Community Tips and Ideas for Remote Work During COVID-19 Crisis

The post COVID-19 world is a changed one.

Processes that worked smoothly only five months ago are no longer applicable. While non-essential brick and mortar stores are either shutting down or moving online, many development teams and agencies appear to be operational.

The new reality is that IT teams (even the on-site teams) are now working from home or remote locations.

While working remotely is nothing new for some developers, the enforced remote work policies represent a huge change for most teams and agencies. This presented new (and often unprecedented) challenges as the workflows and production pipelines undergo major shifts.

We asked developers around the world about these challenges and their solutions, what tools they have incorporated into their workflows, what practices they are following, and how individual developers and teams are adjusting to the new norm.

Do Developers Need to Be On-Site at All During the Pandemic?

Tricky though it may be to adjust to a new work routine, the good news is that it’s more suited to the job descriptions of developers. In fact, certain organizations, such as GitLab, had already fully implemented remote working procedures even before the pandemic hit.

According to Malte Scholz, co-founder of software solution Airfocus, remote work resulted in more productive developers from the very first day. Letting developers decide their own hours actually helped them become more task-focused and results-oriented.

“We have a few developers working for us and we have been working remotely since day one – we launched about three years ago. In three years, we learned how they prefer to work, and by far, the biggest obstacle has been a fixed work schedule. Development is not something that requires you to be present for 8 hours per day, so we established some ground rules.

Every Monday, we hand out assignments and on Friday, we check if everyone has done their part for the week. That way, they can work whenever they want or as much as they want. Someone works at their best at 10 AM, others do their finest work at midnight. As long as goals are met, we don’t care when our development works or whether they work for 3 or 8 hours per day. We pay them for the results, not the amount of time they spend in front of their screens.”

William Shelor, Software Engineer at Premise Data, agrees.

“In many ways, we were born for this. Development in a prolonged remote situation is probably the easiest field out there to make the transition, as 90% of our work is done on a laptop and can be done from literally anywhere. I did have an interesting conversation lately (from a distance, of course!) with one of my neighbors who is at Microsoft, and was talking about what a challenge this is for a lot of companies that aren’t cloud-first … and rapidly had to move their on-premise machines to be remotely accessible/enable VPN for their team to equip them to work from anywhere.”

A 2019 Dice Salary Survey revealed that 73% of tech professionals considered remote working options to be a significant perk, even though only about 49% of employers offered it at the time. Developers need to be extremely focused as they work on translating user requirements into code components, and noisy open offices are simply not the best fit for their work. What’s more, developers can best leverage APIs and integrations to optimally use tools such as Asana, Trello, and Slack. Additionally, given their background and expertise, developers are better than the average employee in observing cybersecurity protocols and handling sensitive data

Developers Face Unique Challenges as They Work From Home

Although work-from-home is a great fit for the way developers work, a deviation from the established protocols still presents challenges.

We sent some queries out to developers and software agencies regarding these challenges, and here’s what they had to say about the issues they faced.

Insufficient Face-to-Face Interaction

According to Dmytro Okunyev, founder of Chanty, the lack of in-person collaboration somewhat dehumanizes the job. It can even be demotivating to be unable to see your co-workers.

“The biggest problem for our in-house developers has actually been that they cannot come in and see everyone at the company headquarters. We always had the option of working remotely at Chanty, it’s just that very few of us actually used it. People worked remotely mostly in cases when they felt ill or they needed to take care of some things at home.

Our developers’ main complaint is that they cannot come to the office and collaborate in person. No amount of video calls can replace actual physical contact and at this point, we are all tired of it but slowly getting used to it. When this pandemic is over, we are definitely not switching to full remote work, even though it may be desired. The best way to work is when you can see the people you collaborate with.”

This echoes the observations of Professor Richard Arvey, Department Head of Management and Organisation at National University of Singapore Business School. He notes that the absence of personal interactions leads to more formality between team members, and lowers the chances of building informal relationships and understandings. It also limits new hires’ ability to fully understand their organizational roles, as well as organizational culture.

Time Management

While developers may find it more productive to make their own hours, certain elements of remote working can make time management less efficient, as William Shelor of Premise Data notes.

“I have found that conversations that could previously be a quick “stop-by-desk” are now meetings, which means I’m spending a lot more time in meetings than I was before.”

Tim Absalikov, co-founder and CEO of Lasting Trend, also faced time management problems.

“The biggest problem is the reconfiguration of the workflow – it took a lot of time and took up enough energy. Besides, there are fears of a decrease in wages due to the instability of both the global economy and the local one in particular.”

Has the Shift to Remote Work Been Smooth for Developers?

