4 ms·

The usual way to handle the "different system" issue is to have on-calls in each team, so you could loop them in for their stuff or even transfer the ticket and

by sershe 6y ago

The usual way to handle the "different system" issue is to have on-calls in each team, so you could loop them in for their stuff or even transfer the ticket and go back to sleep; and on-call-focused documentation within teams so you can have some notion of every component that they are not intimately familiar with. I hate on-call; it doesn't stress me out but I'm generally very protective of my personal time, especially weekends. However, I actually found my greatest on-call highs were from figuring out issues in other people's stuff that was 100% unfamiliar to me, sometime at 4am. In the most memorable case of Rogue Night-Time CPU Spike I didn't even have source code access :)

steveBK123 6y ago
I have found in my career that being too good at on-call/L3 escalations only makes them come to you more. Teams that have slopey shoulders and phones that seem to always go to voicemail.. don’t get reprimanded, and your team gets to keep playing hero.
- devchix 6y ago
  This is an observable truth. Be good, but don't show that you're too good. You'll get called all the time, even for stuff you're not good at. You'll be the janitor for all kinds of idiotic mess, and the perverse incentive will make them call and rely on you more, and you get less of your work and what's important to you done. Here's a joke that'll provoke cynical laughter: What do you get for winning a pie eating contest? More pies. The world breaks everyone.
  - sershe 6y ago
    I suppose that could be true in small organizations... not a problem in a more regimented on-call setup. My phone is on alarms-only at night when I'm not on-call, so they cannot physically call me :) I suppose people could still ask during the day, but generally in a good on-call culture it's frowned upon (unless you own the component or it's an all-hands-on-deck emergency where extra hands are actually helpful).

by sershe 6y ago

steveBK123 6y ago

I have found in my career that being too good at on-call/L3 escalations only makes them come to you more. Teams that have slopey shoulders and phones that seem to always go to voicemail.. don’t get reprimanded, and your team gets to keep playing hero.

devchix 6y ago
This is an observable truth. Be good, but don't show that you're too good. You'll get called all the time, even for stuff you're not good at. You'll be the janitor for all kinds of idiotic mess, and the perverse incentive will make them call and rely on you more, and you get less of your work and what's important to you done. Here's a joke that'll provoke cynical laughter: What do you get for winning a pie eating contest? More pies. The world breaks everyone.
- sershe 6y ago
  I suppose that could be true in small organizations... not a problem in a more regimented on-call setup. My phone is on alarms-only at night when I'm not on-call, so they cannot physically call me :) I suppose people could still ask during the day, but generally in a good on-call culture it's frowned upon (unless you own the component or it's an all-hands-on-deck emergency where extra hands are actually helpful).