Learnings from working with external teams

With the recent change in the role from data engineer to lead data engineer, I’m regularly interacting with different teams, both upstream and downstream. It had become routine to have meetings with the counterparties to understand their difficulties. After all, we are a tree but a part of a forest.  

Diversity factor

It might annoy us to hear about diversity from the MNCs again and again. However, for the proper functioning of the organization, it is essential to have associates from various backgrounds. This plurality ensures different ideas and approaches to a problem, which in turn gives the authorities the ability to compare and pick a better, more efficient solution.

Every solution brings a new paradigm of problems. So does the diversity. The plurality of people brings new opinions and new views. Also, with the amalgamation of multiple cultures, communication needs to be more specific and clear. 

Assumptions → Miscommunication

Some of the assumptions I made that could be valid in most of the cases ended badly last week. The person with whom I was conversing interpreted my statement in a different way. This led to the introduction of new bugs. The bug fix required rework on the logic, and the delivery got delayed. 

The delay in deliverables resulted in a mini-escalation. Even though the end users understood where the mistake was, the incident dented their trust in us. Trust is hard to earn. The problem might look like a one-off case. But if it is not acted upon, this could repeat itself again. Expecting forgiveness for a recurring mistake is foolishness. 

Meeting notes - the saviour

The solution could be written confirmation instead of oral confirmation. Since the incident, our team has started sending out meeting notes, especially for the technical discussion. Thus, we formed the habit of sending out meeting notes, especially if external teams are involved.

The written notes paraphrase our understanding. Also, it clears out amigosity and acts as an anchor. This basically keeps the goal post static. 

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Page last updated on: 2024-11-06 09:30:05 +0530 +0530
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See also