This article is part of a series onremote work.
Well, a quick recap...
We saw this in the last articlepersistence spectrum, which showed that:
a strong connectionexists between permanence of communication and asynchrony.
Permanence can be determined by howrelevant, accurate or usefula specific artifact stands with the times.
Going asynchronous means you must leave aaccounting control, to careindexesimportant information and make sure to inform yourself regularlymark, archive, clean and deleteyour artifacts.
In this article, we'll look at what it means to feel connected to others, looking at the spectrum and how it's mapped.humanity.
Like it or not, you are human. (If you're reading this and you're not human, science would be very interested.) We are social creatures, whether we have a day where we'd rather lock ourselves in or never see another human being again. Our strength as a species lies in understanding each other, mirroring the behavior of others and working together towards altruistic goals. We evolved to be there for each other as it brings us so many positive benefits.
People working together can accomplish great things, such as building society, innovating science, and creating technology. For example, humans made the best video game ever:dark souls. (If you don't agree, close the tab.) Here the protagonist finds himself as a living dead in the mysterious city.Lordran. They are warned that if they are not careful they will leave.oco" - a zombie state - losing your humanity. Players can restore their humanity by resting in the heat of variousbonfirescattered across Lordran.
Despite what we've covered in this series, simply being asynchronous all the time doesn't solve all of our remote work problems. Yes, it can make communication more concise and efficient. Yes, it can help us think better about problems. And yes, it can also create better opportunities for people, regardless of their location, to be part of consensus and decision-making. But that comes at a price. Spending too much time without interacting with other people can be detrimental to our mental health and happiness because we are fighting ourhumanity: the main human characteristic that we have used over time to distinguish ourselves as a species.
At the start of the mass work-from-home shift during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, it was reported that the replacement of face-to-face meetings with video calls left many people suffering from a false sense of intimacy that left themI fight for life face to face. Several theories have speculated that our brains found it difficult to switch so suddenly from a physical world of connection through presence, voice, and body language to a world of lower resolution and, at times, an irregular alternative.
Spending too much time away from people can take a toll on our mental health, especially when the number of people we see in our personal lives is small. So, if it weren't for this article, you might have concluded that remote work would be better when you can efficiently share ideas and progress completely asynchronously. However, over time, you would feel less and less connected to other people.And there is a high probability that you will also feel less happy.
We can add a final quality to our spectrum with a nod to Dark Souls. As brave warriors on our remote work adventure, we will feelhumanoroco?
What you need to do to feel happier and more human is occasionallybreak the rules.
Yes, you are ignoring everything I said in the other two articles.
There is a balance between efficiency and feeling part of a community of others. You should ask yourself every day if you feel more or less connected to others. You must check in with yourself regularly and make sure, dear adventurer, that you aren't getting anywhere with us. As it turns out, there are plenty of ways to rest in the heat of the proverbial campfire.
What you must do is:
Encourage play.
Deliberately use the wrong communication formats.
Meet other people in person.
Let's look at these in turn.
Let's face it, not everyone spends all of their time at the office doing solid work. Other activities that take place during working hours are a chat with colleagues in the kitchen, a coffee and maybe even a game of table tennis. So why should remote work be any different?
If you are a hard-working, hard-working person, which you probably are, then you easily fall into the trap of overworking at home. With fewer opportunities for ad hoc interactions with your colleagues, you can work even harder than if you were in the office.
Then you have to go. But how? As it turns out, there are a myriad of ways, and they don't require setup or expensive tools.
For example, you could:
Openly encourage opportunities for conversation.Create chat channels or email lists to share information, stories and photos of pets, family or hobbies. This provides a welcome distraction from everyday life and allows colleagues from different areas of the company to get to know each other better. As they would if they were prowling the kitchen. Create channels around office locations, different animals, sports, video game consoles or even pop stars. You can index and link to them in your integration documentation.
Book social time on the calendar.Perhaps you could end your Friday with a virtual happy hour starting at 4:30 pm. Maybe you can hang out with your co-workers over lunch, but virtually. No business talk, just fun talk. Maybe on Thursdays you could end the day with a quick game of online chess or Rocket League; whatever you want.
Work together for fun.For example, you can create a shared playlist on a theme every Friday using your favorite music streaming service. Once a quarter, you can organize a trivia game on a topic of your choice. Or why not have your team watch a recorded conference or lecture while discussing in a chat channel?
