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Bus factor - one of the most common issues in software development teams. A.k.a. truck factor, lottery factor.
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BUS FACTOR

Published on Nov 19, 2015

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BUS FACTOR

And avoiding it
Bus factor - one of the most common issues in software development teams. A.k.a. truck factor, lottery factor.

What is 'bus factor'?

Ask people: How many of you commute to work every day? How many of you use public transportation, trains, trams or busses?
Or even... why work? How many of you go out of your home at all?

What is 'bus factor'?

Ask: What if on your way you get hit by a bus?
Or less drastic - you win on lottery and just dump your whole old life, including work?

From Wikipedia:
In software development, the bus factor is the number of key developers who would need to be incapacitated to make a project unable to proceed.

How many of us should we take down so...

But let's stick with drastic picture. Let's start dragging people to the middle of the street, straight to bus hit.

...our team has continuity issues?

Do you remember any situations when someone was on vacation, sick-leave, business trip and was the only person to know something?
Do you remember any team member hardware failure that led to repetitive work?

Imagine he's literally dead.
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...our team has serious continuity issues?

Now take down another important member of the team.

And one more...

Is it still working?
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...our team cannot go any furhter?

...and there's noone, literally NOONE with similar skills to lost members. Who will help you recreate their work?
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Isn't it nice to be irreplaceable hero?

If you're irreplaceable you probably get tons of work. You're getting the same tasks only you know the solution for. Noone else knows how to handle them because you told noone.
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Not really, no.

So it's not that nice.

Solution is simple.
But it's you to name it!
All of you...

Photo by mac steve