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Media Case Studies

Readdle Case Study

Enhancing Team Efficiency and Product Reliability at Readdle's Fluix

Background

Fluix is a B2B SaaS workflow automation and document management solution developed by Readdle. Serving industries like energy, construction, airlines, HVAC, pharma, and more, Fluix relies on smooth and fast synchronization between servers and mobile devices, even in remote locations with limited connectivity.

Challenges

  • Broken Communication and Lack of Trust
    • Disconnect Between Teams: The engineering and business teams suffered from mistrust. Product owners doubted engineering estimates due to past projects extending far beyond projected timelines (e.g., a project taking over six months instead of one month).
    • Stressful Environment: The engineering team was under immense pressure, leading to a stressful work atmosphere.
    • Lack of Leadership: There was no responsible person guiding the engineering team or setting a clear direction.
  • Inefficient Development Process
    • Infrequent Releases: The team released one big feature every 3-6 months, often accompanied by numerous bug fixes and hotfixes post-release.
    • Negative Impact on Metrics: The cumbersome release process affected the churn rate and NPS score negatively.

Solutions Implemented

  • Establishing Trust and Improving Communication
    • Modified Development Process: Introduced two-week development cycles to allow for more accurate estimates.
    • Task Management: Enforced that individual tasks be sized to fit within one workday.
    • MVP Approach: Simplified features to be deliverable within a two-week cycle, promoting incremental progress.
    • Grooming Process: Implemented a system where engineers worked in pairs to dive deep into tasks, creating clear action plans and acceptance criteria, improving accuracy and reducing implementation risks.
  • Team Restructuring
    • Cross-Functional Squads: Split the 12-member engineering team into two squads, each with a full range of expertise.
    • Empowering Team Members: Enabled any team member to pick up any task due to clear action plans and acceptance criteria, improving the bus factor and reducing reliance on specific individuals.
  • Coaching and Leadership Development
    • Adoption of New Development Processes: Guided the entire engineering team in adopting the new development methodologies, ensuring alignment and proficiency across the team.
    • Leadership Growth: Mentored engineers, leading to several stepping into tech lead roles who could continue driving the team's success after the engagement.
    • Integration of OKR Methodology: Assisted the company in integrating the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework to establish clear company-wide and product-specific visions and goals.
    • Alignment of Efforts: Enabled all teams within the company to align their efforts towards shared objectives, fostering unity and a common purpose.

Results

  • Increased Efficiency: Achieved nearly 90% accuracy in delivering tasks every two weeks, allowing product owners to confidently communicate deadlines to customers.
  • Enhanced Productivity: Doubled feature output, with the team releasing an average feature every two-week cycle.
  • Improved Team Morale: Reduced stress and increased engagement by fostering a collaborative environment and clear communication.
  • Positive Customer Impact: Frequent, smaller releases led to early client feedback, more room for experimentation, and reduced chances of outages.
  • Sustainable Growth: Established processes and leadership that continued to yield benefits beyond the engagement period.

Conclusion

By addressing core communication issues and overhauling the development process, significant improvements were made in team efficiency and product reliability at Readdle's Fluix. The strategic changes not only enhanced the team's performance during the engagement but also laid a foundation for continued success long after.