DevOps Days Kiev Ignite talk, 5 May 2018. This 5-minute presentation summarizes why DevOps teams should practice face-to-face communications skills.

1. Talking to people
The forgotten devops tool
Peter Varhol

2. Why devops?
• It’s all about these things
• We don’t talk enough

3. Have you Ever . . .
• Checked email in a meeting?
• Updated Facebook for a quick break?
• Pulled out your phone because you
were bored?
• Stopped texting because you didn’t like
where the conversation was going?

4. We talk more than ever
• E-mail
• Text
• IM
• Skype
• Conference calls

5. But we say less than ever
• “Let’s touch base”
• We comment on the inane
• We script our conversations
• No spontaneity

6. Why do we do this?

7. It’s all about control
• We are juggling more tasks than ever
• Our lives feel out of control
• Talking to people is unpredictable
• We don’t want the stress

9. No,
We are not invincible

10. But we have a need to be in control
• We are afraid to be spontaneous
• We want to be the person we would like to be
• That means not showing our true selves

11. Our excuses
• I don’t have the time
• I’m not good face to face
• I stress at encounters
• I need “white space”
• I’m more productive online
• I need a record

12. Why Talk at all?
• The 7 percent rule
• 7 percent of information exchanged is verbal
• The non-verbal component was body language (55 percent) and tone of voice
(38 percent)
• This is a measure of information conveyed

13. What we lose through our devices
• Spontaneity
• Flow of ideas
• Unexpected solutions
• Unexpected problems
• Most important
• Practice

14. Enter DevOps
• Breaks down silos
• Combines elements of development and operations
• Enables fast deployments
• Identifies and fixes problems quickly

15. The role of communications
• Streamline processes
• Share insights
• Get work done
• Solve problems

16. Designing for conversation
• Put people together in non-meeting settings
• Lunchroom
• Offsites
• Work spaces
• Standups

17. And Leadership
• Lead by example
• Put the phone away during meetings
• Provide time for conversation
• Don’t send mixed messages

18. Geographically dispersed teams
• Dispersed teams aren’t going away
• But they present barriers to conversation
• Overcoming requires creativity
• Introduce personalities into calls
• Get the team together occasionally
• Use multiple communications channels

19. Why talk?
• You solve problems more quickly
• You address issues you never knew you had
• You establish trust
• You get practice

20. Thank you
Peter Varhol