Last updated on Jul 27, 2024

Your team is struggling with technical debt. How can you foster a proactive culture to manage it effectively?

Technical debt can be a daunting challenge, especially when it starts to impede your team's progress. It's like having an invisible anchor that slows down new developments and can lead to a decrease in code quality and team morale. However, with the right strategies, you can turn the tide on technical debt and foster a culture that manages it proactively. By understanding its causes, implementing effective processes, and prioritizing tasks, your team can mitigate the risks associated with technical debt and maintain a healthy codebase.

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1 Acknowledge Debt

It's essential to recognize that technical debt isn't just a buzzword—it's a real issue that affects your codebase and productivity. Start by conducting a thorough audit of your existing systems to identify areas of debt. This could be outdated libraries, duplicated code, or even areas lacking proper documentation. Once identified, document this debt and make it visible to all team members. This transparency ensures that everyone is aware of the challenges and can contribute to solutions.

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Guilherme Alcantara, PMP®

Project Manager | Scrum Master | Product Owner | Agile
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By systematically reviewing code and engaging in peer discussions, technical debts might be acknowledged and identified. It's important to track the debt using the management tool available to the team so that the impact can be estimated, which will then contribute to prioritizing it.

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2 Prioritize Issues

With technical debt identified, the next step is to prioritize which issues to tackle first. Not all debt is created equal; some may have a more significant impact on your product's performance or development speed than others. Use a method like the MoSCoW technique (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have) to categorize and prioritize tasks. This will help your team focus on the most critical issues that need immediate attention while keeping less pressing ones on the radar for future sprints.

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Guilherme Alcantara, PMP®

Project Manager | Scrum Master | Product Owner | Agile
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Once prioritization is done, some debts might be deemed too minor to warrant immediate fixing. However, it's crucial to address all technical debts as soon as possible. The cost of delaying technical debt does not decrease over time, so it's important to allocate resources to fix issues while they are still manageable. Naturally, we prioritize tackling the biggest ones first.

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3 Allocate Resources

Allocating dedicated time and resources to address technical debt is crucial. You might consider implementing something akin to Google's "20% time," where developers can spend a portion of their work hours on improving the codebase. This not only helps in reducing debt but also boosts morale as developers feel empowered to make meaningful changes without impacting their regular workload. Ensure that this practice is built into your sprint planning and project timelines.

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Karol Galanciak

CTO & Co-Founder at Smily, formerly BookingSync | Helping you master Tech Leadership, Software Engineering, Productivity
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While allocating 20% of the time is the simplest way to address the technical debt sustainably, sometimes it might be worth having a dedicated "cool-down" sprint for that purpose to avoid context switches. 6 weeks of focused work on new features and 1 or 2 weeks for technical debt might work better for some teams.

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4 Continuous Learning

Technical debt often arises from a lack of knowledge or outdated practices. Encourage continuous learning and professional development within your team. Organize workshops, coding dojos, or encourage pair programming to share knowledge and best practices. This investment in skill development can prevent the accumulation of technical debt by ensuring that your team is always up-to-date with the latest technologies and methodologies.

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5 Code Reviews

Code reviews are an excellent defense against technical debt. By regularly reviewing each other's code, team members can catch potential issues early, before they become embedded in the codebase. Establish a culture where code reviews are seen as a collaborative and learning exercise rather than a critique. This will encourage everyone to participate actively and help maintain high coding standards.

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6 Refactor Regularly

Lastly, make refactoring a habit rather than an afterthought. Schedule regular refactoring sessions where the sole focus is improving the codebase. This could mean optimizing algorithms, reducing complexity, or enhancing code readability. Encourage your team to look at refactoring as an opportunity to learn and improve the system continuously.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Your team is struggling with technical debt. How can you foster a proactive culture to manage it effectively?

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1 Acknowledge Debt

2 Prioritize Issues

3 Allocate Resources

4 Continuous Learning

5 Code Reviews

6 Refactor Regularly

7 Here’s what else to consider

Software Engineering

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