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My Articles

These are articles written by me, Jimi Wikman. These articles are written on a wide range of topics. The main focus is of course on Atlassian, but as I am also very much interested in other areas that I have worked, or are just interested in you will also find other categories here. Under Ways of Working you will find articles relates to the build process management, design, requirements, development, test, operations and support. Under Interesting I write about security, e-commerce and Invision Community. Under professional, I write about work as a consultant, work related health issues, business related news and other topics related to professional work.

Atlassian Summit 2020 Cancelled due to fear for the Corona Virus

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
An official notification was sent out last night regarding the cancellation of the Atlassian Summit 2020 in Las Vegas. The event will still take place, but in the form of a virtual event. This is another event cancelled to the growing fear of the Corona Virus and while it sucks for people already made plans, it could be a good thing to try out a virtual event.
 
If you go to the Atlassian Summit page it is now called the Atlassian Remote Summit 2020. You can register for a remote participation for free. So if you want to check out the latest news from Atlassian and their partners, it is now free and you can watch it from the comfort of your living room!
https://atlassian.swoogo.com/summit20_live_stream
 

Atlassian Cloud changes Feb 24 to Mar 2, 2020

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
This is a repost from Atlassian's blog where the latest updates to the Atlassian cloud platform is posted. It is reposted here since the Atlassian blog does not have an RSS feed and so we can discuss the changes to the Atlassian Cloud architecture. You can follow these posts withe the tag "atlassian cloud changes".
Atlassian Cloud
Your cloud-hosted products are supported by the Atlassian Cloud platform. This section usually includes changes related to multiple Atlassian Cloud products, site administration, and user management.
Email users with suggested account changes  
From the Change details button, you can suggest that a user changes their account details to make their profile more consistent and easier to identify. Read more about administering Atlassian accounts.
Give your users a Trusted permission 
From a user's Permission options, select Trusted to give certain users more responsibility. These users will be able to install and configure new products on your site and invite new users themselves.
Claim accounts after verifying a domain 
To start managing accounts on your domain, we’ve included an additional step that requires you to claim accounts after verifying that you own the domain. From the table on the Domains page, click Claim accounts next to the verified domain. Read more about verifying a domain.
 
Jira platform
Changes in this section usually apply to all Jira products. We'll tell you in the change description if something is only for a specific Jira product.
Next-gen: Epic panel in backlog  
You can now manage epics on the backlog of your next-gen project via the Epics panel, similar to how epic management works in classic Jira Software projects. Changes you make in the panel on the backlog will reflect on the Roadmap, and vice-versa.
New issue view: Add web links 
Save time and add context to your issues by adding web links in the new issue view. Web links are links to any URL, but they appear prominently below the issue description where they’re easy for you and other issue viewers to find. Use them to link to important sites that teammates might need to better understand an issue.
We’re also moving all issue link types, including web links, into the Link issue button. Click Link issue to quickly link related issues or click the down arrow on the button to add links to web pages and Confluence pages (if you have a linked Confluence site).
Find issues you've recently worked on 
We’ve added a new Worked on tab to the Your work page. This tab lets you quickly find and resume work on issues you’ve updated recently. Head to Your work > Worked on to get started.
 
Jira Software
We're rolling out a new type of project known as next-gen. By default, any Jira Software licensed user can create their own next-gen project. These projects don't affect existing Jira projects, shared configurations, or your schemes. You can manage who's allowed to create next-gen projects with the new Create independent projects global permission. Read more about next-gen projects.
GitHub app on the Atlassian Marketplace 
We've partnered with GitHub to build a new and improved integration, which you can install at the Atlassian Marketplace. This replaces the DVCS connector in Jira's system settings. Current GitHub integrations set up under the old method will continue to work, but new integrations must be set up using the app on the Atlassian Marketplace. We're rolling out this update gradually, so it may not be on your Jira Cloud site yet.
This won't affect GitHub Enterprise integrations, which must still be set up via the DVCS connector.
Next-gen: Create child issues on your roadmap 
You can now add child issues directly on your roadmap. Just hover over an epic, click the + icon, and give your issue a name. Learn more about managing epics on the roadmap.
Kanban boards just got faster 
Is your team so productive, their 'Done' column is always overflowing? Too many issues on a board can slow it down and make you scroll way too much. To fix this, we’re bringing what we’ve codenamed “Fast Kanban”—a way to keep your board fresh and clean, and as quick as a flash.
The idea behind it is simple. The ‘Done’ column will now show only issues that have been updated (in any way) in the last 2 weeks, hiding the rest. Less noise on your board means happier teams. Any project admin can change the retention period, or choose to display all issues, if they prefer. Learn more
Copy issue links from boards and backlogs 
Don’t spend time opening and closing issues just to copy a link to the issue. From a board or backlog, right-click on an issue and choose Copy issue link.
 
Jira Service Desk
New issue view for Jira Service Desk 
The new issue view groups key actions and information in a logical way, making it easier for you to scan and update requests. Learn more about the new issue view.
Use keyboard shortcuts in your queues 
Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate around your queues and get your work done faster. You can now move through issues, select their fields, and go to the issue view from your queues just by using your keyboard!
Global create can select request type and raise on behalf of 
You can now create a request on behalf of your customers and set them as the reporter. Use the global create button ( + ), then select Raise this request on behalf of and add in your customer's email.
 
Confluence
Your editing experience just got an upgrade 
The new Confluence editor allows anyone to create beautiful, powerful pages effortlessly. Check out the editor roadmap to learn more.
End of support for nested tables 
As we work on creating a more stable editing experience, we will no longer support nested tables - that is, a table within a list, block quotes, or another table. Existing nested tables will not be affected, you simply won't be able to create new nested tables.
We're extending editing improvements to all pages on Android 
The editing improvements we made to blogs a few months ago are coming to the rest of your Android mobile pages, too. In addition to being faster and more reliable, your new pages are also responsive, optimized for readability, and have advanced tables. Some macros are still missing as we rebuild them, but you can check the list of changes and track updates to macros on our docs site.
Jira issue URLs are converted to smart links 
When you paste a Jira issue link into a Confluence page, the URL is converted to a smart link that displays the page icon and the page title. This works if the Jira and Confluence sites are linked or if they are both cloud versions.
Convert pages to use the new editor 
You can now convert your existing pages that were created using the legacy editor to use the new editing experience! Learn more
Confluence navigation just got better 
Get to information faster with improved navigation – making what you need visible from anywhere in Confluence. Learn more
Portfolio for Jira plan macro 
The Portfolio for Jira plan Confluence macro lets you embed a Portfolio for Jira Server and Data Center plan in a Confluence page. Join key stakeholders in the spaces where business goals are built and tracked, and share how work is progressing across multiple projects and teams.
New loading progress bar 
Now when a page is loading, you’ll see a thin blue loading bar slide across your screen, just under the top navigation, to give you a better idea how quickly your page is loading. This is for users with the improved navigation experience activated.
 
