Staring into the Dark — An Introverts View of Quarantine
By: Rose Day
Tags: Work From Home, Software Development, Remote Working, Productivity, Data Science

What I Miss in the Office

Zoom calls, messaging, screen sharing, emails, phone calls, and texts are great. This technology offers us the ability to work through this quarantine in as normal a state as possible. But as a software developer and data scientist, this technology does not offer me all I need to do my job.

White Boarding Sessions

The main thing I have missed the most is whiteboarding sessions. When in the office, it was common for team members to migrate to one person’s desk or a conference room with a large whiteboard and begin to talk. These discussions could range from mathematical, visual, application diagrams, and more. It was a way for us to work out a problem on paper and throwback and forth ideas. It allowed everyone in the small gathering to think through a problem out loud and get feedback.

If you haven’t noticed yet, these sessions are not the same on Zoom. We have handled it the best we can, but now they tend to be someone screen sharing code or a PPT, talking through their ideas. Other developers or data scientists will chime in on their thoughts or approaches, but it can be hard to effectively translate those thoughts. After these meetings, you begin to wonder, did they understand what I was trying to say? Did I get my message across effectively to help them with their problem?

Hallway Conversations

The other aspect of working in an office that has changed are hallways conversations. Unless I am working directly with someone on a project, I often don’t see or talk to some people, whereas in the office, we would chat in passing, see one another in meetings, and have lunch together. We are no longer seeing these people, and they can begin to fade into the background as we spend our Zoom calls with those we work closely with and our free time working on our projects.

Missing this hallway conversation and those daily interactions has led me to begin reaching out more to people I often do not see. Checking in with people you do not often see will allow you to keep in touch with them and understand what they are working on. It may surprise you the work they are doing, and maybe you can work with them on a solution. I have found it beneficial to have 1:1’s with individuals I don’t often see as I can chat with them to catch up on home life, work-life, and more. These conversations give us both a chance to talk things out and understand what the other has been doing. Consider reaching out to more individuals to talk and catchup.

Free Time

At least for myself, I have found the transition to remote work and more meetings harder to find free time to work on my projects. Everything now requires a meeting. Where once you could walk up to someone’s desk to quickly whiteboard out a concept, or ask a quick question in passing, now it commonly requires a Zoom. These calls are used to:

Get the persons attention.

Share with them what you are working on.

Explain the issues you are facing or the decision you need to make.

Come to a call of actions or conclusion from the meeting.

These meetings tend to last 30 minutes to 1 hr, and if you have many of them on your calendar, they can add up. These, combined with regular team meetings, sprint meetings, and more, can leave you with little time to focus on your work. How do you tackle this problem?

For myself, I have begun blocking time off on the calendar. I typically block at least one day off on my calendar to deter people from scheduling meetings. Allowing me a good 8 to 9 hours to do focused development work on my projects, get through some project planning, and develop any presentations that I need for the week. I have found this helpful as I can get done what I need to without interruption for at least one day every week.

Team Gatherings

The last area I have seen changed the most from in-person to remote has been team gatherings. Before working in my current role, I worked remotely for another company, but the dynamics were different. I was able to go to work at least once a week, I saw my team regularly, and I had opportunities to attend team gatherings. When I began working in the office at my current job, we often would do team gatherings or attend events together, which was great. You got to know people and spend time with them outside of work. Once quarantine hit, this was no longer the case.

You can tell me to try virtual happy hours or team meetings, but that does not work for every person. I have attended many of those, but it is not the same atmosphere as sitting in a room with people and chatting. I joined the team with enough time to get to know most people before going remote. But some members joined and then quickly went remote, giving them very little time to get to know everyone and bond as a team before being thrown into uncharted waters.