Your engineering team's workflow is slowing down. How can you optimize it?

I divide the solutions for this issue, first short-term for example slowing down in one project, and second long-term for all projects in a year or two years. For define the right goals, you must following step bellow: 1. find and analyze the issues 2. define the root cause of the issues 3. make some solution with a clear timeline, priority, and acceptance criteria 4. running the plan 5. create regular updates like daily or weekly to get as soon result 6. use some tools of monitoring for help you easier to maintain you goals and progress

Improving engineering team workflow involves identifying bottlenecks, enhancing communication, and optimizing processes. Consider implementing agile methodologies, fostering a collaborative culture, and regularly reviewing and refining workflows based on team feedback. Utilize project management tools to streamline tasks and ensure transparency. Encourage continuous learning and provide the team with the necessary resources to stay updated on industry trends and technologies. Regular retrospectives can help identify areas for improvement and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Uno de los grandes problemas al definir planes es la falta de claridad en lo que se está buscando. Es menester del líder gestionar una comunicación clara y asertiva en la organización, a la vez que asegurarse que el mensaje es entendido del mismo modo por cada miembro del equipo. De esta manera se puede garantizar el encaminar todo esfuerzo en el camino correcto y optimizar de la mejor manera las actividades de cada colaborador. Por otro lado, es importante tener una clara definición de límites entre los alcances y lo que se espera de cada parte, para no dejar áreas grises carentes de responsable a cargo.

First off don't just jump to automation. If there is a change in work flow/performance there is a reason and finding that out is key. Sit the employees. Have an open dialog. Find out from them if there are new roadblocks or issues that weren't foreseen. Did the scope creep? Did a step get missed or behind task? Find this out, fix it, then reground the team on the goal/vision and get it moving again. If the steps are working then look to automate only where positive process steps are proven.

Discuss with your team to gather insights areas for improvement. To make tracking easier, divide activities into smaller and keeping project documentation up to date. Make sure responsibilities are assigned correctly, and give team members the freedom to decide what has to be done.

In optimizing your engineering workflow, the selection of tools is critical. Prioritize tools that align with our objectives and boost team efficiency. Consider continuous integration systems for streamlined code integration, and infrastructure as code tools for efficient resource management. The integration of tools like project management software, version control systems, and automated testing frameworks can transform our workflow, laying a strong foundation for productivity and success.

Slowing down can be caused by many reasons. First gather the team and reflect. Then start asking questions. Asking "why" may yield answers that would help you figure out what is the root cause of this issue. To do so, create an intimate (team only) environment of trust where judging is our of the room. Ask open questions and think together why did we end up here. Then think of ways to make it better. Take one or two action items and follow up.

If you observe your engineering team is slowing down and it is the time you have jump in to provide the solution.First of all we should call the Engg Team for Review of the activities.It is important you should meet in a place which is not usual meeting place.List the importance of the work flow and make every one is responsible for the task.Understand the bottle necks and solve that to benefit the organsiation and mostly it is done by the leader.Guide the Team and work with them until it pick up the pace and leave it to the team to perform.Work out a incentive package for the Team which will encourage the Team for betterments.

When optimising you engineering workflow, the tools that we use is a definite factor. A good ALM tool and a process framework for proper usage of the tools. It is important that the team is aligned with the process and tools to ensure effectiveness. This will reduce the operational effort required by the team for repetitive tasks done in an iteration.

Many organizations have a pre-existing set of tools that they use. It is challenging to introduce new tools and allocate a budget towards them. However, remember the tools you introduce should improve your team's abilities. It takes time for team members to become proficient and fully enabled in new tools. In my experience, one of the differentiators between tools is the quality of their documentation or the level of hands-on training provided by a tool's customer success teams, especially when working with a SaaS product.

Tuckman's model of group development describes the progression of teams through four stages: forming, storming, norming, and performing. In the forming stage, a team is assembled. The storming phase is defined by conflicts and disagreements, leading to a slowdown in progress. The team must establish methods for resolving conflicts and disagreements. This is achieved in the norming phase, where discussions center on decision-making processes, differentiating acceptable disagreements from harmful ones and setting conflict resolution procedures. Establishing clear standards and processes for project management and conflict resolution helps the team move into the performing stage, where execution velocity is regained.

