The Power of Fast Feedback in Engineering
Let's explore how immediate, iterative feedback can accelerate learning, improve code quality, and boost career advancement for software engineers.
👋 Hi, this is Ankur with a subscriber-only issue of the ByteSizedBets Newsletter.
Each month, I write about software engineering, startups, developer tools, writing, career growth and small bets.
In today’s post, I’ll talk about my experience with “The Power of Fast Feedback in Engineering” and how it can help software engineers in tech.
Today, we cover:
Understanding the Fast Feedback Loop
Every Pull Request (PR) tells a story
Is Fast Feedback Always The Best Choice?
Benefits of Fast Feedback
My Journey from Java to JavaScript and How to Provide Feedback That Builds Up, Not Breaks Down
Last year, Again I saw how important fast feedback is, especially in swimming.
My son started learning to swim from zero when we moved to Sweden. He's been taking lessons three times a week. It's like when you swim in a pool and accidentally bump into the lane line – you instantly know you need to adjust. Swimmers who get feedback often stay on track better. It's just like that with software engineering folks too.
A Hotel Swimming Pool in Alicante (Spain). Photo credit: Me 😎
The fast feedback loops give teams multiple opportunities to inspect and adapt, ensuring that not only the product but their career are headed in the right direction.
Imagine two software engineers— Ankur, who works in a traditional, slow-feedback environment, and David, who thrives in a fast-feedback culture.
Ankur often finds herself waiting days or even weeks for feedback on his code and ideas leading to delays and mounting frustrations.
In contrast, David receives immediate input from his manager, and colleagues, automated tests, peer code reviews, and continuous integration systems, allowing for rapid iteration and improvement.
This is the story of how the power of fast feedback transformed David's career, and how it can reshape yours.
When it comes to either code or career, fast feedback is everything.
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Understanding the Fast Feedback Loop
Before diving into the benefits, let me clarify what we mean by "fast feedback" in software engineering.
Fast feedback refers to the timely information software engineers receive about their work, whether it's about code quality, system performance, user experience, UI/UX, user requirements, mockups, APIs, or other relevant metrics. This feedback can come from various sources, including automated testing tools, code reviews, user analytics, senior developers, mentors, business analysts, product managers or owners or engineering managers and more.
The key is that it's rapid and actionable, enabling engineers to make immediate improvements.
Getting quick feedback that clearly shows what's right and what's wrong helps engineers change direction fast. They can fix problems, get rid of errors, and lower risks early in creating software. Plus, getting feedback right away feels good mentally.
Learning about development and flow techniques from experienced peers can be helpful. However, if the team has a lack of senior peers or insufficient commitment, we may have to find alternative routes.
There’s less room for impatience and more room for action when feedback rolls in as software engineers are working hard to write successful code.
We all know the feeling when our hard work pays off & build gets GREEN.
You know what I am talking about here.
Personal Growth and Career Advancement
Fast feedback doesn't just accelerate your project timelines but it also fuels your personal growth and career advancement as an engineer.
With immediate feedback on their work, engineers can quickly learn from their mistakes, hone their skills, and become more proficient in their craft.
This rapid learning curve leads to higher quality work, increased responsibility, and, ultimately, career progression. Whether it's mastering a new programming language or leading a critical project, fast feedback helps engineers achieve more in their careers.
Here are some ways in which it helps me in my career growth in Tech:
Quick feedback on my code helps me identify my weaknesses and strengths which results in my core skill development.
Fast feedback helps me accelerate my learning curve while building features.
Constructive and fast feedback builds my confidence in my abilities.
Fast feedback helps me quickly adapt to changes in technology within projects, project requirements, or any team dynamics in the past.
Knowing the usual mistakes and how to avoid them while working is efficient for software engineers.
Fast feedback helps them make their code better as they go. It guides them to avoid future mistakes and shows them which issues they should pay the most attention to.
Excellent feedback is a key part of managing performance in the best way.
Feedback is the breakfast of champion engineers & remember throughout your tech career, there is no failure. Only feedback.
No matter how skilled you are as a software engineer, others will always have suggestions for improvement. What I've learned in my career is the importance of being humble, constantly seeking feedback and striving to improve – because my job is to try to help everybody else get better.
I love to mentor people and I remember one of my past mentors (A senior engineering lead) when I was working in Pune (India) once told me:
Ankur:
Employees who report receiving recognition, feedback and praise every month show increased productivity, get higher scores from customers, and have better safety records.
They’re just more engaged at work and deliver their best work.
Winning is all about just getting addicted to the right feedback loops.