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Cultivating Continuous Improvement in Engineering Team Velocity

Is your team struggling to maintain velocity as it grows? Many engineering organizations fall into the trap of simply adding more people to solve problems, only to find that productivity decreases. This isn’t a people problem; it’s a system problem. This post explores how to move beyond just “doing more” and build a sustainable culture of continuous improvement to truly accelerate your engineering organization.

The Core Challenge: Complexity, Not Just Headcount​

Scaling isn’t about adding bodies; it’s about managing increasing complexity. As teams grow, communication overhead increases, context switching becomes more frequent, and individual contributions can become diluted. We saw a 20% drop in feature delivery when one of our teams grew from 8 to 15 engineers – a clear signal that simply adding people wasn’t solving the problem.

The popular “Two Pizza Rule” (a team should be small enough to be fed by two pizzas) is a good starting point, but it’s not a magic bullet. Team size is only one factor. The relationships within the team, clear communication channels, and a shared understanding of goals are equally crucial.

Beyond Headcount: Building a Foundation for Continuous Improvement​

To truly scale effectively, you need to invest in building a solid foundation of continuous improvement. Here are key areas to focus on:

  • Onboarding: Don't just rush new hires through the basics. Extend your onboarding process to include dedicated “learning weeks” where new engineers focus on understanding the codebase, architecture, and team processes before being assigned to critical tasks. We added a mentorship program where each new hire is paired with a senior engineer for the first 90 days, providing guidance and support.
  • Psychological Safety: Create an environment where engineers feel comfortable taking risks, asking questions, and sharing ideas without fear of judgment. Encourage open communication and active listening during team meetings and code reviews.
  • Effective Retrospectives: Move beyond generic retrospective questions. Frame retrospectives around specific themes. Instead of "What went well?", try "What obstacles prevented us from delivering value this sprint?" or “What assumptions did we make that turned out to be incorrect?". A great question we’ve used: "If we could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about our process, what would it be?".
  • Technical Debt Management: Technical debt is a liability that can slow down future innovation and increase maintenance costs. Proactively address technical debt by dedicating a portion of each sprint to refactoring and improving the codebase. Treat it as a first-class citizen, not an afterthought.
  • Automation: Automate repetitive tasks, such as testing, deployment, and infrastructure provisioning. This frees up engineers to focus on more valuable work and reduces the risk of human error.

The Importance of Flexibility and Team Composition​

Building the right team is just as important as implementing the right processes.

  • Cross-Functionality: Ensure your teams have all the skills they need to deliver value independently. This reduces dependencies and speeds up delivery.
  • Communication Skills: Don’t underestimate the importance of communication. We specifically assess communication skills during our interview process using behavioral questions that ask candidates to describe situations where they had to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences, and through pair programming exercises where we observe how they collaborate and communicate their thought process.
  • Diversity: Diverse teams are more likely to challenge assumptions and identify blind spots. A variety of perspectives leads to more innovative solutions and a more robust product.

Final Thoughts: From Doing More to Becoming More Effective​

Scaling isn’t just about doing more; it’s about becoming more effective at delivering value. This requires a relentless focus on how we work, not just what we work on.

What’s one area your team can focus on to improve velocity this week? Start small, experiment, and continuously iterate. By building a culture of continuous improvement, you can unlock the full potential of your engineering organization and achieve sustainable growth.