2018 Top Tech Team Trends

Tech teams are getting smarter. Efficiency in software engineering is becoming a critical piece of a company’s competitive advantage. Stay ahead of the curve by knowing the top software engineering trends of 2018:

Integrated DevOps

DevOps isn’t an afterthought anymore. It’s not something teams are sticking off to the side any longer; DevOps is front and center. On many teams, DevOps engineers are fully integrated into the rest of the team. Likewise, more and more software engineers are increasing their DevOps chops as it’s becoming a critical core competencies of teams. Forrester even called 2018 the year of enterprise DevOps.

Smart Agile Means Customized Agile: Vanilla Agile is Dead

As tech teams continue to get smarter, the idea of blindly adopting Agile is going away. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all, vanilla Agile. Gone are the days of ceremony for ceremony’s sake.

In its place, smart, customized, non-dogmatic Agile is the way to go. Teams are versed in Agile engineering and process best practices, and they are adopting and iterating on the bits and pieces of Agile that work for them. Test Driven Development continues to be a mainstay practice, and teams are getting better at balancing speed to market and quality code.

Co-location Continues to Increase

The uptick in co-located teams began about two years ago. In 2018, co-location continues to rise. Teams are often cross functional and in the same room. IBM, Reddit, Aetna, Bank of America, and Best Buy are among the giants calling for colocated teams.

OKRs and Agile Co-exist

OKRs (objectives and key results) are the leading annual planning process being adopted by many tech teams. Whether teams use OKRs, KPIs, or any other form of annual planning, teams are learning how to balance strategic vision with iterative, sprint-based tech team rhythms. OKRs and Agile can co-exist. The secret is measuring process frequently and updating the roadmap as you learn what “good” looks like.

Hiring Demand is Outpacing Supply

In the US, Tech demand is expected to outpace supply for years to come. CTOs and tech leaders across the board are kept up at night by the fear of not being able to hire fast enough. Stay ahead of the curve by learning how to hire Agile team members efficiently.

Diversity and Inclusion are Top of Mind

Hiring and retaining a diverse team is forefront on tech leaders’ minds. Mandatory diversity training doesn’t work. Instead, teams are using volunteer task forces to enable employees to opt in to ways to help their team become more diverse.

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Originally posted on the Stride Blog. Author: Debbie Madden

2018 Top Tech Team Trends was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.