Joining ITV during a pandemic
I’ve been at ITV for around twelve weeks. I joined as an Engineering Manager during the height of lockdown in the UK, back when we could only exercise outdoors once a day and the streets were eerily quiet. I’m one of a growing number of people in ITV Technology who started a new job remotely. Now feels like a good time to reflect on my first few weeks and what it’s been like for me, the people I work with, and share some top tips for others starting a new role online.
Welcome to ITV
It was the anticlimactic thunk of a laptop lid snapping shut that signalled the end of my previous job. There was no last hurrah till three in the morning; just a Deliveroo washed down with a nice wine off the rack. Similarly, when I joined ITV, there was no ceremonial putting-on of the lanyard, no complimentary coffee mug or Love Island water bottle. Instead, my day started with a DPD delivery — my laptop.
The “new face” effect
When you start a job “in person”, you stand out — you are conspicuous, an unfamiliar face. People see you at your desk, looking dazed. They come up and say “How do you do?”, and tell you who they are, what they do, where they sit — maybe they mention that everyone goes down to lunch at midday, and you’d be really welcome to join. Joining from home, this can’t happen — you just aren’t as visible. You’re going to meet people, but it’s going to take time. You have to make more of a conscious effort but, as I’ve discovered, it is possible, and there are even some upsides.
There’s a few of us who’ve joined in a similar way, and we have been experimenting a little with the ‘donut’ app that introduces you to random people from across the business. Together with some chance encounters in Zoom breakout rooms, you find you’re able to meet people pretty easily. You may even find that you meet people from across the business earlier, as in the absence of any geographical limitations — everyone is just a Google Hangout away. I’ve joined ITV Pride, the LGBT+ Network, it’s a great way to meet people — again, not just from my department but from all over ITV.
TIP 1: Experiment with remote ways of meeting people outside of your work meetings — explore networks, try the Slack ‘Donut’ app or similar, and remember, everyone’s closer than you think.
Who do I ask?
When you start a new job, it’s completely normal to experience a pretty dramatic reduction in your productivity . Overnight you go from being someone who knows almost everything to someone who knows almost nothing; someone who knows everyone to someone who knows no-one. It’s no different when you start remotely, and if anything, you may be more aware of it.
When you’re in an office and have a question, you can turn to the person next to you, or anyone in your general vicinity, pretty secure in the knowledge they’ll be working at least vaguely in a related area. By contrast if you start remotely, you’re instead presented with an alphabetised list of everyone in the company. In time you’ll have a pool of go-to people, but don’t worry if this takes a while — and don’t be afraid of asking the wrong person; you’ll always learn something.
If you’re wondering what you could do to help colleagues who start remotely, take a minute to check that you have a photo of yourself in your Slack profile, and an up-to-date job title. When we join a company based in a physical office, the layout often becomes our reference point for who does what. We don’t remember that Mark does Product, we remember seeing Mark when we were on the second floor, where the product people are. Without that frame of reference, we are more reliant on digital information. During my first few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time looking people up on the Intranet, I can highly recommend Slack “sections” for grouping people and channels.
TIP 2: (Part a) Get to know what tools you have for finding out who people are and what they do, but don’t be afraid to ask someone if you don’t know.
(Part b) If you are onboarding people remotely, encourage your teams to update their online profiles (Slack, email etc) this will really help new starters.
Managing humans
An important part of my job as a Manager is just that — “managing” people. There are many approaches to being an Engineering Manager, but whatever your style is, it’s important that people feel comfortable talking to you. This is particularly crucial at the moment, where as an organisation we only know what people choose to tell us, or share in a public channel. We’re only seeing you in 2D, perhaps in a grid with other 2D torsos — and even then, that’s only if you choose to use your camera, and using your camera all day is undeniably quite tiring.
It was the lack of this face-to-face “IRL” interaction that I was particularly anxious about. I wondered how I would be able to foster meaningful relationships with people if I only see them over Hangouts? I was concerned that people would be put off by the fact they were going to be managed remotely. In fact, everyone’s taken the weirdness completely in their stride. Yes Google Hangouts come with their own set of potential pitfalls and awkward moments, but it’s part of the fun. We can’t go for a walk together to get out of the office, but we can do a walking catchup over the phone. No screen required, and you both get a good dose of fresh air — this has been one of my favourite lockdown discoveries. A note of caution though; check the weather forecast before you head out!
TIP 3: Remember we are all humans — mix up your communication style, try different ways of getting to know colleagues and recognise the challenges.
Prioritise your wellbeing
I have to remind myself sometimes that we aren’t just working from home, we’re working from home during a pandemic. No-one feels massively productive all the time, new starter or otherwise. We all know what we should be doing — get outside, keep moving, take regular breaks, favour productivity over availability. Try not to beat yourself up if you don’t manage to do it every day. I’ve got a recurring appointment for “Mindful Mondays” in my calendar, I’m currently at about fifty percent attendance. Some days I’m great at prioritising my wellbeing, and other days I get to 4pm and I realise I’ve forgotten to eat my lunch — nobody is perfect and I’m far from it; but it’s important to have something to aim towards.
Tip 4: Prioritise your wellbeing — remember we aren’t just working from home, we’re working from home during a pandemic.
In summary, I was incredibly excited to start this new chapter in my career at ITV, and when I realised I’d be starting remotely I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but I needn’t have worried — I’m having a blast! It was always going to be challenging, and lockdown has contributed to that, but as we continue to welcome people to the team remotely, I’m glad I’ve had this opportunity to experience the process first-hand.
