I first encountered ShapeUp during one of my initial interviews for a position at Flare. My soon-to-be manager mentioned, “We’re using a methodology that works well for us, but you might not have heard of it before.” With over 10 years of software development experience under my belt, I was skeptical. “If there was a better way to do things, surely I’d have heard of it,” I thought. Little did I know, ShapeUp would fundamentally change my approach to project management and team dynamics.
Before extolling the virtues of ShapeUp, let me provide some context. Throughout my career, I’ve been part of many dysfunctional teams, as well as some exceptional ones that delivered far beyond the norm. I spent a great deal of time thinking about this and trying to replicate those particular conditions in every team I was part of. I was a solid SCRUM advocate. I tend to think that being “agile” works better with a lowercase “a”, and the guiding principle is to craft a process that best suits your situation. However, despite my dedication to SCRUM, I frequently encountered roadblocks in getting teams to perform well.
Enter ShapeUp
ShapeUp, created by BaseCamp, is a methodology that we use to run projects at Flare. The ShapeUp book is a mandatory read for all new employees, and while it’s concise, I’ll outline the key principles we follow:
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Work is scheduled in 8-week cycles
- Each cycle consists of a 6-week project period followed by a 2-week cooldown.
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No backlog
- Instead, we have a “shaping” process where top-of-mind tasks are defined into projects.
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Blurry project definitions
- The problem statement and goals are clear, but the team is trusted to build the solution within the time constraints. Developers are assigned a problem to solve rather than a ticket to complete.
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Cooldown periods
- Developers have the freedom to work on whatever they want during the cooldown.
ShapeUp’s simplicity and elegance lie in the details. Here are the main advantages we’ve experienced:
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Meaningful increments
- We always focus on the most important tasks, and 6 weeks is sufficient to build something substantial.
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Big-picture focus
- Developers are trusted with significant liberty in solving problems, fostering creativity and innovation.
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No “just one more sprint…” death march
- With ShapeUp, projects conclude after 6 weeks, preventing endless extensions and allowing for fresh starts in the next cycle.
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Protected developer time
- Developers’ time is safeguarded to focus, free from external interruptions during projects and unnecessary justifications during cooldown.
Cooldowns Are Awesome
Cooldowns are a beloved aspect of ShapeUp at Flare. Business stakeholders often remark, “There’s so much great stuff getting done, we should do cooldowns all the time.”
Cooldowns provide the perfect opportunity to:
- Conduct retrospectives and plan the next cycle.
- De-risk upcoming projects.
- Fix bugs, perform meaningful refactorings, and work on passion projects.
- Experiment with new technologies.
Developers get really excited about cooldowns, and the business as well. It turns out that if you hire developers that care about their craft and let them run loose for 2 weeks once in a while, they contribute meaningfully.
Additional Advantages
Interns at Flare, typically with us for a 4-month semester, greatly benefit from the ShapeUp cycles. Aligning our cycles with university semesters and holidays allows interns to:
- Onboard at the start of a cycle.
- Contribute meaningfully to a project.
- Apply their knowledge in a subsequent project, experiencing two full cycles during their internship.
Conclusion
Usually seeing is believing, but something feels right even when just being introduced to the concept of ShapeUp. People immediately perk up when we mention how we work during interviews. Candidates we’ve hired that are experiencing ShapeUp for the first time are now becoming ambassadors. After a year with ShapeUp, I know I’m sold.
ShapeUp is more than just a project management approach. It changes the way we approach problem-solving and team dynamics, fostering trust, creativity, and enabling significant progress. If you’re struggling with your current methodology or just curious about alternatives, I highly recommend giving ShapeUp a try. It might just revolutionize your team’s productivity and satisfaction as it has for us at Flare.
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