Facilitating Software Architecture

Chapter 8. An Architecture Advice Forum

The architecture advice process is intentionally lightweight, even when supported by ADRs. Although you could just use those two core elements for your decentralized architecture practice, you may want to consider bolstering it with supporting elements (but, as discussed in the previous chapter, be deliberate about which ones you include).

You might well be worried that practicing the advice process will take up too much time, and even more so if you add supporting elements. That it might lead to a lot of conversations. You’re not alone. I’ve heard this from others. Might a regular meeting, focused on the seeking and offering of advice and the transparent practice of architecture, be a good thing? Or would it fall into the trap of most meetings?

In this chapter, I’ll introduce the first of four optional supporting elements that can help optimize your architecture advice process: an architecture advice forum. It’s a meeting, but don’t let that put you off; it’s an intentionally simple affair. I’ll begin by describing what it does, how it’s structured, and how to run one. I’ll also take you through both the social dynamics it surfaces and the benefits it offers, so you know what to protect and nurture when you notice it arising. I’ll close with a discussion of how to roll out your advice forum, supporting your organization’s growing culture of trust.

Introducing the Architecture Advice Forum

Simply put, the architecture advice forum is a ...