Building Services That Scale Part 2 of Beyond the Code: Designing Services That Stand the Test of Time When we hear the word service, it sounds simple, almost obvious. In practice, defining what a service is can be surprisingly nuanced. A service isn’t just code running on a server. It isn’t interchangeable with a web or a mobile application. This means a service is more than just code, it’s a self contained piece of functionality with clear boundaries, responsibilities, and relationships to the rest of the system. The term service is overloaded in the world of software engineering. For example, we’re not talking about the object oriented programming concept where a class is named Service to encapsulate business logic. How we define a service shapes everything that follows. The architecture choices, scalability, resilience, and even team structure. Here we’ll explore what makes a service distinct, why it usually works behind the scenes without a user int...
One of the most powerful things you can do as a leader is to talk to your team every day. It sounds simple, but it’s often overlooked, especially in distributed teams. Daily conversations help build and maintain relationships, foster trust, and remind your team that they matter as people, not just as task-completers. Let’s be clear: this isn’t a psychological experiment. There’s no hidden agenda or behavioral study behind it. It’s simply about genuine care and human connection. But what should you talk about? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Ask how they are, how their family is, or how life outside work is going. The point isn’t the topic, it’s the connection. I usually start with something like: “Hullo! How’s things?” It often takes a few tries before people realise I’m genuinely asking about them, not their current task. A colleague once raised a concern: Doesn’t this feel like micromanaging? It’s a fair question, and the answer lies in how you do it. This isn’t about checking up ...