Bitbucket
Improved process to export Jira issue data from Bitbucket 
We’ve simplified the way you export Jira issue data from Bitbucket.
New Code Review - Limit the amount of rendered diff content 
Limits the amount of pull request content rendered in the diff and file tree to improve browser performance. Limits include the overall # of files and # of lines for the entire diff. Learn more

Take a voluntary demotion and renew your energy once in a while

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
As a manager you often work harder than anyone else in the team. Long hours, often after the workday has ended, or even weekdays sometimes, is unfortunately not uncommon. There are conflicts to be resolved and content switching that will make anyone exhausted. This is a sure way to burn yourself out if you let it and this is why it can be a good thing to take a voluntary demotion once in a while.
This may sound like a terrible idea, but I have found that not only will a voluntary demotion renew your energy, it will reinvigorate your passion for the craft, update you with the latest changes to the craft as well as reconnect with the people you normally lead. It is also incredibly humbling to "step down" and I tend to feel a bit of relief as that fear of not being allowed to fail or loose my position goes away.
For me I like to dive into the design part of my work. This is because I tend to spend time with test and requirements in my management role any way and I prefer to code with no pressure to deliver. I am also not very good with java script, which you pretty much must know inside and out these days.
Design on the other hand is diverse and while the tools change over time, the fundamentals does not. The psychology behind stay the same, even if a few new studies may show interesting changes now and again. In no way is it as fast paced as the world of front end development or as complex as the testing the increasingly more complicated infrastructures of businesses today.
It is also pretty much the opposite of management where you often feel that you have accomplished nothing at the end of the day. This is of course not true, but it's very hard to see concrete evidence of your work when you work with people all day. Design on the other hand is very obvious and it's amazing to see the things you can create using tools like Sketch or Photoshop.
For me this works wonders to renew my energy and I try to add something like this in once every 2-3 years or so. It's usually short assignments, but that is just the way I like it. I did this for Svenska Färghus Gruppen that was even more amazing since I had two colleagues that were design leads and I was just a simple designer for a change. I learned a ton and had an amazing time, much thanks to my awesome collegues Victor Werning and Camilla Romander that took me under their wings.
Currently I work  with ChessIT as a digital designer and again I am having a blast. I am diving into Sketch with new eyes as this is a time sensitive assignment so things must be done quickly. Creating dynamic symbols and font styles is key here. It's also locked down as the front end framework is already in place so I have to work within that constraint. It's a challenge and I am just loving the fact that even if it's fast paced I do not get stressed and I love every minute of it.
As a side effect of taking these design assignments I not only get to be creative for a change, I also stumble upon new tools and work processes which is going to benefit me greatly in future management assignments. It is truly a win-win situation as I get renewed energy, feel happier and also grow my knowledge and understanding of design with hands on experience.
I also get much needed time to reflect and I recently wrote about being caught in my own mental trap. This is that feeling where you fear loosing income or position because it would somehow make me less successful. It's a silly thought because position or level of income does not define your worth or your level of success. It also paralyze you and make you afraid of failing. As failing is the basis of growth and learning that lock you in a self imposed vacuum, which makes you miserable.
So, if you have the opportunity to demote yourself then I suggest you take it. Take a step back and relive the passion that once led to the management position in the first place. Let go of your ego, release your fear of failure and once more become the student so you can grow, as a professional as well as an individual.
I promise it will be worth it.
 
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Eagle Design Library - the best asset manager for designers?

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
When you work with graphics one of the most important aspects is to maintain order among your assets. Having a good system to control stock graphics and reusable vector graphics is essential for a good workflow and proper management of assets. I have struggled to find a system that I like, but now I think I have fond it.
As I was updating some images and tried to locate a specific image I got frustrated and did a deep dive into the asset managers for images that are out there. By accident I stumbled upon Eagle and it looked a bit to good to be true as it had pretty much everything I need.
With a pricing of $29.95 it's very cheap, but they also offer a 30 day free trial. Of course I downloaded it to test it out. I was not disappointed, even if it took a little while longer than needed as I was dumping 1500 images from Dropbox that was not synced locally.  It was a stupid oversight on my end, but it still worked flawlessly.
I have quite a lot of stock photos and vector graphics that are pretty big. Eagle did not care and I could easily batch drop 100 large vector files and Eagle took care of it in seconds. Even adding whole folders was snappy and fast so adding images was a breeze. Once I had most of my images I started looking into how to make order out of the chaos....and it was glorious.
 
Categorization

Adding categories and folders is super easy.  A simple plus button add folders in relation to what folder you are currently in and you can add icons and colors from a predefined selection. Folders can easily be dragged and dropped as you see fit, making this a very easy and satisfying way to work with folders.
You can create two types of folders. Regular folders and smart folders. Regular folders behave as you expect and smart folders allow you to create rules based on a pretty large range of attributes such as type, tags, colors, sizes, notes, shapes, comments and so on. It can be pretty dynamic with multiple rule sets as well.
Tags is easy as pie. You can create as many tags as you like and Eagle will even suggest already existing tags so it's easier to group on existing tags. You can manage tags in a specific area where you can also group and add color to the groups, just like with categories. It does not have icons however, but you can live without that I think.
 
Comments and Notes

This is a bit misleading as it's actually notes and annotations. I was looking for the comments until I realized it was appearing in the image itself and not as a comment area below.
Notes is a section in each image where you can add notes about the image itself. Sometimes you would use something like that to add a link to where the image was found and what copyright is associated to it. In Eagle you have a custom url field for the link, which makes the notes field more focused. Notes is searchable as well, which makes it very useful.
Comments is actually annotations. It means that you can add comments inside the image itself for different purposes. This is amazing as I sometimes have vectors with multiple assets in it. Using annotations I can mark each item so I know where they are. Comments can be searched and filtered as well, which makes it very powerful.
 
Search and Filter

This is the most important part of a good asset manager and Eagle have one of the most dynamic and flexible search and filter function I have seen. Search can be done on pretty much any data you add to the image so it is pretty amazing. The filter however is for me even more useful.
I don't even have to make a search to use the filters, so I can just start in the all section and drill down using the filter options. I can filter on colors that is automatically added to each image, tags, folders, shape, ratings, file types, dates (both predefined and custom), dimensions, notes and URL. You do not even need to know the full data so for url for example you can just start typing the domain for example and that will filter on that domain instantly. It is very powerful and easy to use.
 
