alphalist.CTO Podcast - For CTOs and Technical Leaders

#55 - Rachel Potvin // VP Engineering @ Github

Jul 21, 2022

Rachel Potvin, VP Engineering at GitHub, shares tips on maintaining developer productivity in rapidly scaling teams. Topics include team productivity metrics, future architecture approach, prioritizing build queues, and creating a developer-friendly work environment. Also discussed are tools for productivity and security, building the Time Machine feature, reflections on open source, and remote work challenges.

54:19

Creator website

Episode guests

Rachel Potvin

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Assess and address technical debt to improve productivity and morale.

Building a positive team dynamic and fostering psychological safety leads to a productive work environment.

Establish effective decision-making processes and clear communication to prevent bottlenecks and enable smooth progress.

Deep dives

Investment portfolio and technical debt

One recommendation for improving productivity is to carefully assess your investment portfolio. Ensure that you're not solely focused on launching new features, but also allocate time for cleaning up technical debt. This allows engineers to tackle issues and avoid repeated friction, leading to increased morale and quality work.

Introduction

2min

From Video Games to Google: A Career Journey in Technology

8min

Developing Google's Deployment and Connected Services

19min

Communication and Decision-Making at GitHub

12min

Tools for Productivity and Security

7min

Building a Developer-Friendly Work Environment

3min

Building the Time Machine feature and reflections on open source

2min

Remote Work Challenges and Farewell

2min

Tips on Developer Productivity for Rapidly Scaling Teams

Find out how to maintain developer productivity 🧑‍💻 in a fast scaling team in this CTO podcast featuring Rachel Potvin, VP Engineering at GitHub (formerly of Google and Ubisoft). She shares how GitHub uses things like fan-out processes, design reviews, and DevSat surveys to stay on track even as the team 3Xed💥.

Listen to find out:

Why you should focus on team 👥 productivity metrics (+which ones)
How they are using the ‘Layers of the System’ 🍔 approach to work out GitHub’s future architecture 🏛️ (SPOILER: It might not be entirely monolithic forever)
How they prioritised build 🏗️ queues to minimise context switching

Listen here

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Haufe HR Services

Haufe HR Chatbots allows employees to get answers fast for all queries relating to HR without disturbing the HR team each time. Your HR team can focus on other things while the bot automatically answers all questions based on 300 pre-formulated answers (continuously updated to be legally compliant) and your own legal content. Very little IT time is required to set up this tool which allows employees access to the HR information they need 24/7. Plus the Haufe HR Chatbot can also act as a mood barometer - giving you regular insights on which topics are frequently requested in the company. There are so many integrations and it works 'out-of-the-box' plus you get a FREE setup when you use the coupon code alphalist.

Learn more about Haufe HR Services