What Makes the Engine Run: A Development Process That Works

Summary
Let’s face it—nobody gets excited about the development process, nor Jira or other tooling to define the process. But behind the tooling, there’s a deeper truth: the right development process can make or break how a team collaborates, delivers, gets recognized and grows.

In this session, we’ll unpack a battle-tested workflow that’s been successfully carried across multiple companies and consistently worked for cross-functional teams—product managers, designers, and engineering leaders alike. This isn’t about reinventing Agile or selling a tool. It’s about a practical, adaptable framework that improves clarity, alignment, and momentum—without overwhelming anyone.

Come learn what makes a dev process actually work in the real world—and the impact it's had at every company where Vivian introduced the framework.

About the Speaker
Vivian Lau is a seasoned engineering leader with over 15 years of experience scaling teams, mentoring managers, and driving cross-functional impact in fast-paced tech environments. She currently serves as a Senior Engineering Manager at Zapier, where she leads with a people-first mindset and a focus on delivering meaningful business outcomes. Vivian is also the founder and organizer of the Engineering Leadership Collective (formerly Vancouver Software Development Managers) meetup group, a vibrant community for engineering leaders to connect, grow, and share knowledge. Throughout her career, she has built and led high-performing, autonomous teams across startup-to-scaleup organizations, always championing agile practices, inclusive culture, and continuous feedback.

Agenda:
5:00 - 5:15pm Welcoming + Social (small groups in breakout rooms)
5:15 - 6:25pm - Talk + Q&A
6:25 - 6:30p.m. - Wrap up

Please note that this zoom meeting is password-protected. RSVP will end 12pm the day of the Meetup event. The zoom info will be sent to you (through Meetup) after the RSVP has closed - please check your email. Please join the zoom link with your real name.

Please RSVP if you are coming and please update promptly if your plan changes. Our "No Show" policy - we will remove you from the group if you RSVP but do not show up a few times. We hope that it would provide some fairness to our speakers, our organizers as well as other people who got onto the wait list wanting to come to our events.