Collaborative Learning in a Remote World
By Rahat Choudery & Natalie Le
Remote teams have become commonplace in the tech world, and for good reasons. However, one of the challenges remote teams face is avoiding silos. Without the ability to run into people from other teams in the office kitchen or walk past their desks, we could easily find ourselves focused solely on the work that we or our direct team was doing, without paying as much attention to what others at our company were working on or thinking about.
As two engineers early in our careers and working on a remote engineering team at Jetty, our curiosity pushed us to find new ways to overcome this challenge of avoiding silos.
During one of our weekly one-on-one meetings, we discussed the difficulties of mastering code reviews and how college courses cannot prepare you for doing effective code reviews at work. Rather, it’s a skill strengthened over time through practice and exposure.
The difficulties we discussed included:
- Holding ourselves accountable to review code consistently
- Understanding of best practices
- Experiencing hesitation to review code outside of our respective squads
To address these challenges, we decided to meet weekly and review code outside of our comfort zones. Our goal was to deepen our understanding of Jetty products and the systems that enable them. This initiative was driven by our innate curiosity and inspired by Jetty Engineering’s goal to streamline cross-team collaboration in a remote environment.
What began as a small weekly code review session between two engineers grew to include six engineers and eventually the entire data/product/engineering team. We realized that curiosity was a common denominator among all engineers and that it could help us combine individual workspaces into shared virtual ones.
As the group expanded, we discovered the most valuable aspect of the sessions was the diversity of thought and experience. The wide range of perspectives across squads, levels, and roles enhanced the peer code review experience by creating a space for engineers to:
- Exchange ideas and knowledge
- Gain exposure to unfamiliar areas of the codebase
- Discuss best practices to promote code consistency
These sessions are valuable for engineers at all levels and backgrounds and promote cross-team communication and knowledge sharing. Younger engineers can learn code review tricks and tips from more experienced engineers, while more experienced engineers can learn how other squads are organizing and developing in their repositories. The sessions provide an opportunity for colleagues to share knowledge and learn from each other, as well as to dive deep into the work happening outside of their immediate squads.
If you’re interested in hosting a similar meeting with your team, please refer to the attached guide. 😀
Guide to Collaborative Learning in a Remote World
Be vocal about areas of struggle and find people who share them with you
If you’re struggling with something, chances are that you aren’t alone. No one benefits from struggling in silence, so take the initiative to create conversations around your issues! This presents a great opportunity to gain perspectives from people across teams and collaborate toward a solution.
Start small and expand
1:1’s and team meetings are great places to present your struggles and find people who relate. Once you have a few people on board, host a brainstorming session to see what ideas folks have in mind for ways to help. Leverage the perspectives you’ve gathered and find a way to implement them in a way that benefits as many people as possible. This goal is best achieved by starting small and expanding as you refine your approach.
Stay consistent
Consistency is key! The best way to expand and evolve your mission is to initiate and facilitate opportunities for continued conversation. Encourage the group to think ahead and consider potential bumps in the road. Spend a few weeks strategizing with a core group that is invested in pushing it forward. This is a great time to experiment with ideas on a smaller scale, gather/address feedback, and iron out any details that might present issues with a larger group.
Be inclusive
Once you’ve gained your footing, extend an invite to peers across teams by adding an optional, recurring meeting to their calendars. Spread the word by announcing your initiative in full-team meetings and shared channels or presenting it to a broader group. Every new perspective is a valuable one that presents a learning opportunity, so the more the merrier! Pretty soon, you’ll have created a safe space for your peers to maximize personal and professional growth, deepen their understanding of work outside of their own, and meet with people they don’t work with on a day-to-day basis.
