Meeting Tips

Prepare diligently in advance to make your case (esp. for important meetings)

Leadership Tips

  • Keep it simple, concise and tailor context to the stakeholders
  • For Complex Diagrams - Make a high level and then “peel the onion” by separate the components in separate slide/zoom-in
  • Be pragmatic, yet visionary
  • Aim for success, not perfection
  • Lead by example, not by title. Contribute hands-on but communicate the amount of commitment in advance to business stakeholders. Don’t lose the perception of being an architect.
  • Share the credit
  • Be decisive and justify the decision.
  • Stay positive and get along with people

Team Structure

  • Make yourself available
  • Conway’s Law
  • Solution:
    • Inverse Conway’s Manuever - Create Cross Functional Teams
    • Build products, not projects
    • Leverage Consumer Driven Contracts for internal integrations

Negotiation Skills

  • Gather as much information from requirements before entering a negotiation
  • If all else fails, pivot to cost and time factors
  • Demonstrate your findings
  • Techniques
    • Architectural trade-off based on functional and non-functional requirements
    • Developer Buy-in

Architecture Boundaries

  • Define architecture and design principles
  • IMP: Justify your decisions and Communicate!
  • Guide the team. Examples:
    • Libraries/Framework choices
    • Pattern Governance
    • Defining Scope

Remember 3 C’s of Architecture

  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Clarity