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Meri Williams — Five Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner About Scaling Teams & Culture (Turing Fest 2018)

Turing Fest
August 02, 2018

Meri Williams — Five Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner About Scaling Teams & Culture (Turing Fest 2018)

In engineering we (rightly) talk a lot about how to scale our systems and our infrastructure. Yet some of our very hardest challenges come when scaling the people side of things. How do you survive your team doubling, tripling or perhaps even a 10x growth in a short period of time? What does it take to grow fast AND retain the bits of your culture as a team or organisation that made you great to begin with? How do you know when to change how you do things, without just cargo culting? Having scaled a number of teams at different speeds, Meri will talk through some of the inflection points you'll experience, how to navigate them, and reflect on all the things she wishes she'd known just a little bit earlier..

Turing Fest

August 02, 2018
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  1. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager 5 Things I Wish I'd Known

    Sooner About Scaling Teams & Culture Turing Fest August 2018
  2. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager “DON’T REPEAT YOURSELF” IS A NICE

    PROGRAMMING PRINCIPLE
 
 IT IS A TERRIBLE HUMAN COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLE
 

  3. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager REMEMBER WE DON’T JUST COMMUNICATE IN

    THE PRESENT
 
 USE ARCHITECTURAL DECISION RECORDS TO COMMUNICATE (TO FUTURE FOLKS) WHAT YOU WERE THINKING WHEN YOU MADE A CHOICE
  4. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager WE ALL HATE BAD BOSSES WE

    DESCRIBE THEM AS • Clueless • Empty suits • Pointless • Seagulls
  5. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager Predictors of High Performance 1. Do

    I know what is expected of me at work? 2. Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right? 3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? 4. In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work? 5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? 6. Is there someone at work who cares about my development? 7. At work, do my opinions seem to count? 8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? 9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? 10. Do I have a best friend at work? 11. In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development? 12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
  6. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager MOTIVATION = + PURPOSE (Do I

    believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?) - ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT
  7. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager Predictors of High Performance (remix) PURPOSE

    • Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? AUTONOMY • Do I know what is expected of me at work? • At work, do my opinions seem to count? MASTERY • Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right? • At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? • Is there someone at work who cares about my development? • Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? • In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development? • At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
  8. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager And What Else? OTHER FACTORS: •

    In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work? • Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? • Do I have a best friend at work? ESSENTIALLY, AM I RESPECTED & REWARDED HERE? CAN I BE MYSELF AND SUCCEED HERE?
 I CALL THIS INCLUSION.
  9. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager Predictors of High Performance (remix) PURPOSE

    • Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important? 
 AUTONOMY • Do I know what is expected of me at work? • At work, do my opinions seem to count? INCLUSION: • In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work? • Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? • Do I have a best friend at work? MASTERY • Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right? • At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? • Is there someone at work who cares about my development? • Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? • In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development? • At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
  10. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager SPACE TO BE AWESOME = +

    PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?) + AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?) + MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?) + INCLUSION (Do I BELONG HERE?) - ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT
  11. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager WE NEED TO STOP LEVELLING PEOPLE

    OUT TO EQUAL CONSISTENT MEDIOCRITY 
 
 AND INSTEAD 
 FOCUS ON GETTING THE MOST OUT OF DIFFERENCE
  12. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager WE ARE COLOURS … OR FLAVOURS


    
 WE ARE BETTER IN COMPLEMENT, IN CONCERT WITH EACH OTHER
  13. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager CRAFT INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS 1. Am I

    EXPECTED here? 2. Am I RESPECTED here? 3. Can I BE MYSELF and BE SUCCESSFUL here?
  14. Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager 5 Things I Wish I’d Known

    Sooner About Scaling Teams 1. DRY Doesn’t Work for Human Communication – repeat, consistently, 7+ times. ADRs rock. 2. Scaling Teams is About Creating the Conditions for Success – Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery, Inclusion. 3. Inflection Points Exist – focus on the right problems at the right times. Borrow solutions from folks facing YOUR problems. 4. With People, Observability > Testing – use tactics to check whether you impact is matching your intent (and adjust!). Retros rock. 5. Culture ADD Matters a Lot More Than Culture FIT – cultivate inclusion, outperform the homogenous teams Every. Damn. Day.