...and more!
Eagle also comes with additional features that are pretty great. For example you can use Eagle to take screenshots and it even comes with a  browser extension for that purpose. The extension allow you to take screenshots as normal with both defined areas and the whole page, but it can also scrape all images from a webpage.  You can filter the images based on size before downloading from the page.
You can easily drag and drop images between applications to either import into Eagle or from Eagle into Photoshop or Sketch for example. You can define auto tagging so images put into a specific folder automatically get a defined tag. Eagle will identify duplicates so you can keep the assets clean and nice. You can also password protect images in case you need to keep them out of prying eyes.
It should be mentioned that Eagle also works great with videos, audio and even fonts.
 
In short this is an amazing product!
 
Watch the video:
 

Atlassian Cloud changes Feb 17 to Feb 24, 2020

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
This is a repost from Atlassian's blog where the latest updates to the Atlassian cloud platform is posted. It is reposted here since the Atlassian blog does not have an RSS feed and so we can discuss the changes to the Atlassian Cloud architecture. You can follow these posts withe the tag "atlassian cloud changes".
Atlassian Cloud
Your cloud-hosted products are supported by the Atlassian Cloud platform. This section usually includes changes related to multiple Atlassian Cloud products, site administration, and user management.
Email users with suggested account changes 
From the Change details button, you can suggest that a user changes their account details to make their profile more consistent and easier to identify. Read more about administering Atlassian accounts.
Give your users a Trusted permission 
From a user's Permission options, select Trusted to give certain users more responsibility. These users will be able to install and configure new products on your site and invite new users themselves.
Claim accounts after verifying a domain 
To start managing accounts on your domain, we’ve included an additional step that requires you to claim accounts after verifying that you own the domain. From the table on the Domains page, click Claim accounts next to the verified domain. Read more about verifying a domain.
 
Jira platform
Changes in this section usually apply to all Jira products. We'll tell you in the change description if something is only for a specific Jira product.
New issue view: Improved messages for anonymous updates in history 
We were incorrectly showing updates by anonymous users (users who haven’t logged in) in the history feed as “Jira automatically updated…” We’ll correctly show them as “Anonymous user updated…” from now on.
Create roles to fine-tune permissions and access in your next-gen projects
Roles allow you to fine-tune how people access and interact with your project. In real life, people play different roles in your project work. Your team may have a dedicated Scrum master, or you may work with consultants or contractors.
In Jira, different roles may need limited access to the content of your team’s work. Or, you might want to limit what some people are able to do in your project. For example, you may want to allow only your team’s Scrum masters to plan and manage your upcoming sprints. Or, you might want to prevent a consultant from changing an issue’s status.
In next-gen projects, you can tweak the way people interact with your project by creating your own roles with specific project permissions. Then, when you add people to your project, you can assign them a role to ensure they interact the way you expect them to.
To try it out, go to Project settings > Access in your next-gen project (Project settings > Internal access in your next-gen service desk). Learn more.
Tame your site’s custom fields
See the number of custom fields on your site, so you know if they’re getting out of hand. We've introduced icons to illustrate each type of custom field so you can easily identify them. We’ve also grouped screens and contexts for each custom field into a single Screens and contexts column to make them easier to edit and make the page more readable. Head to Jira settings > Issues > Custom fields to check it out.
Click a field’s screens or contexts links to:
Edit its name and description. Associate it with screens. Create, edit, or delete contexts. Set or edit its default value. Learn more about custom fields.
Next-gen: Epic panel in backlog 
You can now manage epics on the backlog of your next-gen project via the Epics panel, similar to how epic management works in classic Jira Software projects. Changes you make in the panel on the backlog will reflect on the Roadmap, and vice-versa.
New issue view: Add web links 
Save time and add context to your issues by adding web links in the new issue view. Web links are links to any URL, but they appear prominently below the issue description where they’re easy for you and other issue viewers to find. Use them to link to important sites that teammates might need to better understand an issue.
We’re also moving all issue link types, including web links, into the Link issue button. Click Link issue to quickly link related issues or click the down arrow on the button to add links to web pages and Confluence pages (if you have a linked Confluence site).
Find issues you've recently worked on 
We’ve added a new Worked on tab to the Your work page. This tab lets you quickly find and resume work on issues you’ve updated recently. Head to Your work > Worked on to get started.
Having trouble with next-gen projects? Better help is here. 
We improved our in-product help experience. Try the Help button in the navigation bar to see help articles related to your next-gen project or service desk.
 
Jira Software
We're rolling out a new type of project known as next-gen. By default, any Jira Software licensed user can create their own next-gen project. These projects don't affect existing Jira projects, shared configurations, or your schemes. You can manage who's allowed to create next-gen projects with the new Create independent projects global permission. Read more about next-gen projects.
GitHub app on the Atlassian Marketplace 
We've partnered with GitHub to build a new and improved integration, which you can install at the Atlassian Marketplace. This replaces the DVCS connector in Jira's system settings. Current GitHub integrations set up under the old method will continue to work, but new integrations must be set up using the app on the Atlassian Marketplace. We're rolling out this update gradually, so it may not be on your Jira Cloud site yet.
This won't affect GitHub Enterprise integrations, which must still be set up via the DVCS connector.
Next-gen: Create child issues on your roadmap 
You can now add child issues directly on your roadmap. Just hover over an epic, click the + icon, and give your issue a name. Learn more about managing epics on the roadmap.
Kanban boards just got faster 
Is your team so productive, their 'Done' column is always overflowing? Too many issues on a board can slow it down and make you scroll way too much. To fix this, we’re bringing what we’ve codenamed “Fast Kanban”—a way to keep your board fresh and clean, and as quick as a flash.
The idea behind it is simple. The ‘Done’ column will now show only issues that have been updated (in any way) in the last 2 weeks, hiding the rest. Less noise on your board means happier teams. Any project admin can change the retention period, or choose to display all issues, if they prefer. Learn more
Copy issue links from boards and backlogs 
Don’t spend time opening and closing issues just to copy a link to the issue. From a board or backlog, right-click on an issue and choose Copy issue link.
 
Jira Service Desk
New issue view for Jira Service Desk 
The new issue view groups key actions and information in a logical way, making it easier for you to scan and update requests. Learn more about the new issue view.
Use keyboard shortcuts in your queues 
Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate around your queues and get your work done faster. You can now move through issues, select their fields, and go to the issue view from your queues just by using your keyboard!
Global create can select request type and raise on behalf of 
You can now create a request on behalf of your customers and set them as the reporter. Use the global create button ( + ), then select Raise this request on behalf of and add in your customer's email.
 
