Things you wish you shared with your team before they agreed on that deadline

A presentation at re:develop in October 2018 in Bournemouth, UK by Dominika Rogala

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Things you wish you shared with your team before they agreed on that deadline Dominika Rogala @RogalaDominika VECTOR TECHNOLOGIES

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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5 things your team needs to know before they agree on a deadline @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. How many days are there in a year? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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UK 2018: 253 working days YEAR = 8 months work + holidays + weekends @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Work takes a week… Junior dev: I have 7 days! Experienced dev: I have 5 days! Truly: ... @RogalaDominika #redev18

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YEAR < 250 days MONTH < 20 days WEEK < 5 days @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. We work much less than we think

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  1. We are humans @RogalaDominika #redev18

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We’re not robots. sometimes we get sick. sometimes we are tired. sometimes we have a bad day. Yet we often plan as if we were perfectly regulated robots. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Let’s see some other differences between people and robots: @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. Start using a new tool: training & time install tool @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. Joining the team: build trust add to network @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. Viruses 2 weeks off install patch @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. We are humans

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  1. Traps that kill our estimations @RogalaDominika #redev18

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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tomorrow P! A R T IT’S A noun A mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement is stored. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Today we procrastinate. How much? 2 hours. A day. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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“In the meantime” actually takes time. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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meantime P! A R T IT’S A noun A mystical land where 99% of all human focus is stored. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Travelling through mystical lands steals Next mystical land that Tomorrow, context-swithing meantime, context-switching (between)... time: P! A R T IT’S A @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Gerald Weinberg’s rule of thumb - cost of context switching. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Are your teams working on one project at a time? Lucky them! And lucky you ;) Are they working on two or more? Here’s the cost you pay for it. As long as you can’t do anything about it, remind them to add this cost in estimations. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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P! A R T IT’S A Things we can’t predict @RogalaDominika #redev18

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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Traps: Tomorrow “In the meantime” Context-switching Things we don’t know… … what’s your trap? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. Traps steal time

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  1. All work counts @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Documentation… It’s easy to forget about it in estimations so make sure people on your team remember about this silent hero. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Estimations. Planning. Specifying requirements. Is this even real work? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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How about outsourcing? Isn’t it what we use when we want to speed up development? Yes, that’s right. But it’s always at a cost of team’s time. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. All work counts

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  1. Priorities @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Why do we always meet for Christmas Dinner on time but miss other deadlines? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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Christmas Dinner Priority: Time @RogalaDominika #redev18

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What are your priorities? Product quality? User experience? Money? Does your team know? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Everyone has a default priority that they will use if no other is clearly defined. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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  1. Share top priority @RogalaDominika #redev18

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@RogalaDominika #redev18

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We work less than we think We are humans Traps steal time All work counts Share top priority @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Time. Humans. Traps. Work. Priorities. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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How to make sure people in your team know all these things, and remember it in the right moment? @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Talk about time Talking about estimations creates common understanding of time. Everyone is involved and thus we constantly improve our teams’ estimation abilities. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Let them guess Create a culture of blameless improvement. Always make it clear if we’re estimating or declaring a binding deadline (team & outside). @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Estimation is not declaration @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Ask about buffers @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Add buffers for Maternity/paternity leaves Sick leaves Days around holidays @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Add buffers for Skiing season New joiners Irregular known unknowns @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Iterate and reflect Use what you already have (sprint planning, retros) to talk about time. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Share Interesting resources, your planning techniques, mistakes you made… Oh, an you can share this talk. Here’s a 10-minutes video @RogalaDominika #redev18

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Time. Humans. Traps. Work. Priorities. @RogalaDominika #redev18

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If you want your team to agree on deadlines they will meet make sure they know what you know. @RogalaDominika #redev18