Even though messing up isn't really a thingagainYour job is still an integral part of your job. It's easy to default to the mode of execution when working remotely, but in the long run it will drain your batteries and make you feel a lot less connected to others. After all, we work to earn money, master certain skills, and serve our customers, but there are also many good things about getting to know and serving one another.
Deliberately use the wrong communication formats.
Because synchronous communication gives you more ways to feel connected with others, sometimes you just need to be more synchronous, even if it's more inefficient. (Yes, you must be intentionally inefficient. I know it's hard.)
Here are some ideas for encouraging more synchronous interactions:
Maintain regular virtual office hours. This works especially well if you're a senior engineer. Set aside some of your focus time during the week to openly work on a video call that anyone can join. Less experienced engineers can learn a lot by watching your work, and they can ask you questions as you work. Also, others can share and discuss their own work on the canvas and get support if needed.
Pair the program remotely. With each iteration, pick a ticket and team up with someone else on your team. Many IDEs now offer remote pair programming capabilities.
Check a pull request synchronously. Instead of going the usual asynchronous way of reviewing a pull request, why not invite a few reviewers to watch it on a video call with you? This lets you step through the code, discuss problems and solutions, and connect with others along the way. If you can't organize a live collaboration, a good option is to record a video explaining how you approach the code changes and embed it in the description of the pull request.
(Video) Usain Bolt Ultimate Happy & Hardwork Video | Part 3-Alan Walker Spectre Version | Future BabyHave a silent meeting over a written document. If you've written a document with an idea or design for others to review, consider keeping asilent meeting.In a silent meeting, everyone gets together and reads the document together while talking on the phone. Then, when everyone is finished, the discussion can take place synchronously, with one person taking notes. Not only can this lead to greater connection with others, but it can also lead to more productive group behavior as everyone is on the same page when the discussion starts.
If you want to inject a little positive chaos into operations, occasionally try to find ways for many people to work together synchronously in real time. For example, the whole team could usemob programmingfor some of your tasks, or all of you can try writing a design document together over the phone. At least this will be fun. Just don't tell them I suggested you occasionally change the font color to white and tell them that weird technical issues are going on.
No matter how you try to simulate human interaction, it's impossible to replicate. So if you can't beat them then join them in person. If you're working remotely but are in a location close to some of your colleagues, try to find some time to meet up.
However, there are some rules I want to apply:
Meet at work time. You were chatting in the kitchen while people had lunch, so you can do that remotely too. Forcing social activity early in the morning or late at night basically sets a bad example by saying, "This is a social thing and we don't do social things during the work day." Well, you would do it in an office. Building relationships and relationships with your colleagues is an important activity that should also take place during working hours.
do something nice. You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money to eat out or pay for admission unless you want to. Instead, there are lots of fun and free things you can do, like: For example, go on a nature walk, explore a cool landmark in your city, or if you like it, go jogging or cycling together.
Try not to talk about work unless it's helpful.. Since you work together, it probably goes without saying that you talk a little bit about work. However, try not to make this the main focus of the meeting; Activity choice can have a real impact here. Instead, meeting outside of work when you're working remotely means getting to know each other as people, not just analysts, engineers or researchers. See if you can get to know your colleagues on a deeper, more human level. This will improve your interactions at work while working remotely as it's harder to get frustrated with Steve the human as opposed to Steve the chat guy who always manages to seem passive-aggressive about things put together.
If you don't live close to your co-workers, you can do all of the above activities with your family, friends or pets. If that's not an option, make sure you stay away from your computer and socialize regularly during your workday. This could mean working occasionally in a coffee shop, coworking space, or participating in meetings and conversations in your area. As much as we dreamed as teenagers of being able to stay in our rooms forever, there are times when we too need to restore balance.
This concludes our three-part series on the spectrum of synchronicity. We learned all about:
The spectrum between synchronous and asynchronous communication and which methods to use when communicating.
(Video) GOOD Consultancy V/S FAKE Consultancy | Jobs In Kolkata | Private jobs In kolkata | Kolkata Jobs | BThe correlation between asynchronous communication and artifact persistence and some best practices for managing them.
When working remotely, there is a constant tension between the desire for efficiency and the need to feel connected to others. Sometimes we have to break the rules on purpose.
I hope you found this series helpful.