We live and work in an increasingly mobile world. Once upon a time, to integrate our work and home lives, we would have carried a diary, files of information, pens, paper, notebooks, perhaps a calculator. Nowadays, everything we need to work efficiently on the move is available at the touch of a button on our laptops, tablets and mobile phone. Cloud- based systems offer the opportunity for us to access our work files remotely, and the advent of email, Skype and WhatsApp means we can be in the office when we are not actually in the office. Our lives have been revolutionised, and working on the move has become a reality.
Integrating teams on the move
The overarching aim of DevOps is to integrate different teams within an organisation as closely as possible in order to make work processes more fluid and efficient. But how can you integrate teams when they are working flexibly and remotely? How can you ensure that the ball is not dropped when your teams are not available to meet every day, every week, or, given the global nature of many modern businesses, almost never?
There are certainly challenges to managing DevOps on the move, with a major change in culture and a shift in working methods being required. There is, however, much you can do to ensure that your teams interact successfully even when they do not share a physical space. As with all effective working processes the Big C is the buzzword here – communication. Get the communication between your DevOps teams working at an optimum level so that they remain fully immersed in each other’s operations on the move and you have a solid foundation for an effective mobile working relationship. Here are our top tips for fostering and maintaining DevOps team integration on the move:
1. Embrace all the tech at your disposal to maximize engagement between teams on the move
Mobile tech has never been more accessible, usable and affordable. There are of course, hundreds of different apps you can use to ensure the successful integration of teams on the move. Broadly, mobile tools fall into three categories:
Communication and Scheduling tools
Skype and Skype for Business – offering instant messaging, file sharing, audio and video calls along with the capability of connecting your landline or mobile number to Skype so there is no call to remember multiple contact details.
WhatsApp – offering instant messaging, file sharing, audio and video calls, private and group chats.
Shared calendars – whether used through Outlook, Google or similar, help you keep track of who is where, when, and why.
‘Old school’ methods such as texting, emailing and the good old-fashioned telephone.
Workload Management Tools
Various free tools – such as OneNote, Evernote and the like – enable you to make and share simple lists and tasks. More advanced programmes offer additional functionality are also widely available – a few are outlined below.
Trello – list tasks on various boards for team members to view, both private and public boards can be set up and a series of boards can be used to manage workflow from start to finish.
Project Place – allows managers and team members to view tasks and projects, and team members to add in a status to say whether they feel comfortable with their current workload.
Drop Task – uses a mapping system to enable you to view the status and progress of a team’s projects, organise workflow and set alerts and reminders.
File Sharing
Such as Apple’s Cloud based service, OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox. Files can be sorted and filed in folders and access can be open to all team members or restricted by a password.
2. Schedule regular meetings – virtually!
With all the tech outlined above at your disposal, it really shouldn’t be a challenge to schedule regular DevOps meeting with all stakeholders via Skype or similar. The key is not to be lax about scheduling meetings simply because you cannot walk across the office and book everyone in. Regular daily, weekly and monthly meetings scheduled at a set date in shared calendars ensures that participants treat virtual meetings in much the same way as they would have treated a physical team meeting in the past.
3. Don’t forget the power of face to face – but don’t get too hung up on the physical space
Despite the fact that it is entirely possible
to run an effective operation with teams in other offices, cities or countries and never the twain shall meet, it is still important to remember that there is no substitute for occasional face to face communication. Face to face communication is indisputably king, and is still the primary method by which we forge and cement functional relationships both professional and personal. Without face to face communication, we also miss out on all the non-verbal nuances and body language which make up a staggering 97% of human communication.
Arranging physical meetings does not have to mean that teams need to work within close proximity however. In our agile world, opportunities abound for meeting in cafes, hotels and even airports, so not having a fixed physical space should not present a significant barrier to face to face communication. A word of caution however – if you are meeting in a public space be aware of all the usual security issues – check the integrity of the Wi-Fi, protect your data and ensure that confidential conversations cannot be overheard.
Des Nnorchiri
Des Nnochiri has a Master’s Degree (MEng) in Civil Engineering with Architecture, and spent several years at the Architectural Association, in London. He views technology with a designer’s eye, and is very keen on software and solutions which put a new wrinkle on established ideas and practices. He now writes for markITwrite across the full spectrum of corporate tech and design. In previous lives, he has served as a Web designer, and an IT consultant to The Learning Paper, a UK-based charity extending educational resources to underprivileged youngsters in West Africa. A film buff and crime fiction aficionado, Des moonlights as a novelist and screenwriter. His short thriller, “Trick” was filmed in 2011 by Shooting Incident Productions, who do location work on “Emmerdale”.