Para evitar incoherencias y confusiones a la hora de ejecutar flujos de trabajo, así como en determinados pasos de esos propios flujos, lo ideal es estandarizar los procesos. Para ejecutar una estandarización, lo que haremos será detectar puntos comunes entre diferentes y a poder ser, entre la mayoría de procesos o flujos y documentarlos ampliamente para que los diferentes equipos los puedan seguir sin perderse ni entrar en conflictos a la hora de ejecutarlos.

Standards equip us to move fast without losing quality and in turn, optimize workflow. First, let's implement coding styles and documentation guidelines across projects. Standardizing these formats means less confusion when sharing work and faster on-boarding. Second, we should agree on overarching code quality principles – factors like reliability, security, performance and maintainability. If reviewers qualitatively evaluate pull requests on these standards rather than personal preferences, it streamlines decisions. Lastly, define teamwide definitions of done for development, testing and deployment tasks – checklist criteria that signal readiness to ship. With clearly defined expectations, we reduce wait times caused by confusion.

Standards are important in effective communication between disparate systems. Standards also make it easier to track and monitor transactions, metrics and more. Systems that are developed to standards also make them more credible. Software engineering standards are guidelines, best practices, and conventions that help you develop high-quality software systems. They cover various aspects of the software development process, such as planning, design, coding, testing, documentation, and maintenance.

Standardization is key. If everyone follows the same rule or playbook, you will get consistent results. As the process evolves, so should best practices.

Automation is an absolute key to increasing development velocity. When considering incorporating it into your workflow, it is important to prioritize the processes that hold back your team the most. This will, most of all, improve team satisfaction (aka developer experience) which translates into speed, productivity, engagement and all such good stuff!

Automation in the form of an established DevOps is an inherent and inevitable part of performing teams. A clear devops strategy starting from Branching strategies, defining the CI pipeline with code quality, product quality, security, performance etc. Automation of these aspects will help the team focus on solving the core business problem. This will translate into more features per iteration thus increasing the velocity of the teams.

To maximize efficiency and enhance the workflow of your engineering team, process automation emerges as a cornerstone. This essential approach offers significant benefits by streamlining operations, reducing error incidence, optimizing the use of time and resources, and fostering adaptability and continuous improvement in the engineering domain. Automation enables the quick and precise execution of repetitive tasks, eliminating the need for manual intervention. This fundamental attribute not only boosts operational efficiency by reducing execution times but also minimizes the likelihood of human errors, ensuring greater accuracy at every stage of the process.

Initially, many individuals and teams resist automation due to the perceived challenges of a steep learning curve and the upfront time investment. Common practices include manual testing, deployment, monitoring, and code integration, driven by a belief that manual processes provide better control. However, once the initial learning curve is overcome, the benefits of automation, including time savings, consistency, scalability, and reliability, become apparent. Remember: Embrace automation as a journey, not a destination.

In software, code reviews, continuous integration, and continuous deployment are areas where tools that help the team reduce cycle time will have a significant impact. By reducing cycle time on changes, engineers are less frustrated and more motivated, and their cognitive load is reduced, leading to improved productivity and morale.

Collaboration should also have a standard. Expectations may include a "time to respond" standard based on the type of media being used to communicate. 60 minutes via Teams, 1-2 business days via Email, etc. Ensuring meetings that could be an email are frowned upon. Cloud functionality has certainly improved collaboration in the past few years. Take advantage of new technology if and when it makes sense.

Whether you work in an agile methodology framework or not, setting up team rituals is important. Regular team check-ins to detect roadblocks and decide on a course of action will often go a long way in avoiding tunnels of inaction. Ritualized recognition ceremonies will help keep morale high. One simple way to do this is to send kudos to team members on a division-wide Slack channel for specific work they did or recognize some achievements during a demo. Holding regular 1 on 1 meetings with your directs if you are a manager will also ensure that you provide and receive regular feedback. Finally, meetings should regularly be reevaluated to become shorter after a while or even disappear from the calendar, leaving room for work.

