The number of people on a team who could put a product in jeopardy if they were "hit by a bus". We maintain a high bus factor by making knowledge sharing and documentation a core part of our processes. A high bus factor reduces the chances that critical expertise will be unavailable, makes it easier to assign team members to product work, and increases ownership in our projects.
Benefits of a high Bus Factor
- Critical expertise is not concentrated in a single team member.
- Broader familiarity with product makes it more likely knowledgable team members are available when product work is needed.
- Shared ownership provides multiple perspective on projects, which leads to fewer mistakes and bugs.
How we increase our Bus Factor
- Create chances to share skills and knowledge by embracing pair programming.
- Keep product assignments fluid to maximize exposure to areas of expertise.
- Include clear and comprehensive documentation on all of our products.
- Spend energy componentizing code so that we are less reliant on individual knowledge.