War Room Wednesdays

As a software engineer at Plastiq, it is likely that you’ll attend (or even lead) a number of War Room Wednesdays: focused, hands-on-keyboard time with the full power of the entire engineering team in one room.

Our War Room Wednesdays fall into 3 categories:

Mini Projects

In a WRW mini project, Plastiq engineers will challenge themselves to start and complete an entire project, such as the MVP of a new feature or refactoring part of the codebase with significant technical debt.  Working together ensures we see the problem from every angle and enables us to find the best solution in the least amount of time.

Team Exploration

WRW’s for team exploration are not expected to produce live code. Instead, they are designed for engineers to experiment with and analyze some technology with the hopes of proposing a formal project in the future. Exploratory WRW’s cover topics like integrations with other software vendors and potential product or system re-designs.

Knowledge Sharing

Plastiq provides dedicated WRW time for engineers to share their knowledge on the latest and greatest technologies – from deep dives into docker setups to overviews of Machine Learning and how it is being incorporated into the Plastiq ecosystem. Having the help of a subject-matter expert and well-prepped examples goes a long way towards solidifying new concepts in a short amount of time.

At Plastiq, engineers are staffed across multiple projects and often work closely with a only a subset of other engineers. Different projects means different deadlines, separate schedules and competing priorities, so we’ve found it helpful to carve out dedicated time for broader collaboration. Getting everyone together in one room can be a challenge in itself, but it’s also most efficient way for us to teach each other – not just for the SME, but also for those in the group¬†troubleshooting errors and understanding new information. Working together with every facet of engineering breaks down barriers for future collaboration, provides developers insight into other areas of the stack, and gives us the greatest chance for success.