Translated from 日本語 • View original Hello! This is Koshiba from the Human Resources & Branding Project!
**Let's interview Colorkrew's engineers, Part 8! **
This time, we spoke with Mr. Lee, who is developing the communication-based goal-achieving service "Goalous"! Jan is the development leader of Mamoru, and Mr. Li, who we interviewed this time, is the development leader of Goalous, so the development team at Colorkrew, especially when it comes to their own products, is quite diverse.
Three Roles in a Goalous Team
Koshiba: Mr. Lee, you used to focus on commissioned projects. When did you start joining the Goalous team?
Lee: I think it was around December 2019.
Koshiba: Recently, the number of new members has increased, and the team-like atmosphere has been established. There are various nationalities, but is communication in English in the team?
Lee: That's right. If there is someone who can't convey it to me, I sometimes translate it myself, but basically we communicate in English through meetings and chats.
Koshiba: What is the composition of the members like?
Li: There is one project leader, one designer, and five developers, including myself. One of them is busy with other projects right now, so I feel like I'm actually only 10~20% of it.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="800"]
The current Goalous development team. We have members from various countries such as China, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Japan. [/caption]
Koshiba: What role does Mr. Lee play in that?
Lee: There are three main things. It is the role of a development leader, a developer, and a negotiator.
Koshiba: Can you ask me a little more detail?
Lee: Yes. First of all, as a development leader, it is important to decide on a plan and execute it according to the schedule. We make an overall development plan, check the members' condition, and solve and implement problems when they arise.
Koshiba: I see. The second role as a developer is to fix bugs and develop functions as a development member.
Lee: That's right. For now, I basically do all the bug fixes. Also, in terms of function development, I am developing related to HR Tech.
Koshiba: Third, what is your role as a negotiator?
Lee: It's negotiations with sales and project leaders. When we receive feedback from users, we discuss with them whether we should really do the request.
Koshiba: All of them seem to be important roles, but which one is the most difficult?
Lee: Hmm, I guess it's negotiation. There are various ideas that will increase the number of people, so it is difficult to unify them. If you set your priorities and match them, things will go smoothly. But depending on your way of thinking, prioritization can sometimes be different. At that time, we will discuss and decide, but it will take time.
I wanted to change the impression of a "slow" and "invisible" team
Koshiba: By the way, since Mr. Lee became the leader, the atmosphere of development has changed.
Lee: When I joined the Goalous team, I was very worried about the feedback that it was "slow" and "poor quality". At that time, the team was not disseminating information and could not see progress, and communication with those around them was not good.
Koshiba: It's true that there were times when the Goalous team was dissed for not using Goalous the most. . .
Lee: I wanted to improve that situation, so I decided to share information first. I also shared my monthly schedule on Goalous and posted it every time I had a release. I encouraged myself and my team to do so.
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Use Goalous (internal SNS) to share the development schedule within the company. [/caption]
Koshiba: Oh, it's true that the members share their activities and can see the progress, so I feel more secure than before.
Lee: I would be happy if you felt that way. Another thing I am conscious of is to react quickly.
Koshiba: Oh, I can see the change well! When I find a bug and post it, Mr. Li always replies immediately. "Thank you."
Li: It's great to get feedback. I think it's important to express my gratitude, so I always try to say thank you. After that, I will make a schedule and actually revise it. I usually fix it in the current month ~ the next month.
Koshiba: Is there anything important for you to lead the team?
Lee: I value spontaneity. I want you to do what you want to do.
Koshiba: Well, but it seems that there will be unpopular jobs, but what will happen to that?
Lee: It's true that there are jobs that are said to be mentally difficult or not motivating. For now, I try to take on it myself as much as possible.
Koshiba: Huh?! Why?
Lee: Well, I do this for the purpose of experiencing and understanding it myself. By experiencing it yourself, you will be able to find easy solutions and make prospects. After that happens, I plan to hand it over to the members.
Koshiba: I think that's a great idea, but is that okay with Mr. Lee?
Lee: After all, I don't think development can continue unless everyone has fun together. The development of Goalous was a lot of turnover of people. This is also something I wanted to do when I joined the team.
Koshiba: That's right.
Lee: There are boring jobs anyway, and there are also difficult jobs that you don't want to do. I think the job of a leader is to make it easy and enjoyable. How can we simplify tasks and how can we make them enjoyable? I always think about that.
I want to increase the number of exciting jobs for developers
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="601"]
Li and Ming Xiang doing a code review of Evan, who recently joined the team. [/caption]
Lee: I think I'm a character who is good at contributing to the team as a reviewer and supporter. When creating a system, I review at the right time and support members when they have problems.
Koshiba: A member who recently joined said that he had a review and his understanding was quicker. But how do you notice that a member is having a problem?
Lee: Basically, I try to let them communicate on their own.
Koshiba: Well, it may be a bit of a messy question, but will it work?
Lee: I try to create an atmosphere in the team where it is easy to ask questions and say that I need support so that things go well. First of all, it is basic to trust each person. I'll leave it to you because I trust you. The person who is entrusted with the task will directly say that he needs support because he is trusted. If someone sends out something, the team will always react to it. In this way, we create an environment where people can speak freely.
Koshiba: Oh~ I wanted to work on Mr. Lee's team. On the other hand, what kind of person do you want to work with?
Lee: I think he has solid fundamentals and can communicate. I think that if you have fundamentals, you can grow even if you have little experience.
Koshiba: What is communication?
Lee: For example, I think it's amazing that people can do things perfectly on their own, but that way is not suitable for teams. Even if other members try to fix it, it's hard to do. That's why I have an idea of what is the best way for the team, and I want to work with someone who can communicate well with the team.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="647"]
A photo from an in-house seminar on blockchain. I would like to listen to Mr. Lee's seminar again. [/caption]
Koshiba: What do you want to do with the Goalous team?
Li: To be honest, the current tasks have not been developed with a lot of improvements and challenges. The task from sales, in short, the proportion of function development required to sell, is high. This is of course a very important and meaningful development, but it is not challenging for developers.
Koshiba: Is it challenging for developers?
Li: The exciting job for developers is the development of features that are challenging and can be used by many people.
Koshiba: I want to increase such development.
Lee: Yes. So my immediate goal is to evolve into a fast development team. I want to improve the user experience of the product and develop a service that will please many customers. Of course, we will continue to improve existing services, but at the same time carry out challenging development. I want to be able to strike that balance.
Koshiba: That's good! Today, it was interesting to hear about Mr. Lee's philosophy on team development. Thank you very much!
▼Change ISAO to Colorkrew.