Confluence
Your editing experience just got an upgrade 
The new Confluence editor allows anyone to create beautiful, powerful pages effortlessly. Check out the editor roadmap to learn more.
End of support for nested tables 
As we work on creating a more stable editing experience, we will no longer support nested tables - that is, a table within a list, block quotes, or another table. Existing nested tables will not be affected, you simply won't be able to create new nested tables.
All new pages are created using the new Confluence editor 
The Blank page template that is selected by default when creating a new page uses the new editor.
We're extending editing improvements to all pages on Android 
The editing improvements we made to blogs a few months ago are coming to the rest of your Android mobile pages, too. In addition to being faster and more reliable, your new pages are also responsive, optimized for readability, and have advanced tables. Some macros are still missing as we rebuild them, but you can check the list of changes and track updates to macros on our docs site.
Annotate images in the new editor 
Annotate images by adding text, inserting shapes and lines, using brushes, or adding a blur to a certain area.
Confluence Cloud recent pages drawer 
We’ve made it easier to get to the pages you visited or worked with most recently. A new action has been added to the global sidebar that presents you with a list of your recent pages; interaction-specific tabs help you narrow the list based on your actions, like visited, edited, or saved as draft.
Share pages directly with your team
It’s now easier to share pages with everyone on your team, all in one go. When you click Share on any page or blog post, Confluence now lets you add a team – no need to enter each person individually. Learn more
Jira issue URLs are converted to smart links 
When you paste a Jira issue link into a Confluence page, the URL is converted to a smart link that displays the page icon and the page title. This works if the Jira and Confluence sites are linked or if they are both cloud versions.
Convert pages to use the new editor 
You can now convert your existing pages that were created using the legacy editor to use the new editing experience! Learn more
Confluence navigation just got better 
Get to information faster with improved navigation – making what you need visible from anywhere in Confluence. Learn more
Align and resize images in tables in the new editor 
When images are inserted in table cells, you now have the ability to align and resize them.
Portfolio for Jira plan macro 
The Portfolio for Jira plan Confluence macro lets you embed a Portfolio for Jira Server and Data Center plan in a Confluence page. Join key stakeholders in the spaces where business goals are built and tracked, and share how work is progressing across multiple projects and teams.
Improved expand element replaces the macro 
Content creators just got a better way to control the way information is presented. The existing expand macro has been replaced with a quicker, easier way to include the expand functionality. Insert the improved expand element using /expand or by inserting the element from the editor's Insert toolbar.
New loading progress bar 
Now when a page is loading, you’ll see a thin blue loading bar slide across your screen, just under the top navigation, to give you a better idea how quickly your page is loading. This is for users with the improved navigation experience activated.
 
Bitbucket
New Code Review - Limit the amount of rendered diff content 
Limits the amount of pull request content rendered in the diff and file tree to improve browser performance. Limits include the overall # of files and # of lines for the entire diff. Learn more


Google test new image metadata for licensable images badge

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
Google is beta testing a new way for sites to display licensing information on images that appear in Google Image search. The new licensable image badge uses either IPTC image metadata or a new structured data element. This will make license information a whole lot more visible in the search results, which is a good thing.
This new way for Google to show license information for images has been done in collaboration with CEPIC, which is short for Coordination of European Picture Agencies Stock, Press and Heritage, since June 2018. IPTC and DMLA has also been involved in this new way to help display license information for images in Google Image search.
This new image badge will show up in the image itself during the search and when you click on an image it will also add additional information in the details view.

 
The two new attributes you can use in the metadata to get this to show up once the feature is released are:
license - A URL to a page that describes the license governing an image’s use. For example, it could be the terms and conditions that you have on your website. Where applicable, it could also be a Creative Commons License (for example, BY-NC 4.0). acquireLicensePage -A URL to a page where the user can find information on how to license that image. Here are some examples: A check-out page for that image where the user can select specific resolutions or usage rights general page that explains how to contact you  
This new badge also support standard IPTC tags. This means that in many cases this will show up with no additional effort. That is assuming the image already have the Web Statement of Rights and the Licensor URL meta data filled in.
In the event that you have both the IPTC tags and markup metadata, then Google will use the markup metadata. This is good because that way the image can have the original license, but a different license can be added based on the site itself if they have made a deal with the original creator for example.
For photographers I don't think this will be any changes in the workflow as I think most are already adding the metadata needed. For digital designers however this is not as common so some changes probably will be needed in most workflows. For content owners and system developers the new metadata will need some additional work.
This is similar to when the canonical tag was introduced, but it will be much slower to implement as there are no incentive to add this, at least not in the same way as for the canonical tag which could boost your SEO scores.
Personally I love this and I will absolutely implement this for this blog and other areas where I use images. Not for my own sake, but to make sure the creators get the recognition they deserve.
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Full Stack Developer - what is that and why do you need it?

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
You have probably heard the term "full stack developer" several times over the last few years, but what does it actually mean? If you are a developer, then you probably get the question if you are a "full stack developer" during interviews? You might even wonder how to become a "full stack developer"? In this article I will attempt to clarify these things and give my point of view on this phenomena.
A full stack developer mean many things to many people, but the short definition is that it is a developer that knows pretty much everything in the development stack. This ranges all the way over into the design area where you are expected to know visual design, user experience and interaction design. On the other end of the spectrum you are expected to know your way around databases, app development and of course devops and even server management.
This is not all however as you are expected to be proficient in HTML, CSS, multiple java script libraries and of course multiple backend languages. It is also implied that you should know things like accessibility through WAI and WCAG, be proficient in Git, easily build using boiler plates such as Bootstrap and manage your code using SASS/LESS with a good understanding of Grunt, Polyfill, coffescript and a ton of other things. Things like Ajax and API are as natural to you as configuring proxies and doing multi system testing for email designs.
Things like testing and requirement management should be second nature to you and you should naturally work with test driven development. You should be familiar with continuous deployment into multiple environment and of course know your way around tools like Bitbucket pipelines, Anisble, Team City, Octopus deploy and Azure Devops. On the servers you should know how configurations for ngninx, apache, Litespeed and Varnish work and how it affect your work. In the database you of course know all about collations, foreign keys and how to define and build different views and structures.
This is of course a bit to much for any one person to master and that is why the term "full stack developer" is very misleading. It is also why it makes me chuckle any time I see a 25 year old put "full stack developer" on their resume as it takes a minimum of 10 years to even get close to this definition. That is assuming you actually spend most of your days working with these areas.
Even more interesting it become when you consider that most people that actually get close to a full stack developer level have long since moved away from the actual development role. They work as senior architects or in a management position because that is where their extensive experience is most useful. If you take me for example I would actually qualify as a full stack developer because I have worked in all areas and I have extensive knowledge of each. You will never find me doing any code in a professional capacity however, even if I have 25+ years experience as a developer.
If having a great understanding of the whole chain in a development pipeline is the strength of a full stack developer, then the lack of specialization and fragmented knowledge is the downside. While I can walk into any team and know what they are talking about I am never the expert in the room. There is no way I can keep the same level of expertise splitting my attention over a dozen areas as a person who can focus on 3-4 areas. There are simply not enough time to manage that.
I know many front end developers such as @Ornamo Antar and @MikaelX that are wizards on the front end while still have a respectable knowledge of both the design aspects and the devops aspects. In my mind they are absolutely full stack developers, but with a high focus on the front end. Would I put them in a back end development team or stick them in the development pipeline? No, I would not, because even if they probably will do fine, it is not where their expertise or passion is.
Another example would be @Mauron who is one of the best architects I know. His knowledge of back end development and the server stacks is second to none. He also know tons of design and front end, making him a full stack developer no question about it. Would I put him on a design team or a front end team? Of course not. His skills would be wasted there as his passion and knowledge is in other areas. He probably don't want to admit it himself, but for me he is even wasting it on doing code at all, because his ability to teach and support others are invaluable.
 
