Voice of the DBA

Category: Editorial

  • Research on the Changing Workplace

    One of the things that I have admired about Microsoft is their desire to invest in research and try to learn more about subjects that relate to their core business. Microsoft Research has a number of fascinating projects underway all the time, and I enjoy browsing the site once in awhile.

    However, they don’t just limit research to this group. They are a data driven culture, and it seems they are constantly using metrics and instrumentation to measure how the entire business works and to glean insights into how they might work better. Recently I saw a report on Microsoft’s new work-from-home workforce, driven by a group that helps companies better work with their own employees.

    Work has changed for many people in the world in 2020, and very dramatically for some. At the same time, many companies have had to drastically alter they continue to do business, recognizing that many technical employees could work from home and be as effective as they are in an office. Microsoft has analyzed their own data, and continue to do so as they seek to understand how the pandemic has changed things for employees. They do find some longer work days, more networking, and more social events.

    Interestingly, meetings are slightly shorter, which is something I’ve noticed as well. It’s almost as if the effort to walk to a conference room means people have invested more in spending an hour there. With remote meetings, I find more people are willing to cut short a meeting and end it early when they can. The downside is that there are more meetings, at least for this group.

    The importance of management is something they noticed, as well as a larger burden on managers that they must deal with as they have more meetings with employees. I’ve actually gone to every other week meetings with my manager for a time, though I’m not sure I like that. I’ll give it another month and then see what I think. I appreciate the extra work for managers, but I also know that managers should be enabling employees, which should be a big part of their job. If that means a bit of hand holding, I think that’s important.

    The two most interesting things in the piece to me were that some of the authors’ clients are planning on a two year work from home, and that work-life boundaries are blurring, especially on weekends. For the latter, I think we sometimes find work to be an anchor, and we may need to spread our 40-ish hours across 7 days to deal with the challenges of family during the week. All the challenges of children, maybe other adults and meetings, etc. can impact when we work. The one thing we certainly need to avoid is having 40-ish hours become 50-ish.

    For the former, if you plan to be at home for two years, why not just make that forever? I’d think the adaptations employees, departments, and workflows make after that amount of time might not be worth undoing.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • A Broken Streak

    SQL Saturday #1 was in Orlando, as the first actual event that has gotten us to nearly 1000 in just over a decade. I didn’t go to the first one, but I did go to SQL Saturday #8 and many more since that time. I’ve been luck to get back to Orlando a few times, and I look forward to more in the future.

    Andy Warren announced that this year’s SQL Saturday in Orlando is cancelled. This breaks the longest streak so far, and I’m sad to see that. I wasn’t likely to go to Orlando this year, though this city is always on my list. I was hoping the event would take place in some form, but I understand the desire to step back and examine how to move forward.

    A virtual SQL Saturday isn’t quite the same for me. I’ve presented at one, and submitted to a couple more to support them, but I don’t love this format, and I think it becomes hard to make it a special event for your city. I know a few more are planned for 2020, and I hope someone runs a SQL Saturday with only local speakers for that area. That might make it feel like a local event.

    Since the pandemic hit, and since SQL Saturday #950 in Victoria, I’m not sure anyone has held a live event. I’m not sure when the next live SQL Saturday will be, but I’m hoping that it happens in 2021 sometime. I don’t think anyone can plan for this year, but I am hopeful we will find a way to get back to some live interaction next year.

    We have until 14 Mar, 2021 to avoid losing a whole year of SQL Saturdays and breaking a streak of having them every year since 2007. I’m confident that if it’s safe, someone will organize and run a SQL Saturday as soon as they can. I’m also sure it will be well attended as I’m guessing many of you are looking forward to a live event as much as I am. I just hope I get the chance to speak, because I will certainly be ready for a live audience.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • The Old Way or the New Way

    Many of us are employed because of our talent and experience. We get things done and our organization values what we do. We got this position because we did something well, as a DBA, developer, manager, or some other role.

    It’s natural that we feel confidence in our abilities and knowledge. However, that shouldn’t prevent us from learning new skills, techniques, and patterns for getting work done. As much as many of us want to feel we regularly learn in technology, I often find that customers, clients, and friend struggle to change their habits.

    Why is this? There is a good post on the topic that looks at why people want to use the old way. It’s from the perspective of the developer that shows something to a client, but I think this applies to many parts of our world. Making change has an effort, and the effort needs to have a high enough return to be worth making a change.

    In terms of development, do we change our efforts when something is slightly better? Perhaps, especially if there security or resource changes could be high for our final deployment. What about if the changes are most nebulous, like slightly less technical debt? Or if there is a chance for more future flexibility in the design? The benefits we get back are sometimes hard to measure.

    The changes also need to be considered for a team. A change for my coding habits might be low with little disruption to my workflow, but the change for a team of 10 is a multiple of the effort. We all have to make a change, and that can disrupt an entire sprint, or a series of sprints if our focus and rework increase as everyone tries to adapt.

    My general rule of thumb is that some change has to be at least 20% better in some way. It has to make a fundamental difference to be worth the effort. This is one reason I never moved from Google to Bing. Bing works fine, but it’s not 20% better. I’m not sure it’s 1% better. It’s different, and that has a high cost to me to change.

    Moving to new ways of working can be good, but the movement needs to be careful and slow, especially in a team environment. However, we also need to learn to move more when there are enough benefits. We sometimes forget that last part.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.

  • Follow Wheaton’s Law

    I’ve tried to live my life as someone that treats others well, respects them, and cheers for them to succeed. Even before I heard it, I think I was unconsciously following Wheaton’s Law (apologies for the slightly off color language).

    I think about this often in my life, as a minority in most places I go for work or in society. I’ve had a lot of success, I’m intelligent, am comfortable talking with people, and many things go my way. At the same time, I’m not any better than anyone else. I try to say hi to the facilities staff at Redgate in the same way I do with my fellow advocates. I may sit and chat with our cooks or cleaning staff just as I might take a moment to chat with a developer.

    With the dramatic changes brought about in our world by the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been thinking about the way that many people are interacting with those who work in much of the public world. Especially service workers, who these days may be deemed essential and are often the contact we have with lots of businesses, as cashiers, delivery people, and more.

    This article upset me. Many people that have the least power, the depend on their jobs the most, with few other options, are often treated poorly by the people they encounter. I’ve seen poor behavior in the past in many situations, but the current pandemic and the push back against wearing masks has made things worse.

    The entry level workers, those making low wages and doing many of the service jobs in our world, don’t deserve to be poorly treated because you don’t like the policy of some business. This certainly includes people doing manual work in our offices, acting as assistants, or some other non technical job. Treat other people well, as you’d want to be treated if someone didn’t like the way you were instructed to do your job.

    Steve Jones
    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher or iTunes.