How to lead Devops / SRE Teams

This is not a blog post about how leaders do change the world, or how their charismatic characters go gather teams and have them work together. This is about leaders who know the key to success is all about teamwork, who value people, trust and work with them hand in hand every day to make it a journey worthwhile, about teams who together make the visions come true.

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” Warren Bennis

• Devops are smart: Let’s face it, during your journey of leading people you will have work with people much smarter than you. You are there to find that talent and create that team. I happen to work with 70 more people who are probably pushing the limits of the IQ barrier. Don’t make the mistake of taking them for granted, you are on their shoulders and they are the driving force. Be with them and learn from them.
• Devops are free: I remember reading a quote “We try to hire the best people in the business and then expect them to listen what we say”. This is one of the first notes that a manager should keep in a post-it stick to his monitor to remember every day. If you let them organize their work, and whenever possible give them the freedom to choose what tasks to work on, they will come up with better ways to do it. Technically leaving your team free time always return good value.
• DevOps like discussions: One of the biggest horrors that I had while passing my early years as a junior systems admin was my boss not understanding the technical details, not being able to go into the depth of information. It did not really make any difference if we were using active/passive replication or simply copying the data files overnight.

This technical vs business difference in return creates a big gap between the team and the boss just. Talking about virtualization while your boss is talking about how much money they spent this quarter on marketing are not the most compatible subjects.

You are there to understand, and very rarely decide what micro tasks should be done. Your main task is to have your team see the big picture and the destination you are walking to.

• Devops are analytical: This is where all my sessions with my coach come into play. Apart from the many methodologies we discuss and exercises we do, during one of our very early sessions, we spent quite a bit of time examining the disc profiles and worked on how to interact with each of them.

You team members with analytical o “C” personality type are precise, detail-oriented, and conscientious. They think very analytically and systematically and make decisions carefully with plenty of research and information to back it up. The C has very high standards for both themselves and others. Because they focus on the details and see what many other styles do not, they tend to be good problem solvers and very creative people.

Know their style and who you work with. Be detailed to make sure you understand them, yet leave them the freedom of deciding. They know their work, just show them where to go.

• DevOps need constant change: Do not expect your team to do the routine jobs. Asking a 12-year senior profile to do a tar copy is like forcing a Ferrari to go 20 km/h. Instead, ask them how it can be done in a fancier way.

I remember asking one of my system admins how can we create a backup system for our entire server farm. Exactly in a week, we had a working system that would do the copies, md5 sum them and send alerts if any of them failed.

Make it playful, nobody likes routines.

• DevOps need to own: This is where we talk about your team’s babies. In the earlier times where there were no Amazon or virtualization and we had to use not more than a couple of servers to get the company’s work done. These servers were so important that they were famous and needed special care. We used to login check the disk space make sure the copies are made and constantly monitor in case a problem occurs.

Coming back to today I don’t think we have lost so much. In the team, all the admins have their “babies”, projects they are working and servers associated with them. Let them own, but also show them to share the information.

• It is a multicultural world: The technology is changing, so does the way we do things. In the older times having a team of people working as a matter of being in the same place, talking things over and over again, ask the boss what to do and try your best to achieve that goal. It would probably end up in a dramatic result where the project was not completed on time, or the end product was different than what was intended at the beginning.

Today we are all scattered all over the world. When it is 02.30pm in the afternoon in Barcelona, it is the time to go home for Bangalore (06.00 pm) while people are getting their first cup of coffee in the morning (09.00am).

You will work with people from all around the world, working in a different time zone does equal to being isolated. Have your team get together and include all your team members in meetings, e-mails, and discussions.
It is your duty to make sure everyone works together.

Last word:

Work hard! Remember you are with a whole group of smartest people that dominates all kinds of different technologies. You need to know your domain as well as keeping up to date to know what is the next step to take. Get your cup of coffee ready for the long ride.

Earn the title! You were promoted to be a manager will not make you a leader, but a simple manager. You are the one to earn the title to lead your team. Do it and do it right.

Get to know your DevOps! Be with them, learn from them. Remember as a leader you are there to give them a global vision of where things are going and clear the way. Wait and you will see how your team makes that vision come into reality.

Be honest! Say you are sorry, and loud when you screw it. There is nothing funny about a leader who thinks he is right all the time.

Be humble! Your team wants to see you working with them, having a beer when the time allows it. Say sorry loud and clear when you fail. Learn and move.

Let your team talk! “I hear what you say but I don’t know what you think” This is the phrase in our conversations that we keep coming back with my mentor. You are there to create open and honest discussions. Really know what your team members think, discuss and value their input. You will see how different an issue is when viewed from another angle.

Create the team! Create an environment where all the ideas are valued, listened and discussed. It is your job to create a team. Make sure everyone trusts each other and discussions are open and honest.