How to spot a single point of failure on a team
A single point of failure is a part of the work that only one person can do. Everything is fine until they go on holiday or leave. Then work in that part stops.
What you can notice yourself
- One person makes almost all the changes in one part of the code.
- The same person also reviews almost every change there.
- People say "ask them" whenever that part comes up.
- Work there waits whenever that person is away.
What to do
- Ask: "Who could pair with you on this?"
- Have someone else make the next change there, with the expert reviewing it.
- Ask the expert to write down the parts only they know.
What to avoid
- Do not treat it as the expert's fault. People usually end up as the only one by being reliable.
Guides on this
- Bus factor: how to find it and raise it
Your bus factor is how many people could leave before work stops. How to find the one person your team relies on, and how to spread what they know.
- Team health check: how to run one
How to run a team health check in half an hour: what to ask, how to get honest answers, what to do with the result, and what to watch between checks.
Related signals
- When two teammates stop working together
Two people who worked closely have barely worked together for two weeks.
- When two teams stop working together
Two teams that worked together a lot have mostly stopped.
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