Kevin Bridges, Elli Ludwigson We all hear about how wonderful the DevOps movement is and how modern technologies can make our daily work lives better. The reality for most of us is that projects can seem super difficult and even insurmountable at times, no matter how many tools we have or what methods we employ. That’s when it’s key to have a safe space where we can experiment and develop our emotional intelligence to best support each other. In this session we’ll share with you some of the lessons we’ve learned in the course of building a local development environment and hosting platform: - Why we need to think about small steps in our work - Some key points to understand when planning work with a team - How to approach challenges as human beings - What to do when communication is hard, challenges pile up and the work begins to seem insurmountable - When, where and how to make changes and offer help - How to identify what is emotional, personal and what is technical, then approaching a solution with that perspective - How this all ties back to some of the basic principles of DevOps With some careful planning (the investment is worth it!) and thoughtful execution of tasks with goals and initiatives in sight, we can make steady progress towards success together.