Hey folks! I've been struggling with this issue lately and would love to hear your thoughts. As part of a team that deals with numerous incidents each day, I often experience what I call 'incident amnesia.' When a problem we've fixed before pops up again, I sometimes forget the solution, which leads to redoing my work from scratch. I usually find myself digging through Slack for old chats or using Linear to sift through past issues. How do you guys tackle this problem? I'd appreciate any strategies or tools that have worked for you!
8 Answers
I wouldn't recommend relying on memory or Slack chats alone. Instead, create a lightweight runbook or a shared knowledge base. Tag and review incidents so they're easy to retrieve later on.
We took a multi-faceted approach by prioritizing operational resiliency, embedding Ops into development teams, and creating a strong service management team to keep track of incidents and follow-ups. It made a huge difference in how we handled problems!
Have you considered using Jira? I find it super helpful to leave notes on ticket comments about what I did, what worked, and what didn’t. It's like a mini-journal for each incident, and it saves me from reinventing the wheel each time! Sometimes I also use Notepad for notes, but they can get lost pretty quickly.
Exactly! But sometimes it gets tricky when someone else edits the comments. It can lead to confusion if I’m relying on those notes.
Try to focus on problem-solution documentation whenever you resolve a case. When similar issues arise, revisit the original ticket for context to avoid confusion and to find a new fix if needed.
Documentation is key! Keeping thorough records means that you can refer back to past solutions quickly whenever a similar issue arises. It might sound boring, but it really saves time in the long run!
Absolutely! Playbooks can really help streamline this process and prevent repetitive problems.
Building a knowledge base is crucial. Document symptoms and troubleshooting steps you'll want to consider. Make sure it’s detailed enough for anyone reading it later.
I recommend conducting retrospectives to tackle recurring problems. After significant incidents, write everything down in Slack and assign a note-taking role during major issues. This keeps the whole team informed and creates a comprehensive record for future reference.
In my last job, we used Incident.io to track past incidents. This way, we could look back at previous Slack channels dedicated to specific issues. If it's a persistent struggle for your team, you might want to address root causes instead!
This is the way! I use Jira tickets as my notebook, pasting logs and commands as I troubleshoot. It slows me down a bit, but I can't tell you how valuable those records are later.