The answers you seek
What is a Full Stack Developer?
A full stack developer, as I see it, is an experienced developer that have extended their knowledge into the areas surrounding their core area. They are not experts in all fields, but have solid knowledge at least. They still have expert knowledge in at least one field and this is what separate them from the generalists. This level of experience usually take 10-15 years to develop depending if it is done through natural progression or through focused effort to learn new areas.
 
What do I do when people ask me if I am a full stack developer?
Ask them to define what a full stack developer means for them. Explain to them what your area of expertise is and how you measure up on the other areas to see if you match their expectations. If you don't get the clarification then you could end up with different expectations that lead to conflict. Better to be up front and ensure you both have the same expectations.
 
How do I become a full stack developer?
Focus on your area of expertise and you will naturally extend your knowledge over time.  If you are a front end developer then you will naturally dip into the back end through API and working in mixed templates that are in many systems. As a back end developer you will naturally dip into operations as you dig into proxies and network configurations.
All developers will get involved in deployments (and yes you SAP people, I consider CHARM to be deployment) as well as code repositories with code versioning. Everyone work with requirements in one way or the other and everyone will deal with test.
As you become more experienced you will get into things like optimization, browser cache, network speed and even outside the system itself into SEO and CRO. You will interact with design and many, many different management tools.
In short becoming a full stack will come naturally.
If you want to speed things up then try new things! I know several people that have moved from back end to front end or vice versa and it have given them great knowledge. I also know that most front end developers dabble in UX and CRO to become better front end developers and so on. This is especially great if you are still relatively inexperienced as it will give you better understanding once you choose your area of expertise later on.
So do not be shy to experiment and extend your expertise early on, you will benefit from it greatly later on.
You can also join this site as I am very much dipping into all areas of a full stack developer. Just ask any question here and I will do my best to help you find the answers you seek so you can grow towards becoming a full stack developer.
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Atlassian Cloud changes Feb 10 to Feb 17, 2020

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
This is a repost from Atlassian's blog where the latest updates to the Atlassian cloud platform is posted. It is reposted here since the Atlassian blog does not have an RSS feed and so we can discuss the changes to the Atlassian Cloud architecture. You can follow these posts withe the tag "atlassian cloud changes".
Atlassian Cloud
Your cloud-hosted products are supported by the Atlassian Cloud platform. This section usually includes changes related to multiple Atlassian Cloud products, site administration, and user management.
Email users with suggested account changes
From the Change details button, you can suggest that a user changes their account details to make their profile more consistent and easier to identify. Read more about administering Atlassian accounts.
Give your users a Trusted permission 
From a user's Permission options, select Trusted to give certain users more responsibility. These users will be able to install and configure new products on your site and invite new users themselves.
Claim accounts after verifying a domain 
To start managing accounts on your domain, we’ve included an additional step that requires you to claim accounts after verifying that you own the domain. From the table on the Domains page, click Claim accounts next to the verified domain. Read more about verifying a domain.
 
Jira platform
Changes in this section usually apply to all Jira products. We'll tell you in the change description if something is only for a specific Jira product.
New issue view: Add web links  
Save time and add context to your issues by adding web links in the new issue view. Web links are links to any URL, but they appear prominently below the issue description where they’re easy for you and other issue viewers to find. Use them to link to important sites that teammates might need to better understand an issue.
We’re also moving all issue link types, including web links, into the Link issue button. Click Link issue to quickly link related issues or click the down arrow on the button to add links to web pages and Confluence pages (if you have a linked Confluence site).
Tame your site’s custom fields 
See the number of custom fields on your site, so you know if they’re getting out of hand. We've introduced icons to illustrate each type of custom field so you can easily identify them. We’ve also grouped screens and contexts for each custom field into a single Screens and contexts column to make them easier to edit and make the page more readable. Head to Jira settings > Issues > Custom fields to check it out.
Click a field’s screens or contexts links to:
Edit its name and description. Associate it with screens. Create, edit, or delete contexts. Set or edit its default value. Learn more about custom fields.
Create roles to fine-tune permissions and access in your next-gen projects
Roles allow you to fine-tune how people access and interact with your project. In real life, people play different roles in your project work. Your team may have a dedicated Scrum master, or you may work with consultants or contractors.
In Jira, different roles may need limited access to the content of your team’s work. Or, you might want to limit what some people are able to do in your project. For example, you may want to allow only your team’s Scrum masters to plan and manage your upcoming sprints. Or, you might want to prevent a consultant from changing an issue’s status.
In next-gen projects, you can tweak the way people interact with your project by creating your own roles with specific project permissions. Then, when you add people to your project, you can assign them a role to ensure they interact the way you expect them to.
To try it out, go to Project settings > Access in your next-gen project (Project settings > Internal access in your next-gen service desk). Learn more.
Next-gen: Epic panel in backlog 
You can now manage epics on the backlog of your next-gen project via the Epics panel, similar to how epic management works in classic Jira Software projects. Changes you make in the panel on the backlog will reflect on the Roadmap, and vice-versa.
Find issues you've recently worked on 
We’ve added a new Worked on tab to the Your work page. This tab lets you quickly find and resume work on issues you’ve updated recently. Head to Your work > Worked on to get started.
Having trouble with next-gen projects? Better help is here. 
We improved our in-product help experience. Try the Help button in the navigation bar to see help articles related to your next-gen project or service desk.
Jira admins: Get more insights into your projects
We’ve added a Last Issue Update column to the Jira Settings > Projects page. This column displays the most recent date when someone updated an issue—just to give you an idea of what’s going on with the projects.
 
