💥 Delete Your Product Backlog, How not to do code reviews, Product Engineers
Newsletter - Issue #04
In this issue of groCTO, we’ve handpicked:
Our week’s favorite - Delete your Product Backlog
Other insightful pieces:
And lastly, groCTO: Originals podcast with
, CTO at Zorion, Singapore & author of
💥 Delete Your Product Backlog
Since the early 2000’s tech companies have been struggling with separating work planning from ideation. Non-technical founders need a prioritisation and scoping tool while product engineers require collaborative communication.
Tools like JIRA, Trello and various forms of Kanban boards have been industry staples for decades. Still, there is nothing more devious than using Product and Project Backlogs as journals and idea boards.
They serve as a repository for the work we plan to tackle in the future.
But here's the catch: we rarely get around to doing most of it.
Backlogs have a tendency to spiral out of control, accumulating dozens or even hundreds of work items. It seems like every idea ever conceived by anyone in the company finds its way into the backlog.
It is like having your desk covered in sticky notes.
Which sticky notes are important? All or none of them?
Matt provides a simple workflow to simplify your overview without descending into chaos:
👀 How not to do code reviews
Ivan Kahl helps leaders let go of their workflow-impeding rituals. One of those are error-driven code reviews. Inspections for programmatic error, rather than knowledge sharing and design.
His essay highlights issues with companies that have archaic styles of code reviews:
Using CR as a replacement for manual static analysis
Seeking errors asynchronously by having another engineer “read execution flow”
Neglecting testing and analysis automation (AI-assisted or otherwise)
Lack of evolvability—adding qualities for maintainability and future modifications
✨ Product engineers are the way
highlights the emergences of Product Engineering. Combined with Telegram CEO, Pavel Durov’s interview earlier this month highlighting the exodus of management needs from larger tech corporations, this trend signals a shift towards leaner, self-managed engineering workforce.Product engineering, especially product leadership, in contrast to ownership or management has been around since Marty Cagan’s work in his three books Inspired, Empowered, Transformed.
In his Monday Ideas post Luca writes about the efficiency gains and autonomy when referring to engineers in regards to their area of impact and outcome, rather than specialisiation (ie. backend, frontend). This is reminiscent of how remote-friendly corporations such as Netflix and Spotify scale their teams’ impact.
Sunday Motivation 🌻
We just loved this LinkedIn post by Addy Osmani.
📊 Benchmark your engineering teams’ performance - Typo
In software engineering, metrics track progress and performance. Benchmarking these metrics against industry standards reveals what “good” looks like, helping teams identify gaps and improve. Typo’s 2024 Software Engineering Benchmark Report provides updated insights and guidance, enabling teams to make data-driven decisions and stay competitive in the evolving tech landscape.
groCTO: Originals | ‘How to set the right foundation for engineering teams?’ with Gregor Ojstersek
In the recent episode of ‘groCTO: Originals’ (Formerly: Beyond the Code), Host Kshitij Mohan, engages in an insightful discussion with Gregor Ojstersek, CTO at Zorion, Singapore. The focus of their discussion is on establishing strong foundations for engineering teams.
Gregor places significant importance on creating an effective hiring process and highlights the value of assessing soft skills in potential candidates. With remote work becoming a norm, he provides valuable insights on cultivating the right team culture to ensure successful collaboration and productivity. Lastly, Gregor shares his profound advice for leaders aspiring to guide their team members along the right career paths.
And that’s it for today! See you next week, Ciao 👋
Credits 🙏
Curators- Diligently curated by our community members Denis & Priyasha
Sponsors- This newsletter is sponsored by Typo AI - Ship reliable software faster.
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