Continuous internal improvement

I believe that all developers thrive in a structured work environment. Since Blinker was launched a year ago, we have shed more and more of our agency habits in favour of development focussed processes. This is a trend that had started before the team split from Identum, in fact the need to focus more on development was behind the decision to form Blinker. The pace of that change has increased, and the Drupal team at Blinker is stronger for it.

As with all things, introducing new processes helps to a point, after a while though, the numerous guidelines each process brings can bog a team down. Over administration always leads to frustration. I think we are far from that point, thankfully, however it provides me an opportunity to reflect on one area of strength in our approach.

Of all the changes to our internal processes, the biggest impact has come from our regular internal improvements meetings. We regularly meet as a whole company (aside: something I like about a having a small team is that it’s easy for everyone to sit at a meeting and be heard) and review ourselves. Anyone can bring a topic to the table, from the newest junior to the CEOs - nothing is off limits - and we discuss it as a team. Pros and cons are deliberated over, and an action plan is formulated.

Internal reviews are not new to the team, but the regularity and flat structure helps to strengthen the team bond. Everyone gets heard, and the company improves in the image of its members.

The path towards more structure is something that emerged from these meetings. And I believe that long before we reach a point where everyone is frustrated with over administration, someone in one of those meetings will mention it, we will examine the situation together, and plot a path towards happiness.

A happy team is a great team!