🔮 Crafting Tech Teams

🔮 Crafting Tech Teams focuses on optimizing engineering teams through leadership development, effective software practices, testing strategies, and architecture design. It emphasizes psychological safety, delivering before requirement changes, and balancing quality. The publication includes discussions on TDD, team coaching, and productivity metrics.

Leadership Development Software Practices Testing Strategies Architecture Design Psychological Safety Productivity Metrics Team Coaching Requirement Management Continuous Delivery

The hottest Substack posts of 🔮 Crafting Tech Teams

And their main takeaways

What I read this week

99 implied HN points • 17 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Software Frameworks Management Development Health
  1. Success comes from overcoming challenges and facing obstacles, not from a secret shortcut.
  2. Inspiration and fun can be found in quick reads like YouTube videos and articles.
  3. Learning and staying updated on a variety of topics, from software architecture to personal energy management, is important for growth.

No more Theatre: How I embraced failure as an Engineering Leader

139 implied HN points • 20 May 24
💼 Business Leadership Teamwork Success Coaching Learning
  1. Leaders need to embrace failure and turn it into a learning opportunity without fear of judgment.
  2. Teams require leaders to set clear boundaries, values, and expectations to create a psychologically safe environment.
  3. Continuous delivery in engineering leadership involves delivering faster, reducing stress, fostering a positive environment, and supporting team growth.
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The worst test suites read like word salad after a C++ compiler had a stroke. The best test suites adopt business language.

99 implied HN points • 10 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Testing Programming Automation
  1. Write tests in plain language aligned with business objectives for better understanding and communication.
  2. Ensure test names are clear and easily interpreted by humans to provide confidence and insight.
  3. Utilize BDD and Jasmine frameworks for more ergonomic testing and improved behavior analysis.

🎂 This all started a year ago

79 implied HN points • 24 Apr 24
💼 Business Coaching Content creation Design Mentoring
  1. The past year involved successful podcast testing, mentoring, and community building in the engineering field.
  2. Balancing multiple content creation channels and refining strategies was essential for sustained growth in the coaching and content business.
  3. Feedback from surveys and direct interactions highlighted the importance of clear design, diversified content, and fostering a supportive learning environment in the coaching and content creation journey.

Your team is too busy. You want to get more things done. 3 Phases of High-performing Engineering Cultures

39 implied HN points • 30 May 24
💼 Business Team performance Leadership Tech Teams
  1. Identifying and addressing different performance levels within teams is crucial for success. Low performers lack defined standards and quality expectations, while high performers exhibit strong individual and team qualities.
  2. In high-performing teams, quality expectations are well-defined across the organization, emphasizing individual accountability and collective excellence.
  3. Leaders should strive to move teams from mid-performance towards high performance by fostering a culture of shared responsibility, quality, and efficiency.

Engineering Management: Dealing with the Broken Window effect, understanding Resistance and Objections to Quality

79 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Management Technical Debt Change Management Resistance
  1. The bar for quality is defined by influential leaders and can evolve over time based on business needs.
  2. Stakeholders may request changes to either increase or decrease quality based on signals like bugs, morale, and process burden.
  3. Resistance should be considered when changes to quality are ignored to avoid negative impacts.

Simple phrases to make your TDD pairing more enjoyable

79 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Communication Teamwork
  1. Communication during pair programming is a skill that can be learned and improved. Adapt to better communicate with your team.
  2. In Test-Driven Development (TDD), not only technical aspects matter, but also how the team interacts. Share code, responsibilities, and voice disagreements effectively.
  3. Consider subscribing to publications like Crafting Tech Teams for more insights into improving team dynamics in TDD.

When things don't go according to plan... find your Calm. Find your victories. Celebrate them.

39 implied HN points • 28 Apr 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health Self-care Parenting
  1. In times of difficulty, it's important to find moments of calm and victories to celebrate.
  2. Acknowledging and celebrating milestones, progress, and community support can provide encouragement and motivation.
  3. Despite facing challenges, reflecting on positive aspects like newsletter anniversaries, client progress, community growth, and successful book clubs can help maintain perspective and resilience.

Be a competent engineer, not just a coder

99 implied HN points • 03 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Software Career development
  1. Being a competent engineer involves more than just coding; it requires skills in communication, architecture, and understanding the customer's needs.
  2. Engineers are not born, they are inspired by different aspects of the field like code snippets or games.
  3. Seasons in an engineering career can be likened to the spring where inspiration and growth begin.

📚 Book club: Join Team Topologies kickoff

59 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🚌 Education Book Club
  1. The book club is starting a new reading session with the Team Topologies book, focusing on learning and applying knowledge quickly.
  2. The goal is to help readers have impactful 'a-ha' moments early on, possibly before finishing the book.
  3. Readers can subscribe to the Crafting Tech Teams publication for access to the full post archives and a 7-day free trial.

To grow as leader seek the unknown.

139 implied HN points • 09 Oct 23
🚌 Education Leadership Mentorship Learning
  1. To grow as a leader, it's important to seek the unknown for growth and development.
  2. A mentor, who has more experience, can provide guidance and support on your journey.
  3. Learning and growth come not just from analyzing data, but also from making mistakes and re-ordering information.

Facts and Projections—event-based time modeling

99 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
🕹 Technology
  1. Microservices focus on solving time issues rather than size
  2. Using an event-based approach for facts and projections is important for modeling time
  3. Team communication cadence plays a crucial role in engineering concepts regarding temporality and team interdependence

2023 in Review, Newsletter and Community Updates

79 implied HN points • 29 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Leadership Architecture
  1. Focus on delivering results before requirements change is crucial for effective team leadership
  2. Providing certainty to stakeholders rather than estimates is essential for building trust and transparency
  3. Embracing the unknown and seeking growth as a leader can lead to personal and professional development

Test-first or don't test at all

159 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🕹 Technology Testing
  1. Testing later is a bad investment; better to not test at all.
  2. Consider the approach of test-first or not testing at all when crafting tech teams.
  3. Understanding the value and impact of testing early in the development process is crucial.

Down-to-earth guide to Engineering KPIs

99 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
💼 Business Management Team Performance
  1. Measuring team performance with KPIs can be chaotic and fascinating, revealing patterns and challenges in the process.
  2. Individual contributions can influence team behavior towards gaming KPIs, leading to increased numbers but decreased satisfaction.
  3. Balancing the use of KPIs in team management is crucial to prevent negative impacts on client relationships, employee satisfaction, and business outcomes.

🗓 Your invitation to weekly craftsmanship topics

59 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Architecture Design
  1. Weekly craftsmanship topics cover Modern Frontend Engineering Culture and Software Engineering Fundamentals Series. They delve into architecture, design techniques, and XP disciplines.
  2. Upcoming events include discussions on Modern Frontend Development and Object-Oriented Programming systems.
  3. Subscribe to Crafting Tech Teams for a 7-day free trial to access full post archives and continue learning about these topics.

Optimise for Change when Pressured for Features

39 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
💼 Business Management Finance Product Development Entrepreneurship
  1. Businesses with low outcomes for big budgets may get stuck in a negative feedback cycle due to perceived ineffectiveness, leading to frugality and pressure.
  2. When pressured for features, it's important for teams to optimize for change to adapt to evolving demands and challenges.
  3. Optimizing for change in high-pressure situations can help businesses break free from stagnant cycles and drive better outcomes for their investments.