From the responses to our queries, it seems that despite the challenges involved in working from home, most developers are able to adjust to the new way without too much trouble.

For one Reddit user, vinegarnutsack, there isn’t much of an operating difference.

“We all work together all day in Slack, which is what we have been doing for years anyway.

We have a stand up meeting at the very beginning and end of the day via Zoom. This ensures that everyone is out of bed and actually working, and has a plan of action for the day, and can clue in other people that may need to help or drop into projects.

So far so good. This really feels like the same thing we have been doing, just like not altogether in the same office.”

Another Reddit contributor, Kromdur had similar sentiments.

“I have been working as a remote dev for over a decade. Daily scrum over Webex and Slack, ad hoc screen sharing sessions for the rest. No problems at all if you are self-directed and able to prioritize your work. The bigger challenge would be the old 4-hour commute which would have resulted in me quitting a long time ago.”

For Garethp, another Reddit user, adjusting to the shift came down to comfortable ergonomics, effective hardware, and human interaction.

“Well, due to restrictions for my workplace, our Paired Programming is limited to Slack over a VPN with really old workplace issued laptops, but other than that the software tools we use are pretty much the same as before.

That being said, I think when working from home for a prolonged period of time, it’s important to look at the physical workspace you’re using. I had already done a full-time remote contract at the beginning of last year, so I was prepared: Good desk, great monitor, the same keyboard and mouse I used at work. The only thing I ended up upgrading was my chair.

I’ve seen my coworkers go from “We have a laptop, we can work anywhere in the house, I don’t need to try and fit a proper desk in my house. There’s not enough space anyway” to “Working from the couch/bed/wherever is killing my back. I can’t wait for my table/chair to arrive”. I’ve seen my wife go from “Any chair is fine, we don’t need to spend a couple of hundred dollars for me” to “I might just get the same chair as you, this isn’t good for me”.

So consider your workspace. If you think you’re in this for the long haul, being comfortable in your workspace is important. With that out of the way, here’s my list of what I’ve got:

Logitech 4k Brio – We don’t actually use video calling at my current work, but it was nice to have an actual good webcam at my previous place where we did.

Logitech G613 – I like mechanical keyboards, and I like them wireless. Having 2.4Ghz and Bluetooth connections make it easy to switch between the home computer and work laptop.

Logitech MX Master 3 – I like my mouse wireless too. It also has a dongle + Bluetooth setup.

Arctis Wireless Pro – Decent headphones for gaming, a good mic with a physical mute switch for when you’re on a call and need to do something.

Acer Z35P – 35″ extra ultra-wide. One monitor to make up for not having dual monitors. Personally, I wouldn’t buy this just for working from home (it’s a tad pricey), but I would recommend getting a cheapish ultra-wide monitor.

Some random monitor arms – I like my monitors to be a bit higher up for ergonomics. Also saves on desk space.

Noble chair – It’s pricey, but my butt is comfy and doesn’t get tired at the end of the workday.

PS4 – If I’m not pair programming, I can watch some TV while working. Have two controllers and audio cables, so that if my wife is on a call I can listen through headphones and vice versa.

And one last thing about my setup. I used to have a home office when I was working from home and my wife wasn’t. When she started to, I moved my desk into the lounge room with hers. We’re already self-isolating at home, there’s no need to feel even more isolated while being at home. Sure, you might find it harder to work without distractions when there are people around. But what’s more important, optimal efficiency at work or feel like you’ve got some human contact during the workday?”

The Tools to Facilitate Work From Home

Developers use specialized apps and software to smoothen the work-from-home processes. Most teams are already using video conferencing software like Zoom, communication management applications like Slack, project management software like Trello, and team collaboration software like Asana.

Apart from these, our responders also recommended some tools that would be especially helpful for developers.

Pinpoint

Austin-based company Pinpoint recently released a new engineering operations dashboard that aims to unify all team data in one place and helps teams collaborate and communicate with fewer tabs open. The company has a bigger vision for how engineers – remote or not – need better tools to build great stuff.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of a massive change in the way we work. As you know, it’s especially impactful for software engineers, who rely on team collaboration and instant communication to code products into existence (that we’re relying on more and more as we work and socialize and learn from home).

Expert estimates say this shift is here to stay, post-pandemic. As much as 34% of Americans can work remotely, and they’ll continue to do so throughout the next decade. As we prepare for a new long-term reality, we need to change how we build software – because frankly, businesses can’t afford not to.”

Jitsi

Jitsi is a developer-friendly set of open-source projects that lets users create and deploy safe video conferencing solutions. It’s a great tool for developers with privacy concerns and allows for better quality videos with lower latency while supporting scalable video coding and simulcast.

