Thread by @erin_rtfm

"Sustaining Remote First Teams" by Rachel Davies @spaconference

When first started working in tech, had a 1.5-hour commute! After time, found she'd prefer to stay at home.

Unlike other kinds of work, software doesn't need to be made in a specific place. It's like working on a material that anyone can work on at the same time. Our users can be anywhere in the world and we don't even need to know who/where they are.

The office involves a lot of politics and can feel like you're being checked up on constantly. Big offices became a thing in London around the time of the East India Company. They needed to keep records and access files and papers in the building.

Now our open space offices seem to be about being seen, and being seen working. Although management says you don't need to clock into your desk, people notice when you're not there. "Visibility is a trip." - Michel Foucault

On the circular prison, the Panopticon, Jeremy Bentham said 1785: "A new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quanitity hitherto without example." We now have a similar situation for desks and conference rooms. The bathrooms still have opaque walls!

In 1962, F International took advantage of women working from home. However, it didn't take off more widely. And even now, it's not the main way that software engineering happens, despite our having the internet.

So why? Are there reasons to be with other people while you code? Do people just not want to work from home?

Rachel Davies was involved in early Agile and remembers that originally a lot of work was done with little or no collaboration. When Agile came along, people were very excited to collaborate and collectively own the software.

But even under Agile, often you're working on your own code, not really taking advantage of proximity to other team members. In the 1st edition of the Agile Manifesto, it says to get people in the same room if possible, but it's also possible to collaborate from separate spaces.

"A remote-first team is one where everyone works in a separate location, usually form home, and thus all communication occurs online. Most open source projects are remote-first, and this experience has encouraged many startups to use it." Fowler

Rather than being "remote first," many teams are now "remote inclusive" - accepting the possibility that people can call in or use video conferencing.

Remote first @tes_engineering: "Any work done outside of the London office. This can include working on the train, working from home, or working from any location in the work where a team member is able to deliver their work."

Remote-first was already their philosophy when Rachel Davies joined, but she suspects that it started when they decided to move forward with it, including technical re-architecture, culture change, etc.

Main thing: you need to be able to work and be performing work, responsive to colleagues, and online when you're working. When you're working, you need to tell people whether you're at work or not, attend meetings you're supposed to attend....Just like you would in the office!

Frustratingly, if you normally work from home and decided to work in the office one day, you find no one else is in the office and can feel like having an office is wasted.

On the other hand, some programmers have shared living situation and don't have a good desk setup. So office is still helpful.

@tes_engineering works with containers, which are easy for remote development. Also lucky that they don't work with stuff that's hyper-sensitive, which would make remote much more difficult from a logistical standpoint.

They use Github and Zendesk for tickets, Slack for messaging, Zoon for video calls and screensharing, Miro for whiteboard. Hold Tuesday demos for all product teams. Good to attend, but you can also watch the recording after.

Important to have certain rituals to help people feel like they're part of a team culture. Their ritual are...

Hack Days 2x/month to help get to know people on other teams. Everyone puts pitch forward, people break into teams and create Slack channel for their pitch, then work together on it. Demo it, then vote on projects and give prizes.

Knowledge sharing happens every week. Hold lightning talks, share what they've learned from conferences, etc. This all helps you get to know people who aren't on your team, and also shares info around multiple teams.

Go to conferences together and meetup with one another. They don't work in the office together, but getting together at conferences helps make them feel closer and more social with teammates.

Coffee roulette: Pull a name from a hat of person to speak with 1-on-1 about their projects over coffee and video call. Prioritize having this coffee with people off your own team.

Remote pairing: Driver shares their screen and swap every hour or so. Break to work solo for simple tasks.

regular 1:1 checkins wih each other ot make sure they're still doing well/address concerns.

Engineering week 2x/year. This lets the team purposefully get the team together, including contractors. The main purpose isn't programming, but social time, connecting with teammates, workshops and sharing knowledge, etc.

Remote Christmas party: Experiment where everyone shared video conferenced together, had a hat competition and mulled wine. (But did it work? Will you do it again?)

Engineering survey to help them get a sense of how people are doing. Main benefits identified: fewer distractions, work from anywhere, flexibility, no commute, family time, save money, broader choices.

Drawbacks: Feelings of loneliness, more difficult to get help, some miss chit-chat, timezones are hard, being able to switch off in the evening (though some people shared their disconnecting recommendations!).

Some tips for remote work: Have a dedicated work space, get dressed for work, try a co-working space, detach/unwind at the end of the day, go out for a daily walk.

Thing people miss: Access to shops, going to pub after work

Contact habits: Mark availability in Slack, chat more about personal stuff before stand-ups or pairings, remote pairing with video

Unsuccessful experiments: Working from busy coffeeshop, being nomadic can be hard if moving too often or too fast, mixed meetings (some people in person, some remote - just have everyone video/call in), working form a family holiday

Anything else?: People worry that they're not being seen and therefore won't be promoted, some like the option to go into the office because they just prefer an office </survey>

Some personal sharing stuff from Rachel Davies: you can get packages and then have unboxing with coworkers; you can show teammates around the house; you can see their pets and their babies; they can show you the view form their window - you get to see a different side to them.

For the company, can hire more diverse workforce - not just people who are free in a given area, not just people who can come to an office. Can retain skilled engineers across broader life events, less office space required, work day spans multiple timezones.

One of the participants mentioned that their company opened up to remote work and were able to find qualified candidates in about half the time!

Sum up: Have a clear remote-first policy , invest in cross-team initiatives, make space for social time.

Q: How much support does the company have for your at-home office space? A: Not a lot, which is why some of the jr. devs go into the office.

Q: Will you do the remote Christmas party again? A: Yeah, it was successful! You can definitely do remote team parties if you plan them well. Even have done remote goodbye parties! 🥳

Q: How can you get started with a remote-first team? A: Typically you'll have the person come into the office at least the first couple of weeks. After that, it's up to you. The main thing is to get to know your teammates, which can be done remotely.

Q: If you offer remote to a given job role but not everyone has the right equipment, to what extent do you support people to move into remote? A: Provide an office, but if employees choose not to use it, that's their business.

Q: What about employees in places with more stringent requirements for offices? A: This may be a good spot for contract roles.

Q: Do other roles than engineering do remote work? A: Not personally sure, but probably.

Thank you, @rachelcdavies! Sorry for not tagging you at the top of the thread.