Abstract
Working in a DevOps world, we've all witnessed many recommendations for how teams work. We have books, blogs, tech trade articles, and even entire pieces of software dedicated to helping teams work together more effectively. We're expected to take a blue-sky approach with the given advice. So many times, teams adapt those solutions to what works for them, and as a result of the adaptation, teams work in vastly different ways, but we need insight into how.
I want to change that. This talk will explore the ways teams are really working in a DevOps-centric world.
During this talk, we will discuss:
- A look into team structures and how they can make or break healthy teams
- Insights into how teams are collaborating, from tracking work to automating work
- Strategies for leaders in measuring the right things in the right ways
- Advice on dealing with the push for T-shaped engineers
Interview
I have over a decade of experience in cloud automation and infrastructure engineering roles spanning from individual contributor to senior engineering leader; I've worked in many verticals across the industry including banking, financial, retail, and automotive. My current areas of focus include digital strategy, site reliability engineering, platform engineering, DevOps, and developer experience.
I'm a Senior Engineering Manager for a major toy manufacturer responsible for their E-Commerce platform. Previously, I was an Engineering Manager for H&R Block leading their Site Reliability Engineering and Server Automation practices. I'm based in London, UK, and am an expat from Central Missouri in the United States.
So many times we hear about the perfect scenarios to implement effective working practices and teams as companies adopt DevOps and other modern methodologies. In practice, though, each company is different, and the "How we work" isn't something we typically hear from companies. As a result, the reality companies are living in has become incredibly obscure. The hope is this talk starts a conversation around how teams are really operating and what has been effective or ineffective in those scenarios.
This talk has a broad range of persona. It could be incredibly valuable to engineering leaders looking to optimize how their team works. It could be equally valuable to engineers looking to work better together.
The biggest lesson I hope people are able to take away from this talk is that there are many ways for organizations to be effective in how their teams work. I would also like people to take away some valuable recommendations for team structures that I've experienced to work as well as other lessons learned.
Topics
QCon London 2024 is a three day conference for senior software engineers, architects and team leads. An international program committee of working engineers selects every session. Patterns and practices, not products and pitches.
Part of the track
How Do Teams Really Work? Hosted by Sophie Weston Principal Engineer @ClearBank, Co-Organizer of DevOpsDays London & FastFlowConfFrom the same track
Tuesday 9 April
10:35 Whittle (3rd Fl.) Session organizing at scale Making Change Stick: Lessons Learned From Helping Teams Improve at the Co-Op Neil Vass Engineering Manager at Co-Op with 18+ Years in Tech, Previously Worked at BBC and Tessella The Co-op has a wide range of software teams, working closely with its variety of businesses (from food to funerals) to build and improve services for use by over 65,000 colleagues, 5 million members, and many more customers. 11:45 Whittle (3rd Fl.) Session organizational design The Journey of ClearBank From Start-Up To Scale-Up Michael Gray Principal Engineer @ClearBank Join me on the journey of ClearBank’s transition from a start-up to a scale-up, focusing on the impact on culture and decision-making, and how this affected our engineering teams. 13:35 Fleming (3rd Fl.) Session Being a Bad Influence – The Dangerous Dichotomies of People Management Hannah Foxwell Independent Consultant at the Intersection of Platform Engineering, Security, and AI, Founder of AI For the Rest of Us Humans are complicated unpredictable creatures. As managers and leaders we need to be consistent, yet flexible. Strong, yet vulnerable. Caring, yet authoritative. We need to be so many things that it's often hard to be ourselves - but don’t forget to also be authentic! 14:45 Fleming (3rd Fl.) Session SRE Bits, Bots, and Banter: A Deep Dive into How Tech Teams Work in a DevOps World Brittany Woods Senior Engineering Manager @ The LEGO Group Working in a DevOps world, we've all witnessed many recommendations for how teams work. We have books, blogs, tech trade articles, and even entire pieces of software dedicated to helping teams work together more effectively. We're expected to take a blue-sky approach with the given advice. 15:55 Whittle (3rd Fl.) Session Team Topologies A Tale of Team Topologies at m3ter Ricardo Nuno Almeida Senior Software Engineering Manager @m3ter The path to success is frequently a winding one, and as a series A tech startup, m3ter is no exception. 17:05 Mountbatten (6th Fl.) Session DevOps Thriving Through Change: Leading Through Uncertainty Jennifer Davis Engineering Manager @Google, Previously @Microsoft and @Chef, Author of "Effective DevOps" and "Modern System Administration" Navigating change and building resilient teams is a complex challenge that many organizations face. Times of change can lead to uncertainty, disagreement, and a breakdown in trust.