastest project we’ve gotten out • It was an update to a feature rather than a new one.
17. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 15 Everyday we’re Strugglin’ Challenges • Time • Scope Creep • Miscommunication • Under communication • Product/Engineering Conflict
18. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 16 Everyday we’re Strugglin’ Challenges • Documentation • Limited Infrastructure/ resources • Too many edge cases
19. Introduction & Overview Processes What makes it work In Practical Summary Challenges 17 Here’s what we know In Summary • Giving feedback is hard, so it has to be intentional • Communication isn’t complete if you are not understood • Data is king
20. References • https://cowrywise.com/blog/built-money-duo/ • https://cowrywise.com/blog/how-we-built-cowrywise-roundup/ • https://seven-health.com/2015/12/fear-is-a-poor-motivator/ • https://businessterms.org/constructive-criticism/ • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtl5UrrgU8c • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCfzeONu3Mo • https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/13/president- trump-has-made-more-than-20000-false-or-misleading-claims/ • https://www.situationmanagementsystems.com/blog/index.php/ influence-skills-2/the-fine-line-between-over-communicating-and- under-communicating/