Skip to content

Update and trim down the Foundation handbook page to reference platforms

Steve Abrams requested to merge foundations-handbook-updates into main

🔎 Why is this change being made?

Many of the processes that Foundations has detailed around Epic and OKR updates are also now described in the Platforms page, so we can remove the duplication and crosslink to the common page.

This MR also seeks to trim down some of the longer content sections to make them a bit more navigable and provide the team with a bit more autonomy in some areas.

Here's a list of the changes:

  • Tweak the mission to specify focus on Saas production rather than just GitLab.com
  • Move the technical roadmap to a separate page that is linked in the Vision section to help reduce clutter in the page and keep it focused on how teams can interact with us and see how we work.
  • Remove Overlap and Stakeholders sections as they are repeating information that is included in previous sections.
  • Move around content in a few of the sections such as Communications with stakeholders and team sync meetings moving some items to Getting assistance and Triaging requests.
  • Remove the Performance Indicators section content and update with a link to the KPI development issue. After chatting with the team, it is apparent that while the existing KPIs are fine ideas, we hadn't really made progress on tracking them in a meaningful way. I'll be taking the lead on developing a few KPIs that we can measure and use to drive future OKRs. I've kept the satisfaction surveys in a slightly separate category since they are more internal facing (within the team).
  • Remove much of the Epic/OKR content and crosslink to the Platforms project management page since most of it is duplicated there.
  • Cut down the Prioritization of work section. This section was describing a lot of how we might look at specific situations, but I thought given the denseness of that section, it would give the team more autonomy to use bias for action and manager of one mindsets to make decisions around priority. The overall point I try to make in the new section is OKRs take priority over most work unless there are P1 and sometimes P2 requests coming in. I trust that folks use good judgement when labeling things as P1/2/3/4 and then using that as a guide on what to work on.
  • Add a section on issue weighting since the section from the general reliability page was removed.
  • Removed the values section since most of these are already listed in the general GitLab values page: excellence, connection, trust and safety (I believe this is captured in a few areas of the results and DIB sections), ownership, courage (I believe this is captured in a few areas in the efficiency value section).

Related to gitlab-com/gl-infra/mstaff#300 (closed)

🛃 Author and Reviewer Checklist

Please verify the check list and ensure to tick them off before the MR is merged.

  • Provided a concise title for this Merge Request (MR)
  • Added a description to this MR explaining the reasons for the proposed change, per say why, not just what
    • Copy/paste the Slack conversation to document it for later, or upload screenshots. Verify that no confidential data is added, and the content is SAFE
  • Assign reviewers for this MR to the correct Directly Responsible Individual/s (DRI)
    • If the DRI for the page/s being updated isn’t immediately clear, then assign it to one of the people listed in the Maintained by section on the page being edited
    • If your manager does not have merge rights, please ask someone to merge it AFTER it has been approved by your manager in #mr-buddies
    • The when to get approval handbook section explains the workflow in more detail
  • For transparency, share this MR with the audience that will be impacted.
    • Team: For changes that affect your direct team, share in your group Slack channel
    • Department: If the update affects your department, share the MR in your department Slack channel
    • Company: If the update affects all (or the majority of) GitLab team members, post an update in #whats-happening-at-gitlab linking to this MR

Edited by Steve Abrams

Merge request reports