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Regular Cross-Team Discussions

Context​

Microservices are being adopted. There are multiple teams, each responsible for their certain microservice(s).

Problem​

  • There is a lack of knowledge transfer between teams.
    • A team solves a problem that other teams already solved.
    • Teams are not aware that they use not the newest API of a consumed service.

Solution​

Organize a regular cross-team discussion meeting serving to convey knowledge between teams. It can be as simple as reserving a fixed time slot every week and offering a stage for presenting progress and insights that might be relevant for all teams. Teams can send representatives that will take the knowledge into their teams.

This active communication channel can be used to present new APIs or API versions. If promoted by the company, open or inner source projects internal projects using open source practices can be presented to gain awareness and traction, leading to the reuse of general-purpose solutions across teams.

It can also be used to present the latest insights to technology and tools that were experimented with within a team, so others can benefit from their knowledge as well. If there is a lot of knowledge to share it might make sense to introduce topic-specific cross-team discussions leading to different thematic boards. This setting can greatly contribute to establishing a culture of innovation.

Maturity​

More data required (only 3 sources).

Sources of Evidence​

L8:

  • Netflix as example for having cross-team regular discussions as part of their culture

Interview D:

  • API discoverability alone not enough, you need an active communication mechanism
  • Examples: Dev friday, lunch talk
  • Does not have to be very elaborate
  • New APIs are presented

Interview F:

  • Problem with software suppliers: need to use the established communcation pathways (not by bypassing the official channels)
    • POs were the main communicators
    • The other mechansim: biweekly meeting, mostly virtual, 2-3 hours to present progress and discuss current problems
      • Contact establish to work on certain interfaces