From Face-To-Face To The Virtual Space

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Date posted
22 September 2020
Reading time
11 Minutes
Clare Buckley

From Face-To-Face To The Virtual Space

/></figure> <p> </p> <p >I joined Kainos in August 2019 as a Graduate Software Engineer (and quickly transitioned to a Test Engineer on my first project), and within the year a lot has changed. Since March, we have been adapting to working from home due to COVID - from the toilet paper panic to puppies appearing in meetings, it's been a long journey that's worth reflecting on.</p> <p >People are at the core of Kainos: our teams are driven by collaboration, coaching, and creativity. So how do you transfer these unique experiences from face-to-face in to the virtual space? The uncertainty around lockdown led team discussions around how can we maintain these core values that are so key to the Kainos culture. Each team has found a different approach that works for them, and each have the opportunity to evolve their new ways of working during lockdown. My experience of working from home during lockdown at Kainos in my project can be summarised by those three key points: collaboration, coaching, and creativity.</p> <h4 ><b><br />Collaboration</b></h4> <p >Before COVID, you could see collaboration across the office in whiteboards covered in sticky notes, team huddles, paired work, and group discussions. Collaboration is core to our way of working, so finding a medium that could maintain this same energy in an online space was important. Here are a few ways my team have found to help with maintaining this collaboration:</p> <ul > <li >We've used <a href=Zoom as a place for meetings as well as a general 'meeting space'. Having a 'zoom room' available for drop in/out collaboration has provided the same feel as calling colleagues to an office huddle, without the formality of scheduling a meeting in advance.
  • Mural ('a digital workspace for collaboration') has meant that the whole team can work together in the same space, using sticky notes, diagrams, and images to collaborate and evolve ideas.
  • While Microsoft Teams was used before lockdown, having this as our current main form of communication has meant that group chats, teams channels, video calls, and screen sharing are now even more important. This has also been a great way of sharing new tools or ways of working that could help the team during lockdown.
  • Agile retrospectives have also moved online using tools such as 'funretro', which can be customised to fit different retro activities. This, combined with video calls has allowed my team to continue with the same level of creativity and team reflection as we experienced in the office.

    • Coaching

    Coaching and personal development is important throughout your whole time at Kainos. The pre-COVID methods of coaching have been translated to a distance-friendly approach using a wide variety of tools/methods, some of which are listed:

    • Internal training courses have been moved to video calls where possible, meaning that we don't miss out on learning opportunities outside of our immediate job role.
    • To support in the change in lifestyle during lockdown, a set of 'mindset modules' (a personal wellbeing course) has been made available to progress with at your own pace.
    • Coaching in projects has moved to Teams calls for team members to pair, shadow, or upskill new joiners.
    • Tools such as CodeTogether have been used to facilitate pair programming when working from home.
    • Documenting how to use all of the new tools introduced has been really useful in sharing knowledge and helping team members work together better during lockdown.

    Creativity

    The whole process of moving into lockdown has been a creative process of incorporating individuals' needs, technical needs and user needs into a new way of working. Some of the methods I have mentioned in previous sections have a big overlap with creativity (e.g. collaboration, funretro, CodeTogether, Mural), but there's only so much that can be fulfilled by tools. Creativity comes down to individuals, and supporting them and the team culture. The following points have helped to maintain the team culture, and the creativity of individuals:

    • A collaborative Spotify playlist, with a daily music challenge - each week a team member would volunteer to think of daily challenges for the team, e.g. 'Add a song that describes 2020', 'Add your favourite song from the first concert or gig you went to', etc.
    • The 'Good Vibes' channel on Microsoft Teams under the Birmingham team acts as a 'talk in the kitchen' space to share points of interest, jokes, or other lighthearted news.
    • After-work 'Kahoot' quizzes - paired with a Zoom call, online quizzes have helped to bring together colleagues who have been unable to meet due to COVID.

    Wellbeing

    Arguably the most important factor of working from home is personal wellbeing. The BBC posted a useful article about ways of working during lockdown, and below are a few more points that have been encouraged in our team:

    • Remember to keep a healthy work-life balance. Mentally 'leaving the office' can be difficult when working from home, and accidentally (or intentionally) working extra hours can lead to burnout. Adding in scheduled lunch breaks into outlook calendars, or setting an alarm to take breaks or for 'home time' can be helpful ways to enforce this balance.
    • Dedicate some time to working through the wellbeing 'mindset modules' course available.
    • Be aware of the support available in your team - your manager can help to find ways to accommodate to any specific requests or concerns, and Kainos' dedicated mental health first aiders are still available to contact online.
    • Be kind, and be considerate. Lockdown could have changed a lot for you and the people you work with, so a level of understanding goes a long way.

    Going forward, as we work though these new ways of working, it's important to always reflect back on our achievements - the challenges we've overcome, the changes in our mentality, how we've adapted to working from home, and so much more.

    The experience of starting at Kainos during COVID may be different to previous years, but the support network and tools available in this transition will be sure to make it just as memorable, and just as welcoming. Especially in these new ways of working, sharing your experiences, knowledge, and skills is so important - even as a new joiner, your opinions are valued. If there are any methods or tools that you could add to the lists in this post, be sure to share with your team!

    About the author

    Clare Buckley