You suck at_remote_working
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This document provides tips and advice for improving remote work. It emphasizes the importance of communication, having a dedicated work space, using tools properly, being available and responsive, testing technology beforehand, managing schedules effectively, and establishing guidelines to minimize confusion. The overall message is that remote work requires discipline but can be highly productive when certain best practices are followed.
You suck at_remote_working
- 1. YOU SUCK at remote working
- 2. I ONLY PLAY AN ANGRY DAD ON TV • Jeff Holt • Software Engineer • Dev Manager • Technical Product Owner • 20+ years (no need for details) • Remote worker for ~15 years • Non-tech background • Happy Father
- 3. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS Inspiration: You Suck at Photoshop Which was really about getting better at Photoshop.
- 4. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS I find the smallest things annoying, but I live with them. So do you. • How do I share my screen again? • Oh, sorry I didn’t update that ticket. • I sent an e-mail, didn’t you see that? • You’re not sharing. • Are you sharing something? • Let me google that for you. • Is Bob on the call? • Mute? Know how and when to do the things. Hey! Stop eating while on the phone! I never do this. Ever.
- 5. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS I make these same mistakes. All the time.
- 6. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS Everything/everyone can be tweaked and improved. Not in the crazy gym guy kind of way. But you know, in a scrum kind of way.
- 7. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS I hope this sparks a conversation with the people you interact with every day. Improving how you work remotely will improve your communication skills. Hooah!
- 8. WHO IS REMOTE? • We all are. • All of us. • Yes.
- 9. SUCCESS • A Good Working Environment and Meeting Spaces • Good Communication Tools and Knowing How to Use Them • Quiet • Availability • Responsiveness • Limits • A Door • THE PropEr UsE oF caSe • Don’t forget a towel
- 10. SPACE • Home can be the most productive place, if… • Dedicated space • A door • Good Acoustics • Screen real estate • Leave the house more than once a week • Decent Internet • A good phone • Windows (or whatever you need) • The glass kind • And the ones from Redmond Rugs on hardwood please.
- 11. SPACE • Offices are noisy • Use common areas • Mix it up • sit, stand, pace while on the phone • More than 1 machine • Be ready to connect to VPN. • Screens! more than 1. Really people. 1992 More Pixels, MORE! I have used 2-3 screens for years.
- 12. CONFERENCE CALLS • Mute • MUTE!! • 1 remote dialer, 30 in a conference room, not good. • Know how to un-mute.
- 13. CONFERENCE CALLS • Check to see if you are a loud breather • Sound Quality – It’s a thing • GOOD: Carpet, Rugs, Towels • GOOD: Microphones • BAD: Hardwood floors and nothing on the walls • BAD: Cell Phones • BAD: Speakerphones • BAD: Driving • Documentary
- 14. CONFERENCE CALLS • Moderators • Call on specific people, not QA, DEV, Biz… • Presentations: No transitions. EVER • If you have a noise maker, know how to mute them. • Nice formatting the pass code: • This: 745 502 732 732 • Not This: 745502732732745502732732 • No ambush meetings • 8 AM call scheduled in the middle of the night.
- 15. CONFERENCE CALLS • Moderators • Call on specific people, not QA, DEV, Biz… • Presentations: No transitions. EVER • If you have a noise maker, know how to mute them. • Nice formatting the pass code: • This: 745 502 732 732 • Not This: 745502732732745502732732 • No ambush meetings • 8 AM call scheduled in the middle of the night.
- 16. PHONES • Use copper when you can, it fails gracefully. • (A real phone line, not IP anything) • Use a corded headset ($20.00) • Office phones, oh the humanity. • If you are in a noisy area, go find a phone booth. • Cell phones are terrible, avoid them if you can.
- 17. WHEN TO USE WHAT • IM • KISS • When you MUST know NOW • More than one way. • Jabber, Slack, Hip Chat, What’s App, SMS • Evil-Mail • When it can wait • Gasp! The Phone • When it is a dire emergency or complicated • You have a limited number of keystrokes.
- 18. PUBLISH SOMETHING EVERY DAY What is publishing? • Tickets (touch a ticket every day) • Communicate THROUGH the tickets • Wiki • Add documentation as you go. • See an error, fix it, don’t e-mail me to fix it. • Add links, not just the ticket number. • Formatting People, in Jira too! • Check your code in, all the time. • Know where ‘the things’ are.
- 19. PUBLISH SOMETHING EVERY DAY What is publishing? • NOT e-mail • NOT IM • NOT hallway conversations • NOT white-boarding
- 20. AVAILABILITY • Core Hours • Write them down somewhere • Don’t disappear • Install IM on more than 1 device • Don’t leave me hanging in IM • Like walking away from a conversation • Don’t freak out because of network issues • But, if you do have network issues, remember those backup plans. • Don’t tell me you are going to the bathroom. Really, I don’t care.
- 21. TESTING 1,2,3 Doing a Preso next week for the first time in months? • Test WebEx, use the features, all of them. • Have a backup plan for phone, broken demo, etc. • Your mic (remember, NO breathing in my ear) • Know how to record. Test it. • Experiment with formatting in the Wiki. • Never abbreviate the word presentation.
- 22. SCHEDULE • Most of your time • And look ahead to next week on Friday • We have an interrupt driven culture • Urgent VS Important • Mindful Responsiveness and Timeliness • Train others how to read your schedule: • TENTATIVE(alright to bug or book me) • BUSY (I’ll check on the rest of the world when I’m done thinking already)
- 23. SCHEDULE• Inform • Stepping out for more than an hour, tell people. • Gone next week? Cancel your damn meetings. • Expectations • Don’t expect everyone to answer immediately. • Give them 5 - 87 minutes. • Except Managers • They unblock things for those that do things.
- 24. SCHEDULE PST mornings can be BUSY Schedule Accordingly
- 25. GUIDELINES • People will • Forget to inform • Forget to log work • Forget the documentation But • If these things usually get done • there will be less confusion • second guessing • deterioration of trust
- 26. DRESS FOR SUCCESS • https://www.toptal.com/freelance/how-to-work-remotely-and-still-be-the-best • http://www.fastcompany.com/3033902/work-smart/7-best-practice-tips-for- successfully-working-remotely • http://pajamacity.com/ • http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165598/
- 27. I DON’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS • How do you solve the water cooler problem? • Goofy team building games don’t work for engineers. why not? • Do you have guidelines for written code reviews? • How often do you meet in person?
Editor's Notes
- #4: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD19BCF9D57320E03
- #10: Be available but not too available. Responds in the expected timeframe Limit how much you work. Too much only degrades the quality of your work.
- #11: Add rugs to hardwood floors. Use a real headset, with wires. Several screens. I have used 2-3 screens since 1992.
- #12: So pretty much everything is bad for you. Except pacing, didn’t find anything bad about pacing.
- #13: Conference Call in Real Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ E-Mail in Real Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&feature=iv&src_vid=DYu_bGbZiiQ&annotation_id=annotation_3665710195
- #14: Conference Call in Real Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ E-Mail in Real Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zw&feature=iv&src_vid=DYu_bGbZiiQ&annotation_id=annotation_3665710195
- #15: If you HAVE to schedule an ambush meeting, let it be known those being ambushed are allowed to not show up.
- #16: If you HAVE to schedule an ambush meeting, let it be known those being ambushed are allowed to not show up.
- #18: KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid You have a limited number of keystrokes. http://keysleft.com/
- #19: Copy and Paste e-mails into comments. I know some don’t like it but now it is part of the record.
- #23: https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3541/3412128864_125745a539_z.jpg