Jira Software
We're rolling out a new type of project known as next-gen. By default, any Jira Software licensed user can create their own next-gen project. These projects don't affect existing Jira projects, shared configurations, or your schemes. You can manage who's allowed to create next-gen projects with the new Create independent projects global permission. Read more about next-gen projects.
Copy issue links from boards and backlogs  
Don’t spend time opening and closing issues just to copy a link to the issue. From a board or backlog, right-click on an issue and choose Copy issue link.
GitHub app on the Atlassian Marketplace 
We've partnered with GitHub to build a new and improved integration, which you can install at the Atlassian Marketplace. This replaces the DVCS connector in Jira's system settings. Current GitHub integrations set up under the old method will continue to work, but new integrations must be set up using the app on the Atlassian Marketplace. We're rolling out this update gradually, so it may not be on your Jira Cloud site yet.
This won't affect GitHub Enterprise integrations, which must still be set up via the DVCS connector.
Next-gen: Create child issues on your roadmap 
You can now add child issues directly on your roadmap. Just hover over an epic, click the + icon, and give your issue a name. Learn more about managing epics on the roadmap.
 
Jira Service Desk
New issue view for Jira Service Desk 
The new issue view groups key actions and information in a logical way, making it easier for you to scan and update requests. Learn more about the new issue view.
Use keyboard shortcuts in your queues 
Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate around your queues and get your work done faster. You can now move through issues, select their fields, and go to the issue view from your queues just by using your keyboard!
Global create can select request type and raise on behalf of 
You can now create a request on behalf of your customers and set them as the reporter. Use the global create button ( + ), then select Raise this request on behalf of and add in your customer's email.
 
Confluence
New loading progress bar  
Now when a page is loading, you’ll see a thin blue loading bar slide across your screen, just under the top navigation, to give you a better idea how quickly your page is loading. This is for users with the improved navigation experience activated.
Your editing experience just got an upgrade 
The new Confluence editor allows anyone to create beautiful, powerful pages effortlessly. Check out the editor roadmap to learn more.
End of support for nested tables 
As we work on creating a more stable editing experience, we will no longer support nested tables - that is, a table within a list, block quotes, or another table. Existing nested tables will not be affected, you simply won't be able to create new nested tables.
We're extending editing improvements to all pages on Android 
The editing improvements we made to blogs a few months ago are coming to the rest of your Android mobile pages, too. In addition to being faster and more reliable, your new pages are also responsive, optimized for readability, and have advanced tables. Some macros are still missing as we rebuild them, but you can check the list of changes and track updates to macros on our docs site.
Annotate images in the new editor 
Annotate images by adding text, inserting shapes and lines, using brushes, or adding a blur to a certain area.
Confluence Cloud recent pages drawer 
We’ve made it easier to get to the pages you visited or worked with most recently. A new action has been added to the global sidebar that presents you with a list of your recent pages; interaction-specific tabs help you narrow the list based on your actions, like visited, edited, or saved as draft.
Share pages directly with your team 
It’s now easier to share pages with everyone on your team, all in one go. When you click Share on any page or blog post, Confluence now lets you add a team – no need to enter each person individually. Learn more
Jira issue URLs are converted to smart links 
When you paste a Jira issue link into a Confluence page, the URL is converted to a smart link that displays the page icon and the page title. This works if the Jira and Confluence sites are linked or if they are both cloud versions.
Convert pages to use the new editor 
You can now convert your existing pages that were created using the legacy editor to use the new editing experience! Learn more
Confluence navigation just got better 
Get to information faster with improved navigation – making what you need visible from anywhere in Confluence. Learn more
Align and resize images in tables in the new editor 
When images are inserted in table cells, you now have the ability to align and resize them.
Portfolio for Jira plan macro 
The Portfolio for Jira plan Confluence macro lets you embed a Portfolio for Jira Server and Data Center plan in a Confluence page. Join key stakeholders in the spaces where business goals are built and tracked, and share how work is progressing across multiple projects and teams.
Improved expand element replaces the macro 
Content creators just got a better way to control the way information is presented. The existing expand macro has been replaced with a quicker, easier way to include the expand functionality. Insert the improved expand element using /expand or by inserting the element from the editor's Insert toolbar.
 
Bitbucket
New Code Review - Limit the amount of rendered diff content 
Limits the amount of pull request content rendered in the diff and file tree to improve browser performance. Limits include the overall # of files and # of lines for the entire diff. Learn more
Create a Jira issue from a pull request comment
You can now create a Jira issue from a pull request comment. This new feature also enables you to choose the project where you will create the issue.

Atlassian Cloud changes Feb 3 to Feb 10, 2020

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
This is a repost from Atlassian's blog where the latest updates to the Atlassian cloud platform is posted. It is reposted here since the Atlassian blog does not have an RSS feed and so we can discuss the changes to the Atlassian Cloud architecture. You can follow these posts withe the tag "atlassian cloud changes".
Atlassian Cloud
Your cloud-hosted products are supported by the Atlassian Cloud platform. This section usually includes changes related to multiple Atlassian Cloud products, site administration, and user management.
See more data from the active users chart  
The Active users chart now includes up to one year of data and a way to filter by your organization’s products. From admin.atlassian.com, select Security < Insights to see the Active users chart. Requires an Atlassian Access subscription
Email users with suggested account changes 
From the Change details button, you can suggest that a user changes their account details to make their profile more consistent and easier to identify. Read more about administering Atlassian accounts.
Give your users a Trusted permission 
From a user's Permission options, select Trusted to give certain users more responsibility. These users will be able to install and configure new products on your site and invite new users themselves.
Claim accounts after verifying a domain 
To start managing accounts on your domain, we’ve included an additional step that requires you to claim accounts after verifying that you own the domain. From the table on the Domains page, click Claim accounts next to the verified domain. Read more about verifying a domain.
Set your language and time zone for Jira and Confluence in your Atlassian account profile 
Rather than individually setting your language and time zone in Jira and Confluence, these preferences will soon come from your Atlassian account profile. Visit your account preferences to update these settings. It may take up to 10 mins before your updated preferences are reflected in Jira and Confluence.
 
