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Overview
Overview
Debt is a tool we can use in our work, but we need to use it wisely and have plans in place to come back and tackle it. Our managers, peers and stakeholders should be made aware when we have to create debt so they’re aware that we need to rectify it (and why it's important to do so) and that this may take longer than if they give us the time and resources to do it in the best way to start with. Similarly to scope creep, there will be choices to be made along the way.
Introduction
Introduction
It’s well known that debt can cause stress and misery, and this is no different at work. If you have a seemingly never-ending to do list where the requirements keep changing causing you to cut corners and deliver less than your best, then you’ll already know the risks of creating debt.
What is debt at work?
What is debt at work?
“Technical Debt” is a term used in software engineering “that reflects the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer” (Wikipedia). Essentially, taking a shortcut may initially save some time but eventually it will need to be addressed and could take more time overall.
This isn’t solely a software problem - deadlines, pressure, multi-tasking and other things we all have to do at work at times mean that debt is something we will all have experienced at some time!
Non-tech examples could be:
- writing a draft page of copy quickly to get approval from your manager before having to come back and write it up properly later
- painting over a crack in the wall rather than properly filling it in
- propping up a broken bed with books rather than fixing it
- using a different ingredient in a cake because you don’t have time to go to the shops
- fad dieting to lose weight
All these things mean that you’ll get done what you needed to, but they’re not long-term fixes and the cracks, both literal and figurative, will start to reappear after a while if you don’t go back and do them properly. The problems really come when you try to do just that - either through necessity or the desire to make them right.
So what do we do about it?
So what do we do about it?
Actually finding the time to fix debt is the first challenge. We all fall into the trap when we’re busy thinking if we rush something now, we can come back and make it right later. However what usually happens is that you carry on being busy and never actually have the time to come back and do the work properly.
If you do find the time to fix it (or are forced to) usually as a result of shortcuts the first time around, doing the work properly will actually take longer than it would have done in the first place. This is because you have to un-do the initial work or even start again completely meaning that initial time was wasted. That crack in the wall has grown even more and you now have to scrape all the paint off first before you can properly sort it out - so what would have taken you an hour or so will now take you half a day.
Having said all this, debt is a vital tool. Taking a shortcut to get your work live out to customers faster and therefore creating value isn’t necessarily a bad thing, providing you have a plan to pay it off; much like financial debt! If you don’t make plans to pay it back, that’s when it starts coming back to bite you with the interest incurred.
If you work on a large team, you need to have an agreement on how you plan to pay back any accumulated debt. There are many strategies to pay it back, from adding in time in your work cycle to having a dedicated week or two focused as a team on fixing your debt.
It's important to make sure everyone has a high-level understanding of what the debt it, why it's important to circle back to it and how soon - on occasion debt will hamper future work, or if unaddressed become even harder to pay off if more work is piled onto that debt.
Stakeholders often respond more to debt in terms of business days lost or the monetary cost of the debt so flagging any debt in regards to how much time or money it’s costing the team is often helpful to get their buy-in but also to help you prioritise what to fix. Make sure the debt incurred is made known to stakeholders so they know what the cost will be further down the line and can make a decision about whether or not the shortcut is worth it in the short term.
Summary
Summary
Debt is a tool we can all use to help get value out to customers faster, but we have to have a plan in place to pay back that debt before it becomes overwhelming.
Further Resources
Further Resources
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