EMBRACING CHAOS - Speaker Deck

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Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - splice.com @buritica BUILDING EFFICIENT TEAMS THROUGH ENGINEERING SUPPORT EMBRACING CHAOS

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STORY TIME

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BEFORE I WAS AN ENGINEERING MANAGER I WAS AN ENGINEER "

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THIS MEANT I TRIED TO EMBRACE WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALLED "TRUE AGILE" OR SCRUM (I know I'm butchering these terms, sry not sry)

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I DREAMED IN POINTS

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THOUGHT IN ITERATIONS ⌛

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LIVED SPRINT BY SPRINT

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PLANNED ALL THE THINGS!! ✅

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TALKED TO STAKEHOLDERS

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I SCRUMMED THE SCRUMS

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EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE...

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A HOVERING SUIT WOULD APPROACH

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XXXX NEEDS THIS FIXED ASAP

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UH, OH... WE MUST...

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.....

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...BREAK THE SPRINT

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OHHHH, THE VELOCITY!

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I WONDERED WHY EVEN AFTER ALLOCATING FLEXIBLE POINTS TO PREVENT THIS, EMERGENCIES KEPT KILLING OUR SPRINTS

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"WHEN I AM THE BOSS, I WILL NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN"

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AND THEN IT HAPPENED...

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...JUAN BOSS

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IN ORDER TO FIX THIS I DECIDED TO EMBRACE CHAOS

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PRODUCTS IN EARLY STARTUPS ARE EXPECTED TO CHANGE CONSTANTLY

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SHORT PLANNED ITERATIONS ARE GREAT FOR CONSTANTLY SHIPPING NEW FEATURES & ENHANCEMENTS

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BUT THEY DON'T SERVE WELL NEEDS LIKE EMERGENCIES OR KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON

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I BROKE DOWN ENG INTO DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK AND TRIED TO ORGANIZE AROUND IT

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THE 3 MAIN TYPES OF WORK I PREFER TO GROUP ARE:

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FEATURES PRODUCT/BIZ FOLKS TEND TO OVER PRIORITIZE

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- 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:

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MAINTENANCE ENG TENDS TO OVER PRIORITIZE BIZ TENDS TO UNDER PRIORITIZE PRODUCT SOMETIMES ONE OR THE OTHER

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- 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:

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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

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a.k.a. ENGINEERING SUPPORT -

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NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PRODUCT OR CUSTOMER SUPPORT WHICH HEAVILY RELY ON ENG SUPPORT, BUT BELONG TO OTHER DEPTS

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- 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:

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- 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:

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MY TARGET ALLOCATION

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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

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MY PROCESS FOR ENG SUPPORT

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EVERY SINGLE AD-HOC REQUEST IN THE COMPANY STARTS IN A TICKET SYSTEM

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NOT VIA EMAIL

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MUCH LESS VIA SLACK

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IF WE DON'T HAVE A TICKET WE'RE NOT SOLVING

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THIS APPLIES FOR CEO AND BELOW

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PURPOSE: TO CENTRALIZE VISIBILITY OF WORK LOAD, ELIMINATE SIDE REQUESTS AND QUANTIFY SIDE EFFECTS OF AD-HOC WORK

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WE HAVE SOME TEMPLATES (PROCESS WILL BE OPTIMIZED DOWN THE LINE, RIGHT NOW IT WORKS)

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CHORE

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**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_

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BUG

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**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_

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PRODUCT MGR || LEADER PRIORITIZE

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PRIORITIES RESET DAILY OR HOURLY IF SOMETHING CRITICAL SHOWS UP

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ROTATION OF ENGINEERS TACKLE TOP TO BOTTOM

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THIS IS THE 1ST LINE OF DEFENSE 3

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IF EXPERTISE IS NEEDED, OTHER ENGS GET INVOLVED TO PAIR, DEBUG OR GUIDE RESOLUTION 3 + 4

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BENEFITS I'VE FOUND

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WHOLE ORGANIZATION GETS THEIR NEEDS TAKEN CARE OF IN CONTEXT OF GLOBAL PRIORITY

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WE SHARE KNOWLEDGE ACROSS ALL ENGINEERING

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EVERYONE* "TAKES ONE FOR THE TEAM"

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GREAT PLACE FOR ON-BOARDING ENGINEERS

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ENG SUPPORT PROTECTS OTHER 2 WORK STREAMS <3

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AND WE DON'T "BREAK THE SPRINT"

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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

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THANKS Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - splice.com @buritica