Jira platform
Changes in this section usually apply to all Jira products. We'll tell you in the change description if something is only for a specific Jira product.
Create roles to fine-tune permissions and access in your next-gen projects  
Roles allow you to fine-tune how people access and interact with your project. In real life, people play different roles in your project work. Your team may have a dedicated Scrum master, or you may work with consultants or contractors.
In Jira, different roles may need limited access to the content of your team’s work. Or, you might want to limit what some people are able to do in your project. For example, you may want to allow only your team’s Scrum masters to plan and manage your upcoming sprints. Or, you might want to prevent a consultant from changing an issue’s status.
In next-gen projects, you can tweak the way people interact with your project by creating your own roles with specific project permissions. Then, when you add people to your project, you can assign them a role to ensure they interact the way you expect them to.
To try it out, go to Project settings > Access in your next-gen project (Project settings > Internal access in your next-gen service desk).
Learn more about roles in next-gen software projects.
Learn more about roles in next-gen service desks.
New user profile cards 
When you hover over someone’s name in directories, on dashboards, and in user picker fields, you’ll now start to see rich profile cards with more information and a link to the user’s profile (if you have permission to see it).
Next-gen: Epic panel in backlog 
You can now manage epics on the backlog of your next-gen project via the Epics panel, similar to how epic management works in classic Jira Software projects. Changes you make in the panel on the backlog will reflect on the Roadmap, and vice-versa.
Find issues you've recently worked on 
We’ve added a new Worked on tab to the Your work page. This tab lets you quickly find and resume work on issues you’ve updated recently. Head to Your work > Worked on to get started.
Having trouble with next-gen projects? Better help is here. 
We improved our in-product help experience. Try the Help button in the navigation bar to see help articles related to your next-gen project or service desk.
Jira admins: Get more insights into your projects 
We’ve added a Last Issue Update column to the Jira Settings > Projects page. This column displays the most recent date when someone updated an issue—just to give you an idea of what’s going on with the projects.
Portfolio for Jira - Team Offset Change
Portfolio has changed how it schedules work for teams to better reflect planning reality.
Previously, if one of the teams in the plan had an active sprint that had already started in the past, Portfolio would schedule work for that team in the past. However, just because that team had an active sprint that’s already started, Portfolio would go ahead and schedule work for other teams in the plan, even if these teams didn’t have an active sprint that’s started in the past.
We’ve changed this so work will no longer be scheduled for the other teams in the plan that don’t have an active sprint. Rather, Portfolio will now schedule work for these teams starting the next day.
Portfolio for Jira - Scheduling with Adapted Sprint Dates
Previously, the capacity of the last day of a sprint would be fully allocated to the sprint itself. This makes a 2-week sprint on a board have 11 work days of capacity in Portfolio.
We've now improved capacity calculation so that the capacity of a sprint's last day will no longer be allocated to the sprint itself. A 2-week sprint will now have 10 work days of capacity.
 
Jira Software
We're rolling out a new type of project known as next-gen. By default, any Jira Software licensed user can create their own next-gen project. These projects don't affect existing Jira projects, shared configurations, or your schemes. You can manage who's allowed to create next-gen projects with the new Create independent projects global permission. Read more about next-gen projects.
GitHub app on the Atlassian Marketplace 
We've partnered with GitHub to build a new and improved integration, which you can install at the Atlassian Marketplace. This replaces the DVCS connector in Jira's system settings. Current GitHub integrations set up under the old method will continue to work, but new integrations must be set up using the app on the Atlassian Marketplace. We're rolling out this update gradually, so it may not be on your Jira Cloud site yet.
This won't affect GitHub Enterprise integrations, which must still be set up via the DVCS connector.
Next-gen: Create child issues on your roadmap 
You can now add child issues directly on your roadmap. Just hover over an epic, click the + icon, and give your issue a name. Learn more about managing epics on the roadmap.
 
Jira Service Desk
New issue view for Jira Service Desk 
The new issue view groups key actions and information in a logical way, making it easier for you to scan and update requests. Learn more about the new issue view.
Use keyboard shortcuts in your queues 
Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate around your queues and get your work done faster. You can now move through issues, select their fields, and go to the issue view from your queues just by using your keyboard!
Maintenance complete on the customer portal user profile page
We have just completed some maintenance on the customer portal user profile page.
We also introduced a new layout that is easier to use on mobile devices. Go team!
Global create can select request type and raise on behalf of 
You can now create a request on behalf of your customers and set them as the reporter. Use the global create button ( + ), then select Raise this request on behalf of and add in your customer's email.
 
Confluence
Ancestor filter on the new advanced search page 
You now have an additional filter when using advanced search that lets you narrow the results to pages under the page you selected. This is great when you have a general idea of where the page is that you want, but you can’t remember exactly where.
Paginated contributors  
As a start, Frontend will be be breaking down the contributors to 2 parts, first get the top 2 avatars and then on ‘load more’ will do get the all rest of contributors.
Current limitation: Frontend uses Atlaskit component Avatar groups to show the avatars in contributors, but it doesn’t support pagination right now. A improvement request has been made and once they support it, we can modify the page contributors to have true pagination.
Your editing experience just got an upgrade 
The new Confluence editor allows anyone to create beautiful, powerful pages effortlessly. Check out the editor roadmap to learn more.
End of support for nested tables 
As we work on creating a more stable editing experience, we will no longer support nested tables - that is, a table within a list, block quotes, or another table. Existing nested tables will not be affected, you simply won't be able to create new nested tables.
We're extending editing improvements to all pages on Android 
The editing improvements we made to blogs a few months ago are coming to the rest of your Android mobile pages, too. In addition to being faster and more reliable, your new pages are also responsive, optimized for readability, and have advanced tables. Some macros are still missing as we rebuild them, but you can check the list of changes and track updates to macros on our docs site.
Annotate images in the new editor 
Annotate images by adding text, inserting shapes and lines, using brushes, or adding a blur to a certain area.
Confluence Cloud recent pages drawer 
We’ve made it easier to get to the pages you visited or worked with most recently. A new action has been added to the global sidebar that presents you with a list of your recent pages; interaction-specific tabs help you narrow the list based on your actions, like visited, edited, or saved as draft.
Share pages directly with your team 
It’s now easier to share pages with everyone on your team, all in one go. When you click Share on any page or blog post, Confluence now lets you add a team – no need to enter each person individually. Learn more
Jira issue URLs are converted to smart links 
When you paste a Jira issue link into a Confluence page, the URL is converted to a smart link that displays the page icon and the page title. This works if the Jira and Confluence sites are linked or if they are both cloud versions.
Convert pages to use the new editor 
You can now convert your existing pages that were created using the legacy editor to use the new editing experience! Learn more
Confluence navigation just got better 
Get to information faster with improved navigation – making what you need visible from anywhere in Confluence. Learn more
Align and resize images in tables in the new editor 
When images are inserted in table cells, you now have the ability to align and resize them.
Portfolio for Jira plan macro 
The Portfolio for Jira plan Confluence macro lets you embed a Portfolio for Jira Server and Data Center plan in a Confluence page. Join key stakeholders in the spaces where business goals are built and tracked, and share how work is progressing across multiple projects and teams.
Improved expand element replaces the macro 
Content creators just got a better way to control the way information is presented. The existing expand macro has been replaced with a quicker, easier way to include the expand functionality. Insert the improved expand element using /expand or by inserting the element from the editor's Insert toolbar.
 
