When a software system starts behaving unexpectedly, the instinct is to turn toward developers and engineers. After all, they know the technical underpinnings and have the skills to investigate logs, hardware, and network configurations.
However, effective troubleshooting is not a solo or purely technical activity. Valuable contributions can come from team members who bring structure, communication, and context to the process. As a Delivery Lead working alongside engineers, I’ve seen firsthand how non-developers can play a critical role when things go sideways.
Capturing the What and When
The first moments of troubleshooting are often chaotic. People speculate. Hypotheses fly. Focus can easily drift.
One of the most helpful things non-technical team members can do is act as historians. Capturing what happened creates clarity. When did the issue first occur? What was happening before, during, and after? Did anything change in the environment or configuration?
In a recent incident, our team faced intermittent outages and network instability with an IoT device. By recreating a timeline of recent events, we identified that the system had been stable for several days before a configuration change. We connected a seemingly minor event to the start of the instability.
Clear and factual descriptions of symptoms (without assumptions) make a huge difference. “The device requires a power cycle after 5 seconds of uptime” tells a far more useful story than simply “it keeps crashing.”
Facilitating Systems Thinking
Complex issues rarely have simple causes. They often emerge from the intersection of hardware, software, environment, and user behavior.
While engineers focus on testing and debugging, designers and delivery leads can help by organizing potential causes into logical groupings. Tools like fishbone diagrams or simple categorized notes help frame hypotheses:
- Is this likely a hardware problem?
- Could software configuration or OS behavior be at play?
- Is the environment (such as dust, power quality, or network stability) contributing?
In our case, this approach helped us separate likely causes. While a faulty power cable contributed to the issue, this was ultimately a red herring. A closer investigation revealed that a memory issue had brought down the platform. Mapping ideas visually or categorically helps the team avoid tunnel vision and maintain a holistic perspective.
Enabling Clear Communication and Coordination
Troubleshooting often involves collaboration among team members from different roles. Regardless of their technical expertise, anyone on the team can facilitate communication between engineers and client stakeholders, ensuring that updates are clear, accurate, and timely. This facilitation could involve translating technical language into user-friendly terms or ensuring that everyone has a shared understanding of the project.
In moments of pressure, such as leading up to a deadline or customer demo, having someone focused on coordination and communication reduces confusion. It frees developers to stay heads-down on diagnosis and resolution.
Driving Decision-Making
Rarely is there only one path forward. Especially when time is short, teams often face a series of imperfect options. Delivery leads and business team members are well-positioned to help weigh these choices. They can guide the group toward pragmatic decisions by staying grounded in project priorities, such as demo readiness or minimizing impact on other project areas. Balancing technical ideals with business realities is a space where non-technical team members can provide valuable perspective.
Documenting Learnings and Preventing Recurrence
Resolving an issue should not be the end of the story. All team members can help translate valuable lessons into action by:
- Capturing root causes and resolutions for future reference.
- Driving conversations about long-term fixes
- Proposing process improvements to mitigate future risk
Conclusion: Troubleshooting Is a Team Sport
Technical troubleshooting may begin with developers and engineers, but it works best when everyone contributes their strengths.
Cross-functional team members can help frame the problem, guide investigations, enable clear communication, weigh tradeoffs, and capture team learnings. In doing so, they become invaluable partners in resolving issues quickly and preventing them in the future.
By stepping into these roles, you will not only help fix today’s problem but also build a more resilient and collaborative team ready for whatever comes next.