In the year or so since I joined Atlassian as CTO, I’ve had the privilege of helping our 5000+ developers experience more joy in their work. In truth, the goal isn’t joy for its own sake. The original idea was to improve efficiency across engineering. But there’s no point trying to make developers more productive by setting targets for them or pressuring them to take shortcuts that will come back to haunt them later. I believe the changes we’ve made are changes that any engineering org can benefit from, so I’m sharing them here in our latest blog. I’d love to hear from other engineering leaders or front-line developers as to what has been improving developer joy in your orgs lately. https://lnkd.in/giHYeN7q
NT was a monorepo based on VMS. You had the opportunity to read a great novel while it was being drafted. Do Atlassian Engineers have that experience? As customers, we see unwritten drafts and chapters abandoned mid-sentence, when we contribute are often ghosted by ghostwriters. I know there was a leadership vacuum. I felt it and challenged it when I was there, and I hope you can bring some of the magic you’re pining for.
Feng Yuan
1y
Rajeev Rajan, I can tell you what are missing: 1) Promotions: worthy devs are promoted less comparing with PMs and managers, that is demoralizing to junior devs. 2) Technical education: there are seldomly any company organized technical education. That is the reason I created [email protected] discussion group to share my work with thousands of developers. Add these two, your developers would be much happier.
Investments to improve developer productivity have some pure engineering opportunities. And thr delight of people working in such an environment is a multiplier. One of the key metrics we saw materially impact developers life is : pass rates of various pipelines. (ci/test/cd). These need to be near 100. Curious: What tool do you use to do code reviews?
Rishi Saraf
1y
Great writeup Rajeev. It clearly tells productivity is not just a function of an individual but how an organization operates. Organization tool set , empowerment and culture affects efficiency of developers. To boost productivity first steps is to use metrics and surveys to find what is affecting productivity. Then make a goal to improve them one by one.
+1 Absolutely agree Rajeev ! Building a cohesive and mission-driven team is key to unlocking developer productivity. Fostering a culture where everyone comprehends the "why" behind their work, focuses on impactful contributions, and understands their role in problem-solving can lead to remarkable outcomes. It's truly inspiring to witness the incredible results that stem from a group of highly motivated individuals working together. Keep fostering that sense of purpose and collaboration – it's a recipe for success! 🚀 #DeveloperProductivity #Teamwork #ImpactfulResults
Pratik Daga
1y
This is a great article Rajeev Rajan. I'm deeply aligned with the sentiment you've outlined here. Just like the elegance of poetry, the best code is a symphony of efficiency. I've long believed that joy and engagement fuel productivity, and your focus on frictionless development and creativity strikes a chord.
Senior Director - Pure Storage
1yAgree with many points in this well written document about driving the Vision to unlock developer Joy. Developers should take pride and ownership when they work on specific features/API's, add comments, write clear documentation and understand 'Why'. I personally got a 'Thank you' message from a developer in 2014 for the code i have written in 2006, specifically mentioning comments and documentation that helped him complete his enhancement quickly. So take pride at your work and when you get those messages from strangers in your professional career, you will have a joyful day reminding you about your past and smile on your face.