Bitbucket
Create a Jira issue from a pull request comment  
You can now create a Jira issue from a pull request comment. This new feature also enables you to choose the project where you will create the issue.
New Code Review - Limit the amount of rendered diff content 
Limits the amount of pull request content rendered in the diff and file tree to improve browser performance. Limits include the overall # of files and # of lines for the entire diff. Learn more

Angular 9 is here - Project Ivy has arrived

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
After months of waiting, Angular 9 is finally here. This is a major release that effect the entire platform. This includes the framework, Angular Material, and the CLI. The most notable change is Ivy, the new default compiler and runtime.
Version 9 moves all applications to use the Ivy compiler and runtime by default. Ivy improves bundle size, allows for better debugging, adds improved type checking, faster testing, enables the AOT compiler on by default, and improves CSS class and style binding. With Ivy, both small apps and large apps will see largely improved bundle size savings.

Rather than me repeating the official announcement, I will let Maximilian Schwarzmüller from Academind walk you through the changes in this great video.
 

You need to stop running because people are getting hurt

By 💫 Jimi Wikman ·
In the last 3-4 years I have noticed an increase in the speed of which things are done within companies. By that I do not mean that we produce things faster, I mean that we take decisions or share information faster. That may sound like a good thing, but as always when things are done fast the quality drops. What I see however is even worse and that is that people, often young people, are getting hurt.
Management is not an easy profession, regardless of position in an organization. There are important decisions to make, ton of information to absorb and people that need to be cared for. This is nothing new, but what is relatively new is a sense of urgency,  that seem to spread to an almost frantic pace these days. In some cases it's more like full panic mode even.
I have seen organizations that spend more time in meetings than actually do anything on a management level. Some organization even take this to a whole new level. The lack of proper communication and a complete lack of trust within the organization lead to hundreds or even thousands of people who spend most of their days shuffling information back and forth in meetings.
This is a very, very dangerous situation because when managers process information with no context and little to no actual knowledge of the topic they process then poor decisions are taken. If you add a constant stress to that situation where managers spend 30+ hours in meetings with other managers then the decisions quickly become erratic and irrational.
I see this in many large organizations these days and I hear it from friends and colleagues in other organizations as well. Most agree that while this has always been the case in management to certain extent, it has never been as bad as it is today. No one seem to think that this is something that will change anytime soon either. Quite the opposite as we have seen this slowly escalate over the years and it has come to the point where people are getting hurt mentally and physically.
I have seen people pass out in meetings and more than one person that leave mid day to never come back to their work again. I see daily people in the development areas with dark rings below their eyes and tired eyes. I hear people almost weekly that ask to leave their assignment due to health issues or mental fatigue.
Everywhere I see the same tragic trend and that is that management is running frantically making poor decisions with little to no communication. People are frustrated, confused and more often than not they are becoming defensive as their managers mistrust everything they do. More often than not there will be control mechanisms that are implemented to control rather than improve the work.
This will make people feel like they are constantly being judged and mistrusted. With an increased pace from the managers demands that comes with unclear information and little to no access to clarification there is no wonder people are breaking down. In some companies there are even activity based offices as icing on the cake to make things even more stressful for the already battered employees.
People are getting hurt from this and you have most likely seen more than one employee cringe when you mention the Agile word or the Activity based Office. That is not because they are against these things, it's just that they are so abused by managers to avoid taking proper responsibility for making sure that communication and interaction are working.
 
There is still hope!
It is easy to blame the managers for the situation, but the fact is that most managers are really, really great people. They are also suffering from the situation of an increased pace and stress.  I know more than one manager that have taken a time out in the bathroom where they silently cried over their hopeless situation. So the managers are not the problem, it is the collective sense of urgency and lack of control.
 
Step 1 - Reduce the meetings.
Meetings are the cause of many issues today. We have meetings for almost everything with little to no thought of why we have them. Many managers are easily in 20-30+ hours every week and most meetings include 10+ people where half is just there to make sure they do not miss information. If you want to measure something, then this is something to measure to reduce waste of resources and cost.
Make it mandatory with one full day with no meetings. This allow managers to process the information and make educated decisions what to do next. For best effect, make it the same day for everyone.
Also follow up on meeting statistics to make sure that no more than 15 hours each week can be allocated to meetings. That is 3 hours each day, which should be more than enough if you have the communication and information strategies in place.
 
Step 2 - Establish trust.
Control is a big problem if there is no trust in the organization. The reason for that is that no matter how well the development teams are doing it will not matter of the management chain can not feel sure about that. If all managers are always sitting in meetings, then how will they get the information they need and how will they have time to forward this information up the management chain? The first step is of course to free up time by reducing the time spent in meetings.
The second thing is to clarify responsibility. It is very difficult to provide the right information if you do not know what is expected from you. Once you know what information you need to provide, then the flow of information will improve with relevant information.
Once you clarify responsibility and expectations you will reduce confusion, which in turn will reduce frustration. Clarity also will make it possible to provide accurate information from the development teams when it comes to estimations. This will make it easier for manages to feel that they can trust the information from the development teams. This is done by having clear role definitions and a proper process for clarifying requirements for the development teams.
 
Step 3 - Establish proper communication channels.
The last "easy" fix is to make sure you have communication channels. One thing that I see often is that just to implement a documented decision process will improve the understanding in the organization a lot. If you can understand what a decision mean, why it was taken and who took the decision, then it is much, much easier to understand. Verbal decisions are easily misunderstand, easy to override and easy to ignore. So make sure that important decisions are clearly documented and easily accessed.
No common way of working is also a big problem. You should define a baseline for everyone to avoid that everyone in your organization create their own way of working. This is especially important in the handover points where you handover information between different groups. If this handover is done in dozens or hundreds of different ways, then that will not only cause confusion and frustration, it will cost thousands upon thousands of dollars.
Having a common way of working does not mean that you can not have different ways of working. It just mean that you can understand the reason for having a different process as there is some need that the common way of working can not fulfill. The changes are not arbitrary as they are when there are no common way of working.
 
Step 4 - Take care of your people
No matter where you are in the organization you have people around you that you work with every day. Make sure you take a moment on a regular basis and look at the people around you. If you see someone that does not seem to feel well, then make sure you act on that. You can support the person by talking to them and listen to their problems, you can tell your manager or your managers manager and you can contact HR. 
If we fail to see the people around us that are slowly being broken down from stress, then that person could end up being sick. Some refer to this as "hitting the wall", others being "burned out". This is one of the most devastating events in  a persons life and it is something that you never really get over.
 
So take care of yourself, the people around you and please, please....
stop running, because people are getting hurt.
 
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Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.