Effective communication and collaboration are crucial in Building Management System (BMS) projects. Here are some strategies to enhance teamwork in BMS My Field is 1. Clear Communication Channels: Establish clear communication channels within the team. Use collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms to facilitate real-time communication and quick information exchange. 2. Project Management Tools: Implement project management tools such as Jira, Trello, or Asana to organize tasks, track progress, and ensure everyone is on the same page regarding project milestones and deadlines. 3. Regular Team Meetings: Conduct regular team meetings to discuss project updates, address challenges, and foster open communication.

Effective communication is essential for the success of any software project. Collaboration allows developers to communicate more effectively, as it allows them to share information and ideas in real-time. This can help to avoid misunderstandings and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Communication should also be scalable. Meeting where too many people attend and contribute maybe 5% of the time is inefficient. Small meetings are better. Summarising short and focused meetings on regular basis. In addition, have a colourful one page newsletter to provide major project updates (good and bad) is a great way to keep the team engaged.

Make sure your metrics are being measured as you can’t improve what isn’t measured. Empowerment and trusting work force to work autonomously. Involve them in improving the area as a team and include in the decision making process get a lot more engagement

Iterate in defined time periods. Have a retrospective to understand what is working and what needs improvement. Adjust as needed and restart to understand if the improvements are moving the needle.

Difficulty in optimizing engineering team's workflow without clear metrics. Uncertainty in code check-ins and review times. Metrics help identify bottlenecks and ensure regular contributions. - Track branch lifespan to identify development process bottlenecks. - Monitor frequency of commits per developer for regular progress. - Measure time to merge as an indicator of efficiency. - Analyze review rounds to identify unclear requirements or lack of understanding. Metrics provide clarity and optimize engineering team's workflow.

Cada X tiempo, establecer sesiones o reuniones de checkpoint donde revisar los puntos de encuentro a estandarizar, los logros obtenidos en las ejecuciones de los flujos de trabajo publicados y además anotar los puntos de mejora para tratar abiertamente entre los equipos de trabajo, estableciendo mejoras a aplicar para subsanar ciertos aspectos.

Empowering your team is key to success. Enthusiasm, willingness, hard work are top behaviours to meet the objectives. Proceeses are necessary to ensure quality and facilitate the developments. But they are not sufficient to achieve world-class performance.

Efficient project management involves optimizing workflows and conducting team retrospectives. Yet, it's crucial to grasp stakeholders' expectations on delivery dates and key objectives. Merely optimizing workflows is insufficient; prioritizing requirements and embracing compromises is vital. Open communication accelerates delivery by enabling teams to promptly assess hypotheses and make iterative deliveries, showcasing progress in a dynamic engineering environment.

It is important to keep people at the forefront when strategizing. This is your own team and customers. Why, what and the vision needs to start with people.

I used the following proven approach, to accelerate Engineering activities 1. Work collaboratively with the Discipline leads, to identify gaps in Design bases of the Project and Disciplines Plugging the gaps proactively, while kicking off the project is ideal. 2. With the Discipline Leads, examine all the “Interfaces”. In several projects, ambiguities at the interfaces cause inordinate delays leading to Catch-22 situations. Resolve these ambiguities. 3. Focus on “Dependencies” among the various Disciplines activities. Try to eliminate them with the help of the Discipline leads, so that activities can be done in parallel. 4. Expedite Vendor information to get design details of packages viz, footprint, weight and power requirements

You have a category for automating the process, which is valid. Just as important is to optimize the process. Many engineering and management processes to not lend themselves to automation, that why engineers and other specialists are needed. It is important to design processes that build in quality and objectives in and avoid rework and ensure projects objectives are met.

Effective project management in Building Management System (BMS) projects involves careful planning, coordination, and communication. Here are some key practices to ensure successful project management in the BMS domain: 1. Define Clear Objectives: Clearly define project objectives, scope, and deliverables. Establish a comprehensive understanding of the BMS requirements and the desired outcomes to guide the project. 2. Create a Detailed Project Plan: Develop a detailed project plan that includes timelines, milestones, and resource allocation. Use project management tools to track progress and adjust schedules as needed. 3. Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Identify potential risks associated with the BMS project and develop plan