AFAS Achieves Lean Team Productivity Through Standardization and Customer Focus

Key Quotes

"so what we've done over the past years always is create standardized ways of creating our software and focusing on that so not allowing everyone to choose their own database not every technology should be incorporated in our product let's focus on what we have and how we build and focus on the value that we can deliver to customers"

Michiel Overeem explains that AFAS prioritizes standardization in software creation. This approach limits the choices of databases and technologies, focusing instead on established methods and delivering customer value. This standardization allows a smaller engineering team to be more efficient and productive.

"we have a microservices architecture or a single page app framework we did that over the past but always in such a way that we saw the vision of okay this can be the next standardized thing that we do so let's invest and go that way and see where it brings us but then focus on it so not every week and different framework or every year a new architecture let's go for this one and see how far it can bring us and apply it in as much places where we can"

Michiel Overeem describes AFAS's approach to adopting new technologies like microservices or single-page app frameworks. He highlights that these are introduced as potential future standards, with a commitment to focus on them once adopted. This strategy prevents constant shifts in architecture and frameworks, allowing for deeper application and value extraction.

"we have product teams that are more product engineering and then we have the more technical teams that have work on backend frameworks and front end frameworks"

Michiel Overeem details the separation of engineers into distinct team types at AFAS. Product engineers focus on building features for customers, while technical teams concentrate on developing and maintaining the underlying frameworks and infrastructure. This division allows for specialized focus within the engineering department.

"they are really tied to the customer because also the operation is relatively small so they are really directly influenced by the customer and their requirements so that gives them well really a sense and urgency of responsibility although they aren't responsible for everything they feel like they are responsible and they should drive the solution to its end"

Michiel Overeem discusses how AFAS engineers, despite not having full end-to-end responsibility, develop a strong sense of urgency and responsibility. This is attributed to their close connection with customers and direct influence from customer requirements due to the relatively small operational scale. This feeling of responsibility drives them to proactively seek solutions.

"I think on the technical side we're of course you're looking for the things that we are using oh yes some many has experience with net or c or something like that but I think the more important one is do you have a passion for the craftsmanship do you like what what you're doing do you want to build stuff do you want to keep on learning I think learning is a really important thing because well our job is so much in flux and there is always new stuff so you want people that are open to learning and are eager to learn"

Michiel Overeem outlines AFAS's hiring criteria for technical engineers. While experience with specific technologies like .NET or C# is considered, Overeem emphasizes that passion for craftsmanship, a desire to build, and a commitment to continuous learning are more crucial. He believes eagerness to learn is paramount given the ever-changing nature of the tech industry.

"we have two releases in a year so that's kind of conservative you could say we have a general planning for those versions that start with product management with market research customer requirements stuff like that then there follows a list of projects features that we want to build those are dropped into the right teams a team can generally be quite large like 15 people but in general those are also then where we split it in sub teams where a project can be done by one developer and one designer analyst maybe two developers if one is more junior than the other one"

Michiel Overeem explains AFAS's release cycle and team structure. The company operates with two major releases per year, a process that begins with product management and market research. Projects are then assigned to teams, which can be up to 15 people but are often further divided into smaller sub-teams for specific project execution.

"we have a four day work week and with that they've said three days off the four you're on the office there's no working from home there's one day that you can work from home and that's it so there's really a strong leadership in we think that this works so we're going for it and there is no room to discuss that this is what we're going to do"

Michiel Overeem describes AFAS's four-day work week policy, emphasizing strong leadership's role in its implementation. He clarifies that employees work four days with three days off, and while one day of remote work is permitted, the policy is firm. Overeem notes that leadership has made a decisive commitment to this structure, leaving no room for debate.