SciPlay Leadership & Management

Developers will always face some difficulties in the workplace, and sometimes these challenges lead to burnout. What warning signs do you look for in your software developers? What actions do you take when you see signs of burnout?

Leading the talented engineering team for Bingo Showdown at SciPlay has allowed me to build strong relationships with each member. Beyond managing, I genuinely care and observe their well-being. This proactive approach allows early identification of potential issues, like decreased participation or increased errors, before reaching burnout.

Communication is a cornerstone of SciPlay’s strategy. We prioritize open and honest dialogue, actively fostering an environment where individuals feel comfortable expressing themselves. This involves identifying changes in behavior and initiating early conversations. Questions like “Are you feeling overwhelmed?” help address concerns like workload or engagement before they escalate.  

However, if burnout is a concern, we immediately shift focus to understanding the root cause and explore tailored solutions, such as time off or offering new challenges. Fostering open and honest communication remains crucial for identifying potential issues and developing effective solutions. By prioritizing both individual well-being and proactive intervention, we create a thriving team environment where everyone feels supported and valued.

One factor contributing to developer burnout is observability, or checking that apps and systems are working correctly to prevent bottlenecks or bugs. How do you help developers identify issues at their source as soon as they occur so they don’t have to sift through a slog of information downstream?

To empower engineers and minimize developer information overload, we prioritize immediate issue identification through a multi-layered approach, including development-stage testing and live service monitoring. 

Through comprehensive unit, integration, and author testing, we gain valuable insights into the source of failures. This allows for efficient investigation by pinpointing the specific layer within the technology stack requiring attention. Through live service monitoring, when issues arise in the live environment, we have various tools for rapid response:

• Infrastructure alarms: Proactive alerts for anomalies in database load, endpoint response times, and cache utilization.
• Application health monitoring: Tracking key metrics like in-app purchase frequency, user logins, and core loop engagement enables us to identify potential issues pre-escalation.
• Vendor dashboards: Leverage insights from Apple and Google to monitor crash rates and application behavior within their respective platforms.

This data-driven approach equips our engineers to tackle issues head-on, reducing wasted time spent digging through information and fostering a more efficient and less stressful work environment.

What sorts of creative stretch projects or meaningful growth opportunities do you offer developers on your team? 

We champion individual growth and offer unique stretch projects tailored to each developer’s interests and aspirations. While we don’t have standardized programs like “Personal Project Friday,” SciPlay actively fosters a culture of exploration and contribution. For example, a senior engineer expressed interest in our build and deployment infrastructure. We involved them as a stakeholder in changes, providing exposure without direct tasking. Months later, we needed short-term infrastructure support. Their familiarity made them the natural choice, contributing quickly and minimizing workload while fostering growth.

When a developer expresses interest in a specific area or proposes an idea, we engage in a collaborative discussion. We delve into the potential impact, the estimated effort involved and how it aligns with their current workload. If an opportunity emerges that aligns with their goals and enhances their impact or knowledge, we leverage our prior conversations to determine if it’s the best fit for the project. This personalized approach ensures developers receive meaningful growth opportunities that are truly relevant to their individual aspirations.