Learnings from Technical Department

One of the things which drew me to TUI Nordic was the work with Lean, which is an integrated part of many departments of the organization. One of the departments is the technical department, which also received a third place in the latest Swedish Lean Awards.

We therefore found the time to hear some of the insights from the technical department: how can we who works with software development (most specifically web development) learn from another department in the same organization?

It was really interesting to see the similarities in challenges in the processes but also see potential improvements we would never have considered had we discussed with other software developers. Not only is this a completely other industry, but also the age of the business and the tradition is completely different.

One of the many highlights was the second opinion. In many cases, another person should make an inspection of the work done. The basic rule is that this is needed if the change is critical but this also has a scale. If you do something to one engine, then the need for inspection is smaller than if the change is done to both engines. This is thought worthy when it comes to code reviews. But then we have the case when an inspection is wanted but not necessary and the technician is alone. The rule then is for the technician to take an appropriate break. What that is must be evaluated from case to case and the technician must for himself make an educated estimation of what that it. In some cases it can be a coffee break but in some cases many hours may be necessary. Thought worthy.

Do you have another department which works comparable processes? Do find the time to hook up and share knowledge. And who knows? You may also learn to know some really nice colleagues as well?