Microservices Means Macrocommunication — Paige Bernier

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Microservices Means Macrocommunication Paige Bernier @alpacatron3000

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Portland, Oregon

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Rocky <---- Norman ---->

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No content

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The story begins...

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First Team Autonomous! Greenfield! Predictable traffic!

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Second Team Interteam dependencies! (some) legacy code! Variable traffic!

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First I Learned... ● Trust is essential

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Then I Learned... ● Trust is essential ● Good communication is mandatory

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“Macrocommunication is the art of communication at scale”

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What does success look like? ● Clear & open communication

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Traits ● Trust ● Empathy ○ Empathy != sympathy ● Proactive mindset

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Organizational Level

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The Org

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Complete teams Front End & Back End Ops Product Manager Designer Engineering Manager

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Minimal Standardization ● Announcements-only channel

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Minimal Standardization ● Announcements-only channel ● Source of truth

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Minimal Standardization ● Announcements-only channel ● Source of truth ● Supported tools/technologies

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Minimal Standardization ● Announcements-only channel ● Source of truth ● Supported tools/technologies ● Prioritized initiatives

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Minimal Standardization ● Announcements-only channel ● Source of truth ● Supported tools/technologies ● Prioritized initiatives ● Team offices

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Culture of Recognition

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Interteam

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Interteam

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Know your “service neighborhood”

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Complete READMEs ○ Architecture diagram

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Complete READMEs ○ Architecture diagram ○ 1 line description

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Complete READMEs ○ Architecture diagram ○ 1 line description ○ Running locally

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Complete READMEs ○ Architecture diagram ○ 1 line description ○ Running locally ○ Contributing

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Friendly APIs ○ Documentation

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Friendly APIs ○ Documentation ○ Informative error messages ○ Way to send test data

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Treat your downstream like customers! ● Friendly APIs ○ Documentation ○ Informative error messages ○ Way to send test data

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Intrateam

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Intrateam

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Being a good teammate ● Assume good intent

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Being a good teammate ● Assume good intent ● Be flexible

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Being a good teammate ● Assume good intent ● Be flexible ● Written culture

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Being a good teammate ● Assume good intent ● Be flexible ● Written culture ● Expand your perspective

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Real Life Examples

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Example #1 The hot potato service

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Have a quick handover meeting

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Have a quick handover meeting ● Celebrate unloading this awful service

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Have a quick handover meeting ● Celebrate unloading this awful service

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Tune alerts

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Tune alerts ● Update README

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Tune alerts ● Update README ● Document “gotchas”

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Example #1 The hot potato service ● Tune alerts ● Update README ● Document “gotchas” ● Codebase tour

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week.

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Silently file a ticket and leave it for prioritization next week

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Silently file a ticket and leave it for prioritization next week ● Complain about Team X’s tight deadline

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Silently file a ticket and leave it for prioritization next week ● Complain about Team X’s tight deadline ● Refuse saying you have too much work

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Example #2 To complete your feature you need Team X to do a thing ● In the middle of your sprint ask the team to do work ● File a ticket and never talk to Team X about it ● Complain about Team X’s unwillingness to help

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Tell your team/manager immediately

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Tell your team/manager immediately ● Prioritize it

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Tell your team/manager immediately ● Prioritize it ● Determine when the work could get done

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Example #2 To complete their work, Team X has asked you to do work due next week. ● Tell your team/manager immediately ● Prioritize it ● Determine when the work could get done ● Talk to Team X about the deadline

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Send 2 emails months in advance

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Send 2 emails months in advance ● Set a deprecation warning with no details on how to upgrade

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Send 2 emails months in advance ● Set a deprecation warning with no details on how to upgrade ● Spam all communication channels multiple times a day

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Send 2 emails months in advance ● Set the deprecation warning with no details on how to upgrade ● Spam all communication channels multiple times a day

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Provide context, “the why”

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Provide context, “the why” ● Proactively monitor the migration

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Provide context, “the why” ● Proactively monitor the migration ● Generous timeline

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Example #3 Your team owns a shared library and you need everyone to upgrade ● Provide context, “the why” ● Proactively monitor the migration ● Generous timeline ● Informative, updated deprecation warnings