Working through the backlog

What gets in the way

• A pile of small but necessary tasks has built up — there are not enough hands.
• Routine eats into the time of your strongest engineers.
• You want to send tasks in a stream, not one at a time.
• You need to stay in control without checking every step.
• Several tasks have to run at once.

Send tasks in a stream — each goes through the same end-to-end cycle on its own. The list shows what is being worked out, what is in development and what is waiting for your review, so routine is taken off your strongest engineers.

Tasks run at the same time, and a large one breaks itself into subtasks built in order of dependencies. A pile of small tasks is worked through as a stream, not one by one.

You do not need to check every step. A finished change first goes through an independent review with remarks, and you are left with the key decision: approve or send back for rework. You see the changes and the remarks, and the last word is yours.

While tasks flow, there is no reason to keep the tab open. The notification centre and browser push notifications call you in precisely — when a task needs clarification, has reached review or is complete. You come back exactly when your decision is needed.