{"id":6922,"date":"2021-06-22T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=6922"},"modified":"2023-06-20T15:36:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T22:36:35","slug":"how-software-developers-get-feedback-at-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/how-software-developers-get-feedback-at-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"How software developers get feedback at Microsoft"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This content has been archived, and while it was correct at time of publication, it may no longer be accurate or reflect the current situation at Microsoft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
As a software architect, Raja Narayan has one guiding principle that\u2019s inspired by the words of Eleanor Roosevelt: Learn from the mistakes of others. It also helps to have a community forum where software developers get feedback at Microsoft.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery development team has their own process for software development, but I wanted to create a forum where people could learn from others,\u201d says Narayan, a principal software engineer at Microsoft. \u201cNow, people can reuse solutions or ideas developed by other teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sahil Garg\u2019s team in Finance Engineering has continued to grow and he agreed with Narayan that it would be helpful to create a place for software developers to share their lessons learned and best practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry is changing all the time, and it\u2019s hard for any engineering team to stay in front of that,\u201d says Garg, principal director of software engineering on the Finance team at Microsoft. \u201cI wanted a place where team members could explain how they came up with their design choices, share best practices, and get feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Architecture Consultancy Forum at Microsoft, an initiative led by Garg, does exactly that\u2014it\u2019s a place where engineering teams can come together to learn from each other and share what they\u2019re working on, whether they\u2019re at the stage of architectural design, development, or production. Plus, it\u2019s well-positioned in Microsoft Digital, the organization that powers, protects, and transforms the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wanted to join the forum,\u201d Garg says. \u201cWhen we realized this was popular, we went to Microsoft Digital leadership and said, \u2018why don\u2019t we upscale it to support all of the developers in our organization?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy for people to get defensive if they feel like 500 people are judging their work. By branding it as a consultancy, employees recognize that they\u2019ll learn from others.<\/p>\n
-Sahil Garg, principal director of software engineering, Microsoft Finance<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Garg says that employees have been receptive to the architecture consultancy forum sessions as a place to learn from other teams, so they don\u2019t reinvent the wheel every time they create a service.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is designing an authentication solution, they can learn from attendees who are experts in topics like security or Azure Active Directory integration,\u201d Narayan says.<\/p>\n
Creating a community forum for software developers rather than a review session was an intentional one. It\u2019s a place for engineering teams to present their architecture or solution, and attendees will ask questions and share what they\u2019ve tried on their own teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy for people to get defensive if they feel like 500 people are judging their work,\u201d Garg says. \u201cBy branding it as a consultancy, employees recognize that they\u2019ll learn from others.\u201d<\/p>\nRaja Narayan is a principal software engineer at Microsoft. (Photo by Raja Narayan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Narayan notes that there are clear benefits of having proactive conversations about getting feedback during the architecture stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we catch an inefficiency in an architecture stage, it\u2019s much easier to fix before implementation,\u201d Narayan says. \u201cOther teams can validate designs based on their learnings and adjust accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n