Effective Product Delivery Techniques

Keys to Delivering Great Software Products

Have you ever wondered what are some of the keys to continually delivering software products and consistently achieving positive results?

Here are some of the strategies that worked for me while co-founding a software agency and handling different projects.

TL;DR

• Communication (With clients, team, and systems)
• Automation (CI/CD pipelines, tests, error reporting, backlog readiness)
• Independence (Freedom to create, innovate, and be happy)
• Lead by example
• No closed-budget projects
• Quality time (Focus time, fewer meetings)
• Designers close to developers
• Split responsibilities

Communication

Communication is one of the most important factors for delivering good software.

• Clients & Stakeholders must have a clear vision of what is happening.
• Teams need a transparent and honest way to share progress, ideas, and discussions.
• Debates should happen openly, not in private, when facing a major decision.

Effective Communication Channels

1. Group Chats → Quick updates on what's going on.
2. Knowledge Databases → Deeper ideas, discussions, and documentation (Notion, Jira, GitHub issues, README files…)
3. One-to-One Meetings → Solve day-to-day problems efficiently.
4. Group Meetings → Least effective, but necessary for overall organization.

Listening & Honesty

• As a senior developer, you must extract technical insights from non-technical conversations.

• Be honest about what can and cannot be done. Always offer alternatives:

  "Yes, we could implement SYSTEM-A. But if we use SYSTEM-B, we cover 90% of your use cases, reducing complexity and cost."

• CI/CD as Communication:

  • A CI/CD system at the beginning of the project allows stakeholders to see progress from day 1.
  • Deployment pipelines communicate the status of the source code and deliver testable instances.

Crunching the Backlog

Good software requires maintainability. A job well done means you can be replaced without disrupting the project.

Best Practices for Backlogs

• Tasks should be clear but not overly detailed.
• Business vision should be prioritized over technical specifics.
• Developers should contribute to backlog creation → Better long-term architecture & code decisions.
• Having a single source of truth avoids wasted time when looking for tasks.

Most of this again relates to transparency across the team.

Lead by Example

Many expect external forces to initiate change—but change starts with action.

Examples:

• Want better documentation? → Start writing better issue descriptions.
• Want better code quality? → Refactor proactively, improve code reviews.
• Want faster delivery? → Set ambitious goals.

Etéreo's Motto: "Better be sorry than asking for permission."

Action > Bureaucracy

• If you have experience in the field, not every technical decision requires consensus.

• Deliver first, refine later:

  • Code can be changed later.
  • Designs can be changed later.
  • Deployments can be iterated.

• Empower engineers → Let them spin up servers, deploy new features, and integrate third-party services without friction.

Keeping Designers Close

Big organizations struggle with agility because of resource allocation bottlenecks.

• As a product developer, your best ally is the UI designer.
• Prototypes → Ideas become tangible, improving iteration speed.
• Good UI improves not just apps, but proposals, documentation, and more.

Say No to Closed-Budget Projects

I have rarely done closed-budget projects, and that's probably why we delivered successful products.

Why Closed Budgets Fail

• Software estimations are impossible.
• Stakeholders get vague product definitions.
• Uncertainties make fixed estimates unreliable.

Open Budget ≠ No Constraints

• Work with open budgets, but set milestones (e.g., MVP at $100k).
• Prioritize core features and cut unnecessary complexity.
• Avoid estimating tasks whenever possible → Estimations are mostly BS.

Quality Time & Focus

To deliver complex features, focus time is critical:

• Fewer meetings
• No daily standups
• 1-2 group meetings per week → The rest should be async via group messaging.
• Debates async → Use GitHub issues or Notion instead of wasting time in long discussions.

🔹 Quick Problem-Solving → If you're stuck, you should immediately know who to reach.

Split Responsibilities

Doing everything yourself leads to burnout & failure.

• Define roles & split responsibilities.
• Teams should decide what needs to be done.
• Rotate roles when necessary → Allows team members to specialize.
• Trust your team, but step in when needed → Lead by example.

Focus on Happiness

This section is not about the client—it's about the team.

• Need a 3-month vacation? → Take it.
• Want a higher salary? → Let's discuss it.
• Want to improve your skills? → We'll support you.
• Ask team members what they want in life and help them get it.

Empowering Your Team

• Happy developers = Better software.
• Some want total independence → Let ambitious people lead & create.
• Some need time for creative exploration → Allow room for learning new technologies.

Final Thoughts

These are the most important concepts I've learned about delivering great software.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

• What helps you deliver great software products?
• What pain points do you struggle with?

More on delivering MVPs with JavaScript → Check out this article