Engineering DRI for Large-Scale Initiatives
Engineering DRI for Large-Scale Initiatives
For substantial epics or projects that require extensive coordination, we designate an Engineering Directly Responsible Individual (DRI). This role is pivotal in managing complex workstreams within our team.
The Engineering DRI is typically assigned in two scenarios:
- When an epic reaches the development phase and requires detailed oversight.
- When an issue grows in scope and complexity, necessitating its promotion to an epic.
Importantly, we appoint the DRI before breaking down the work into smaller, manageable tasks. This early assignment is crucial because one of the DRI’s primary responsibilities is to lead the planning process and facilitate the strategic breakdown of the epic or project into actionable deliverables.
By having a dedicated DRI for these large-scale initiatives, we ensure focused leadership, clear accountability, and effective coordination throughout the development lifecycle of complex engineering efforts.
Role Responsibilities
Communicating Progress and Managing Health Status
The Engineering DRI oversees weekly updates on the epic, tracking overall health status, including progress, obstacles, and emerging risks.
- They continuously monitor and report on the epic’s health status, indicating if it’s on track, at risk, or blocked, providing context around any changes.
- Progress updates are reported via a top-level comment on the epic containing the development work (usually linked to our OKRs).
- Updates are due by End of Day on the DRI’s last workday of the week.
Facilitating Breakdown of Work
This role is crucial in breaking down epics into smaller, manageable deliverables, ensuring tasks are clearly defined and ready for development.
Ensuring Steady Progress
The responsible individual ensures work items progress smoothly through our Kanban flow, with enough work prepared for development to maintain consistent progress.
Risk Management and Mitigation
Early identification of potential risks and proactive collaboration with the team to develop mitigation strategies are key responsibilities. This enhances the role in not only communicating issues but actively managing and resolving them.
Retrospective and Continuous Improvement
Upon conclusion of each epic, a brief retrospective session should be facilitated to gather feedback on successes and areas for improvement. This practice helps refine processes and improves the handling of future epics.
Collaboration with Product and Design
Active collaboration with Product Managers and Designers during the planning phase is essential to ensure the epic’s scope aligns with business goals and user experience standards.
Resource Allocation and Escalation
The appointed individual is empowered to identify when additional resources or support are needed and to escalate issues promptly. This helps ensure timelines are met and work progresses smoothly.
Note: While responsible for timely delivery, the DRI is not expected to execute every task personally.
Standardized Status Update Template
To ensure consistency and clarity in our communication, we’ve implemented a standardized comment template for status updates across the Growth team.
Template Details:
- Name: “Growth - DRI Status Update”
- Scope: Available for the entire GitLab group
- Location: GitLab.com Comment Templates
This template streamlines our reporting process, making it easier for DRIs to provide comprehensive and uniform updates. By using a consistent format, we enhance readability and facilitate quick information retrieval for all team members.
For guidance on using comment templates, please refer to our Comment Templates Usage Guide.
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