5 Reasons to go #NoCodeNovember

At Dreamforce ‘15, I was struck with the realization that there is so much Salesforce has to offer that my team hasn’t begun to use.  We have so many projects in the pipeline, and when you’re trying to accomplish a lot in a short timeframe, it’s easy to default to what you know. In the case of my team, many times “what you know” means coding.  So we are making a commitment to ourselves: for the entire month of November, we will focus on finding creative ways to deliver features without one line of code.

5 Reasons my team is going #NoCodeNovember

1. To educate ourselves about native Salesforce functionality we haven’t yet used. We will be investing time in learning tools like Process Builder, as well as diving into the treasures of the recent Winter 16 release.
2. To optimize our org by transferring some of our code over to workflow tools. This month will also give us time to do an honest evaluation of the scalability of our org, and give us a chance take on challenges like combining similar workflow and sharing rules.
3. To discover tools that other brilliant developers have already built. Some of you may already be in a serious relationship with AppExchange, but over here we’re just getting to know each other. We commit to taking time this month to explore what’s out there—and each team member will choose one free tool to install in a developer environment!
4. To build our skill set. In this industry, we need to stay relevant. Not only that, we can benefit from learning where we can let the system take some of the load so we can build awesome features for our customers even faster! When my team introduces coding back into the mix in December, we will have a stronger understanding of when to use clicks vs code.
5. To be challenged and grow as a team. The end of the year is coming and we want to keep momentum through the holidays. Let’s give ourselves something fun to focus on!

Steps you can take to join us:

• Participate in the challenges on the Button Click Admin blog and Twitter. Continue to check in using the hashtag #NoCodeNovember to see creative solutions from the Success Community Group.
• Do a gut check.  What part of going no-code excites you the most? Learning a new skill? Doing a little clean-up in your org? Start there—you’ll hit your goals at the end of the month if you play to your passions.
• Map it out before November begins. Your plan can evolve as you dive into the challenge, but give yourself some guidance to ensure success. Some of the things my team members are doing are going through Trailhead and testing a free app in a developer environment.
• Evangelize. If you work with developers who spend most of their time coding, get them just as excited as you are by reminding them we aren’t trying to replace their skills, but to encourage everyone to learn something new. (Love on a developer today—they play a key role for us!)

My team is looking forward to diving into #NoCodeNovember—will you join us? One day per week? A full week? What about challenging yourself to clicking your way through the whole month of November?