Level-up Engineering
Process Management 101: The Secrets of Efficient and Engaging Processes
Interview with Rod Garcia, VP of Engineering at Slack. He talks about the importance of understanding the big picture before implementing processes, shares the steps he uses to determine if a process needs improvement, and tells stories of process management from previous projects and from his current workplace.
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In this interview we're covering:
- Process management 101
- Creating engaging processes
- Making sure your processes work
- Common mistakes in process management
- Automating processes at Slack
- Creating more efficient and engaging processes - Storytime
Excerpt from the interview:
"We often feel the need to balance every confusing behavior with a process. The outcome isn’t great because a process doesn’t improve human behavior. Instead of processes, behavior problems can be solved by coaching conversations or retrospective team meetings.
Processes enable us to collaborate much easier, but it’s the trust among teammates that powers the process. These two aspects have a snowball effect: when the challenges in behavior continue despite having a process in place, the team gets frustrated, which causes even more problems, so they introduce additional processes. It becomes a slippery slope, and it doesn’t help teams to do their work effectively."