Tackle Your Triggers during #NoCodeNovember

Last week’s challenge to explore Trailhead got my team pumped up for #NoCodeNovember! We took an afternoon and all sat in a room together, going through the Process Automation module at our own pace. We would work for a bit and then someone would say, “Wow, I bet Process Builder could replace that one trigger we need to update frequently”, or “if we had known the power of Visual Workflow, we wouldn’t have built that random Visualforce page”. Our Trailhead adventure was an investment of our time, but I’m already seeing return on that investment through the time-saving development strategies that are brewing!

Dealing with Debt

If I’m on a budget, but want a new TV, I can pull out that handy plastic in my wallet and buy it today! But then next month, I have to consider the payment for the TV in my budget, which means I have to find money somewhere else. I have two choices: explore ways to spend less in other areas until I’m caught up, or keep using credit. Of course, if I choose the plastic again, I’m going to be in an even tighter situation next month!

Our development habits can work in the same way. Remember the example in the #NoCodeNovember podcast about building a territory management feature from scratch? New features came out for the out-of-the-box territory management, and the developer was faced with a choice: build out something similar in the custom design, or re-implement using Salesforce standard functionality. Either way, it’s likely this developer already had a full backlog and was strapped for time. Sound familiar? It does for my team!

So what to do about it?

Carve out some time to find opportunity for optimization and go play in the sandbox! Check out:

• Triggers: #NoCodeNovember may be about not coding for a month—but more than that, it’s a challenge to find the optimal way to deliver requirements. Your org likely has triggers created before complex automation was possible outside of code. Create a record, post to Chatter, launch a flow—find ways that Process Builder can take some of your code’s current burden so you can use your coding skills for building functionality that has even greater impact!
• Old Workflows: Yes, even point-and-click configuration can be streamlined with new functionality! Do you have rules that are part of the same process, but because of limitations, were built separate from one another? Take some time to map how they link together and use Process Builder to combine them. (When you test, make sure to deactivate the workflow rules so that they don’t both )
• Forgotten Business Requirements: If you’re an admin who hasn’t learned to code and is without access to developer resources, you may have put project ideas on the backburner when you realized that standard workflow could not satisfy the need. Now that you can utilize Process Builder, you have a chance to revive some old requirements and give your customers an unexpected treat!
• Visualforce pages: Some of our Visualforce pages were created because we wanted to take the guesswork out of which fields to fill out based on other values on the page. With Visual Workflow, you can ask questions and guide users through a process—a no-code way to improve the user experience!

How my team is tackling triggers (and more):

During our afternoon on Trailhead, we came up with a handful of ideas—even before looking into our org! We have a territory management process that’s run by a couple dozen workflows and a trigger that creates several records for teams that help us onboard new customers. We’re taking time this month to test out these and other ideas in our sandbox.

Remember, it’s not that code is bad; we just want to use help where we can to get the most out of our work! How are you reducing your code debt? Let us know on the Success Community or on Twitter with the hashtag #NoCodeNovember!