Engineers know that teamwork is crucial for development, but what is it about teamwork that makes it so effective, and how do you maintain good relationships to ensure good teamwork?
The Most Important Relationship Is with Yourself
Working from home is the new normal.
2020 took us for surprise, and most of us didn’t have time to prepare for what was to come. I for one did not have a dedicated work setup initially, and would work in odd places around the day.
It was hard enough going from the office with my team to working from home just like that, so adding on more with not being prepared really threw me for a loop. I soon realized that above all, the most important person I had to maintain a relationship with and communicate with was myself.
Self communication, and making sure that you have a space to effectively work is extremely important. It is hard to be productive when you aren’t on top of things, and don’t have an area to organize your thoughts to be creative. Here are some tips for self communication and keeping a productive workspace:
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Writing down everything you did that day 📝– Helps you stay structured while working and help you get off to a better start each day. This will also be valuable for the future when you need to remember why you did something a certain way in the past.
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Having your workspace in a separate area from where you do other things 🖥 – will help you stay productive as you can separate work from other things, and not have it bleed over into everyday life. As we are having to work in the same place we sleep, it is very easy to lose the work-life balance needed for a healthy life, so it is important to take steps like this to ensure you keep a healthy balance.
Have Clear Communication with Others
Aside from the relationship you have with yourself, the relationships you have with others, especially your teammates, are also important to maintain in this new environment.
In an agile workspace it is vital to always be honest about our progress. This ensures that our teammates can accurately know where we are in terms of development and if their task relies on yours, they need to be able to build their schedule around your expected finish date to plan when they need to start.
Without solid communication this process does not work effectively – in the office or at home. However, at home it is even more important because the recovery time for mistakes takes longer, so it is best to prevent them in the first place with clear communication.
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Accurately reporting in standup 📊 – Helps everyone be on the same page. This also will allow you to get help if you need it, or to see potential bottlenecks in the sprint and prevent them by re-delegation or scheduling pairing sessions to ensure all tasks reach completion.
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Ask others when you need help 🤝 – So often in the office it was easy to just walk up and ask a question that you had, and often took just a few minutes. Now, for anything beyond a simple Slack question, we must schedule a video meeting to get help. Even if it seems like more work, it is still extremely important to do so because we are a team, and teams work best when they work together.
It’s On You to Do
It was a lot easier to communicate in the office and many of the things we took for granted – getting coffee in the morning with coworkers or grabbing a drink after work – are no longer possible. Luckily there are apps that can be used to schedule meetings with coworkers just to meet and talk in a friendly environment.
Since working from home, my company has also implemented things like virtual game nights and happy hours to foster camaraderie within the company and make sure everyone still has access to social interaction. Here are some things that you can do to keep up the communication:
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Be the one to reach out to others 💻 – While working from home it is easy to lose focus and experience tunnel vision on a specific thing, and others may forget to send something, or just just forget to say hi. Being the one to reach out to others makes it so that's not a problem, and there is always a line of communication.
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Help organize virtual events for you and your coworkers 🎉 – This will help maintain communication with others, remind everyone of the office days, and promote more future events as others may be encouraged to contribute in the future.
Maintenance Isn't Always Fun, But It Is Necessary
Some days you may just want to curl up in a ball in the dark and just work without any interaction. And while that's fine sometimes, it's important to make sure to keep a healthy work-life balance, keep active communication with your team, and sometimes be the one to reach out.
Communication is key, and with it, work relationships while working from home will be just fine 😀.
Jordan Torres is a Backend Engineer at Indio.