Work From Home Tips for Developers

We’ve compiled some tips from the experts for developers looking to make a comfortable switch to working from home.

Keep It as Normal as Possible

To make the transition easier, it is essential that there should be a minimal deviation from the familiar processes.

For instance, Robert Armstrong of Appstem, is overseeing a variety of services to help with remote work, including Zoom, Slack, Github, Asana, and Google Drive to help with communication and collaboration. Here’s what they have done to keep the workflow processes familiar.

“To help with socializing and boredom we’ve bee doing virtual games nights and happy hours. To help with accountability, we do Monday morning team meetings stating goals and deliverables for the week. We do Friday live demos as a team to review progress and updates. Then we have smaller meetings throughout the week. We also encourage everyone to use video during our meetings, it just seems more personal and engaging.”

Vance, web developer at iPrice, applies much the same principle.

“To cope with prolonged working from home, I have several tips that are quite effective in dealing with the emotional recession.

First, I’m trying to treat this situation as if it’s permanent, so I could adapt and adjust my routine to be more sustainable. This is really helpful since it calms me down instead of avoiding the lockdown situation.

Secondly, I maintain workout sessions at home instead of going out to gyms or sport centers. This activity helps to refresh my mind which is useful for a developer.

Last but not least, I’m using the meditation app (Balance, Calm) to try out the meditation. I’m still at the beginning of practicing concentration, but it does help me sleep better and faster.”

Maintain a Work/Life Balance

For Bill Gecawich of BG Solutions, it’s important to prevent burnout.

“Keep the whole team engaged and energized.

• Have the whole team commit to getting outside during the day; communicate your intentions to foster accountability.
• Break for lunch!
• Stick to a routine; structure your day as if you were in the office.
• And that means, take a shower!
• Establish “no work zones” in your house; the kitchen and bedroom are two places that come to mind.

It also helps to get everyone on the same page and feeling they are a part of the team:

• Have 15-minute standup meetings.
• Use IM status. Show available when you don’t mind if someone reaches out to you and show busy when you don’t want to be interrupted. Respect the status of team members and realize it’s ok to drop in when they are available.
• Have learning sessions or peer working sessions. Pick a topic or a task that needs to be completed and have someone lead the discussion. Many tools today like Visual Studio have Live Share that allows a team to work on code together.

Have fun!

• Check-in with your team members one-on-one occasionally.
• Have a virtual happy hour. Maybe have everyone bring their favorite beverage and explain why they chose that beverage. The good news is no one has to drive home!
• Have a virtual dinner together every so often.
• Have a virtual coffee break together..
• Have an exercise contest using FitBit or Apple Watch or count flights of stairs climbed.”

Structure and Organize Your Work

AirDev is a leader in No-Code development, helping companies of all sizes launch software products in a fraction of the time and cost as traditional developers. For AirDev co-CEO Vlad Leytus, it all comes down to structure.

• “Implement highly structured, API-like communication points between various team members, which include developers. That way the inputs that the developer needs to complete their work are clearly defined and their expected outputs are clearly defined as well.
• Create a clear way that people can get help when they get stuck so that they don’t end up spinning their wheels. We have a Slack channel called the “15-minute rule” which basically means that someone should struggle with a problem for 15 minutes before asking for help.
• Have team video chats that aren’t about work. Work video chats are actually often not really necessary and can be avoided through better-structured work. But there is no substitute for just casually hanging out together, whether in person or online.”

Communicate Effectively, but With a Personal Touch

According to John Kreuch, Director of Technology at Perrill, it is imperative to make time for frequent, planned, and personable communication.

“Just as we did back in the office, my department holds a brief 15-minute scrum each morning. This is our way of making sure we’re all on the same page by discussing ongoing projects, challenges, and wins. As a manager, I’m also scheduling weekly 15-minute, 1:1 meetings with each member of my team to ensure their needs are being met. Beyond that, I encourage the occasional “social call” between coworkers to discuss less work-related topics, as was once common in the hall or break room.

Turn on your webcam! There’s a time and a place for text chat and audio-only calls, but in the age of social distancing, a webcam is a perfect tool for keeping people closely connected. My team recently transitioned to Microsoft Teams for all of our internal communication and being able to see everyone’s face each day is a real difference-maker. Not to mention the faster, more efficient collaboration and ability to easily share screens. I know many developers can be a bit camera shy, but trust me, once you get used to it there’s no going back.”

Wrapping Up

Those are the tips and tools for developers in a work from home setting. Despite the challenges posed by the situation, it’s one that suits developers compared to other professionals.

Keep an eye out for updates to this article as we continue to apprise you on how to work remotely in an effective manner.

If you’ve got any tips or words of wisdom to share, share your comments below.