How a Tech Leader Reduced Production Incidents Despite a Lack of Team Ownership

Stepping into a leadership role in the tech industry is both exciting and nerve-wracking. The stakes are high, as the success or failure of a project often depends on the team and how effectively they can be guided. Effective leadership leads to fewer production incidents, more reliable development, and a happier, more cohesive team that includes developers, tech leads, and domain experts.

In this article, I’ll explain the two-phase approach I used to reduce production incidents and increase team ownership. The first phase addresses the reduction of production incidents, and the second phase focuses on fostering a sense of ownership among team members.

Phase 1: Reducing Production Incidents

When facing a high number of production incidents, it is crucial to scrutinize the production pipeline. Bugs that appear in production releases must have passed through the pipeline, making it a critical point of focus. The challenge lies in determining the root causes of these bugs, but we know they all go through the same process, so improvements there can significantly reduce incidents.

1. Implementing a Corrective Action and Preventive Action (CAPA) Program: The CAPA program is designed to address both immediate problems and prevent future issues. Here’s how it works:
2. Corrective Action: This step involves identifying and fixing the root cause of a problem after it has occurred. For example, if a bug makes it into production, the corrective action will include not just fixing the bug but also understanding how it bypassed the quality checks. This might involve improving testing procedures or enhancing code reviews to catch such issues earlier.
3. Preventive Action: This approach aims to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Preventive actions typically involve improving processes and implementing new policies to mitigate risks. For instance, introducing more rigorous code quality checks or better training for developers on best practices can significantly reduce the chances of bugs making it to production.
4. Introducing a Pre-Change Advisory Board (Pre-CAB): The Pre-CAB is another essential tool in reducing production incidents. It involves evaluating proposed changes, assessing potential risks, and providing recommendations for implementation. Here’s what the Pre-CAB does:
5. Risk Assessment: The board calculates the risks and consequences of potential changes. By thoroughly evaluating the potential impact of changes, the Pre-CAB ensures that only well-considered modifications are implemented.
6. Resource Evaluation: The board reviews requests for changes and evaluates their impact against available resources. This helps in prioritizing changes that can be supported without overburdening the team.
7. Utilizing Smoke Tests: Smoke tests are a type of automated test designed to ensure that the basic functions of a software application work correctly after a new build or update. Here’s why smoke tests are effective:
8. Efficiency: Automated smoke tests reduce the need for tedious manual testing, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error.
9. Rapid Feedback: These tests provide immediate feedback to developers about the health of the application after changes are made. Quick feedback allows for faster response times, enabling developers to address issues before they reach production.
10. Reliability: By regularly running smoke tests, we ensure that only stable and functional builds are deployed, reducing the likelihood of new bugs in production.

By implementing CAPA, Pre-CAB, and smoke tests, we created a more robust and reliable production pipeline. These measures helped us catch and resolve issues earlier in the development process, resulting in fewer production incidents and a smoother release cycle.

Phase 2: Increasing Team Ownership

Once the production pipeline was more stable, the next challenge was to foster a sense of ownership within the team. Ownership is crucial because when team members feel responsible for their work, they tend to produce higher-quality outputs and take greater care in their tasks.

1. Drawing Inspiration from the Industrial Revolution: A valuable lesson from the Industrial Revolution highlights the importance of perceived oversight in productivity. In an experiment, managers found that workers’ productivity increased not just when improvements were made but also when workers knew their performance was being monitored. This principle applies equally well in modern tech environments.
2. Adopting an Incident Response Process: To measure and improve my team’s productivity, I introduced an incident response process. This involves a structured approach to handling production incidents, which includes:
3. Documentation: Each incident is thoroughly documented, detailing what went wrong, why it happened, and how it was resolved.
4. Analysis: Post-incident reviews are conducted to analyze the root cause and identify preventive measures to avoid recurrence.
5. Evaluation: Team performance is evaluated based on their handling of incidents, including their responsiveness and effectiveness in resolving issues.
6. Creating a Culture of Accountability: By implementing this incident response process, team members became aware that their performance was being monitored and evaluated. This awareness encouraged them to take greater responsibility for their code, leading to several positive outcomes:
7. Improved Quality: When developers know their work is scrutinized, they are more likely to double-check their code and follow best practices, resulting in higher-quality production releases.
8. Proactive Behavior: Team members start to anticipate potential issues and take preventive measures, rather than just reacting to problems after they occur.
9. Enhanced Collaboration: The incident response process fosters better communication and collaboration among team members, as they work together to resolve issues and improve processes.

By combining these strategies, I was able to significantly reduce production incidents and foster a stronger sense of ownership within the team. Here are some additional insights and steps that can further enhance these efforts:

Additional Strategies for Reducing Production Incidents

1. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Integrating CI/CD practices can streamline the development process and reduce production incidents. CI/CD automates the testing and deployment of code changes, ensuring that only thoroughly tested code makes it to production. This reduces the risk of bugs and makes the release process more reliable.
2. Code Reviews and Pair Programming: Encouraging regular code reviews and pair programming sessions can improve code quality and catch potential issues early. These practices promote knowledge sharing and help identify problems before they become critical.
3. Monitoring and Alerting: Implementing robust monitoring and alerting systems can help detect issues in real-time, allowing for quick intervention before they escalate. Tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and New Relic provide valuable insights into system performance and health.

Additional Strategies for Increasing Team Ownership

1. Empowering Teams: Empowering teams to make decisions and take ownership of their projects can lead to increased engagement and responsibility. This can be achieved by involving them in decision-making processes and giving them the autonomy to experiment and innovate.
2. Recognizing and Rewarding Contributions: By acknowledging and compensating team members for their contributions, it is possible to foster a sense of ownership and increase morale. This may involve the implementation of formal recognition programs, incentives, or the simple act of acknowledging their contributions during team meetings.
3. Professional Development: By investing in the professional development of team members, they can increase their confidence and skills, which in turn leads to a greater sense of ownership. Providing opportunities for training, certifications, and conference attendance can contribute to their motivation and growth.

Real-World Examples and Case Studies

To further illustrate the effectiveness of these strategies, let’s look at a few real-world examples and case studies:

Case Study: Spotify

Spotify is renowned for its innovative approach to team structure and ownership. They use a model known as “Squads,” which are small, cross-functional teams that own specific aspects of the product. Each Squad has end-to-end responsibility for their features, from development to production. This model has led to increased accountability and faster innovation at Spotify.

Case Study: Google

Google emphasizes a culture of ownership and continuous improvement. They implement a concept called “Site Reliability Engineering (SRE),” where software engineers are responsible for the reliability of their systems. This approach combines software development and IT operations to create scalable and highly reliable systems. Google’s SRE model has been instrumental in maintaining their high standards of performance and reliability.

Case Study: Netflix

Netflix employs a strategy called “Freedom and Responsibility.” They give their teams the freedom to make decisions and the responsibility to ensure their projects succeed. This approach has fostered a culture of innovation and accountability, contributing to Netflix’s rapid growth and success.

Conclusion

Taking on a leadership role in the tech industry can be daunting, but with the right strategies, it’s possible to achieve significant improvements in team productivity and production quality. By implementing a CAPA program, Pre-CAB, and smoke tests, we can reduce production incidents and ensure a more reliable development process. Furthermore, fostering a sense of ownership through an incident response process and a culture of accountability leads to higher-quality outputs and a more engaged team.

While these strategies have proven effective in my experience, it’s important to continuously seek new ways to improve and adapt to the evolving tech landscape. By learning from successful companies and implementing best practices, we can create a more productive and satisfied team, ultimately leading to greater success in our projects and initiatives.