Practitioners Share How They Remove the Fear of On-Call

Being on-call can be a stressful part of engineering jobs, but members of the PagerDuty Community share strategies to alleviate this anxiety and offer advice to newcomers. They emphasize creating comprehensive playbooks that include service details, expert contacts, and past errors, which can guide on-call professionals during incidents. Experience and empowerment in solving issues can reduce fear, and it is crucial for teams to support individuals on-call by encouraging responsibility and providing backup. Documentation is highlighted as a key tool to manage alerts effectively, while collaboration in setting monitoring thresholds can reduce defensiveness. PagerDuty provides resources like Ops Guides, courses, and community support to foster a healthier on-call culture and enhance real-time operations skills.