Tag: communication

All the articles with the tag "communication".

• Providing Effective Feedback to Engineers

  Published:Feb 12, 2022 |  at 08:41 AM

  Giving feedback to engineers is one of the most important skills for tech leads and managers. My framework for providing constructive feedback that helps people grow without damaging relationships.

• Getting Unstuck

  Published:Oct 13, 2021 |  at 01:00 PM

  We all get stuck. The trick is knowing when and how to ask for help. My framework for troubleshooting problems and, when that fails, how to ask for help in a way that gets you the answers you need.

• The Princess and the Pea

  Published:Nov 8, 2019 |  at 12:35 PM

  The Princess and the Pea fairy tale perfectly captures a problem I see in software teams. When someone on your team is overly sensitive to small issues, it can create tension. How to handle it constructively.

• Don't Bake a Cake

  Published:Mar 16, 2019 |  at 01:35 PM

  Don't bake a cake became my shorthand for a common problem in software teams. What I learned about communicating status updates effectively and why transparency, even when things go wrong, builds trust.

• More Code Review Best Practices

  Published:Jun 5, 2018 |  at 03:50 PM

  Three years after my first code review best practices post, I've learned even more about what makes reviews effective. Here are additional strategies for making your code reviews more valuable and less painful.

• Refactoring Analogies

  Published:Sep 12, 2016 |  at 06:54 AM

  Refactoring can be hard to explain to stakeholders who don't code. Using analogies from home improvement and organization, I share how I communicate the value of refactoring to non-technical audiences.

• Two Trains Talk

  Published:Aug 29, 2016 |  at 03:50 PM

  I gave a talk using the "two trains" analogy to explain technical debt and refactoring. The response was so positive that I wrote it up as a blog post, complete with slides and speaker notes.

• How to Prepare for Talks

  Published:Nov 1, 2015 |  at 02:09 PM

  Preparing for a technical talk can feel overwhelming, but I've learned something new every time I've given one. This 11-step process covers everything from choosing a topic to handling Q&A, helping you go from idea to presentation.

• Intro to Code Reviews talk

  Published:Jun 25, 2015 |  at 08:54 AM

  If you've never participated in a code review, it can be tough to know where to start. I gave this talk at an LA Django meetup to help teams get started with code reviews and make them a regular part of their process.

• Code Review Best Practices

  Published:May 5, 2015 |  at 08:54 AM

  A comprehensive guide to effective code reviews, covering what to look for in terms of architecture, style, and testing, as well as how to provide constructive feedback.