It’s in the DevOps conference room that the destiny of software is written. So, no one can and should neglect the prominence of these gatherings in an SDLC team. However, managing a DevOps meeting is still a controversial topic for some of the IT people.

So, in this article of Coding as Creating, I’m going to offer 4 tricks to handle Dev & Ops gatherings like a professional.

Sloppy DevOps Conventions Are Holding You Back

It’s not easy to say “this is why your DevOps meetings fail every time.” That’s because there are several factors involved in the success of such a convention. But no matter what the reason is, having disordered talks in progressive projects comes with serious consequences.

So, you can’t expect to end up having a BRM-friendly output when the communication among the members is awful. A detrimental product, on the other hand, will damage the overall performance of the company and leave you with major issues.

Software development is like a chain. Success is only an achievable goal when you put every piece of this chain together by the book. Managing a DevOps meeting properly would help you inspect other rings of the chain and plan to enhance them if necessary.

No professional gatherings in your team, therefore, will lead to a lack of surveillance over the progressive procedures. And this would break up the chain, allowing the failures to become bigger than the gains.

1. Have an Agenda and Plan in Advance

Management, in general, is all about planning. We don’t need managers when everything is going to be done chaotically, right? A DevOps meeting agenda is what you need to avoid messy talks and unplanned processes.

When you know what’s going to happen, preparation becomes an all easy-peasy task. Such an agenda is like a guidebook to tell you what to do next to have things under your control.

Do not mix up democracy with madness. When you allow things to happen spontaneously, you must be prepared for unexpected outcomes as well. That’s while the whole idea of deploying DevOps implementations is to predict the future of a project most accurately and plan for it.

2. Share the DevOps Meeting Program with Participants

DevOps team meetings are where you create a birds-eye-view picture of the status quo of the projects. Every participant will put one piece of the puzzle or two in its place to help you out. So, sharing the agenda with them is vital to make the most of their presence.

Think of it as if you were going to war with your army. Wouldn’t you discuss the strategies and tactics with your soldiers before attacking the enemies? You better do because no communication on such occasions is an invitation for disasters!

When people are aware of the general idea of an event, they contribute more. That’s because we—as humans—don’t like unpredictable situations since they make us nervous.

So, let your DevOps engineers and other members know what you have in mind for the upcoming gathering. This will give them enough time to put their thoughts together and show up with ready-to-express ideas and/or reports.

3. Focus on a Handful of Subjects at the Time

Size does matter when it comes down to your administration capacity. You must deal with the fact that you can’t solve everything in one DevOps meeting. It would be like trying to analyze the whole NFL league in a one-hour TV show.

All you can get in such a setting is some vague general ideas about the current condition of the project(s). That’s while you need detailed information to come up with solutions and resolutions.

Managing a DevOps meeting is possible when you act according to your present capacity. So, keep things small but make them profound. Prioritize the topics based on the schedule and bring up several of the most important ones in each talk.

That way you can leave some room for detailed information to show up. Otherwise, no one—especially you—will get a solid grasp of the ideas offered in the gatherings.

4. Ask Yourself What the Outcome of the DevOps Meeting Should be

Think about things you want to achieve through the seminars, events, and talks. Ask the below questions, for instance, to get your head around your desires.

• Why are you calling for a DevOps meeting now?
• Do you want the team members to report?
• Is it just going to be a briefing for the upcoming event(s)?
• Are you willing to transfer ideas/information to your SDLC team?

Questions like these will help you figure out what exactly must the outcome of the talks be. For instance, if you want a reportage-oriented meeting, it’d be wise to allow the members to prepare their analysis beforehand and offer them enough time to present them.

On the other hand, if you’re going to inform them of a topic, it’s best to ready up your presentation and manage to make members listen up.