Zaneta Baran

Craft Conference – Platform 1

Lately I got a chance to see “Architecture without architects” video. I decided to write down some points which seems to be interesting from Technical Manager perspective.

As a Technical Manager, I am trying to figure out how to do my job in the best way. I have found this video really interesting. Please, see my notes below.

1. The point of the architecture is how to organise people. The business needs people with different skills and people who can ownership a product. I believe it is one of the main point. The organisation of the teams is a key. Technical skills are not enough, I believe it is important to improve communication, scrum and ownership skills in the teams. The teams should be created with people with the different skills and experiences.
2. It was mentioned that the problem can appear when people move around the services/teams and there is no ownership. I believe it is problem of several teams and we can avoid this kind of situations by:
   1. Implementing general rules of documentation and processes across the company. Well documented project and team rules makes much easier to start with the projects and save so much time. In this case we can reduce time which new team member spends on questions and research. As a Technical Manager I am trying to make sure that each of our project and team is documented very well, I prepare list of links for new team members where all informations can be found. Also I try to implement general rules across my teams so jumping between teams is much quicker and easier.
   2. Each of the project should have technical person who takes responsibility for the project and treats project like his/her “baby”. It should be person who can take a look at the project from general point of view, not only tasks view. I believe it is what Technical Manager role is about. TM should have a good relationship with Project Manager and be involved into the project from really beginning. In this way TM can manage the team, prioritise the tasks and work with PM to delivery project on time and in budget. It should also improve workflow, communication and processes of his/her team.
3. In the organisations we should focus on delivery components/modules/services which can be reused and evaluated over the time.  It is definitely worth to spend some more time on the project but delivery modules which can be used in the future, and I believe it is our role to make it work.
4. I believe Technical Manager role is really similar to Architecture role. We should guide the teams and improve quality of the people we work with, not only from technical perspective.