We have a release cycle about three to four weeks for a new release then a bug fix sprint to make the product stable, then new features sprint to kick off another round of release cycle.
What should I, as their developer managerdeveloper manager, do during the bug fix sprint when my team members are busy in fixing bugs ?
I have tried several things but I am not sure which one(s) is the best.
- Joining bug fix with my team, but mainly pick the toughest ones.
- Mostly doing code reviews and only do bug fix when necessary, e.g. bugs with the same (or similar) root cause keeps surfacing so I decide maybe I should step in.
- Not fixing bug directly but focus on analyzing and summarizing bugs and their causes
- Investigate new technology/methodology, see if we can introduce them in the next release cycle.
- Combining
Note: although I use the term "sprint" I hope that won't sidetrack my question to another discussion about scrum/agile (we have many questions about them already). The way we do scrum/agile is small release and continuous improvementsmall release and continuous improvement (new feature and bug fix both as improvement)
About my duties as their dev manager, in a nutshell, they report to me and I am responsible for our deliveries as if anything (seriously) wrong with our product I am the first to be called.
I am not in anyway suggesting I am not clear about my job responsibilities as one comment suggested. As a small company we can't afford to have two totally separated roles , people manager and tech architect. From what I know it is not that uncommon.