Starting a job remotely at Missguided

What helped me settle in quickly in my new role.

I started as a software engineer during the Covid era, so I have always worked remotely since day one. Missguided is the second organisation I have worked for, and for me, starting a remote job is not new.

I joined Missguided as a Node.js software engineer in the Checkout and Processing (CAP) team. My role involves adding new features to the existing codebase or fixing a current bug. Joining an organisation with an existing codebase is quite challenging. I have to be familiar with the current setup and implementation before I can do my job well.

I am into my second month working at Missguided, and I am confident enough to say that I have settled well in my team. I say this because:

1. I am comfortable with the code base and need little to no help to complete a standard ticket.

2. If I have questions about implementing a ticket, I know how and where to seek help to do well in my role.

This article will cover what has helped me settle in quickly in Missguided.

Weekly line manager check-in

For the first week, my line manager checked in with me almost every day. This regular check-in helped ensure that my orientation went well and technical or admin issues got resolved promptly. The meeting with my manager after the first week took place weekly after that. Again, this weekly check-in is valuable to ensure that I was settling in well, promptly addressing any problems or queries I had.

Look through pull requests

Looking through pull requests helps me understand the codebase better. It helps me focus my understanding on how the code in specific files works to implement a specific feature or fix a particular bug.

I would say that looking at one pull request is like looking at a piece of jigsaw. The more pull requests I looked at, the more I can see how these jigsaw pieces fit together to form a complete picture.

I felt this has helped me understand more of the code base quicker.

Pick up small tickets.

I learn things better and faster by doing. Hence for me, the best way to learn is to pick up a ticket — this was after a week of orientation. At Missguided, we size our tickets by story points. I picked up my first small ticket in my second week.

Similar to looking through a pull request, implementing a ticket has helped me focus on being familiar with only the parts of the codebase required for the ticket. My knowledge of the codebase grew as I picked up more and more small tickets. I also became more confident at picking up more tickets with more story points.

Pair Programming

In the CAP team at Missguided, we do not practice a lot of pair programming. However, I sought out my colleagues to pair-program with in the first few weeks. The benefits of pair programming are enormous. However, I would like to focus on how pair programming has helped me quickly settle in at Missguided.

The main advantage of pair programming in this instance is that it helps me learn the ins and outs of the code base quicker than if I were to go through the vast code base on my own. It is good to code with a person with experience in the codebase. They can help signpost what each part of the codebase does, and this has helped me get up and running independently faster.

An added plus is that I get to sneak in a casual conversation or two to be better acquainted with my colleagues!

Ask Questions

Asking questions is something I did a lot during the first few weeks, which I still do now. Asking questions enable me to clarify issues when in doubt. Also, the more questions I ask, the more information I learn, and with more knowledge, I would be able to settle in more quickly and do my job better.

The following points are more about settling in my role quicker by participating in activities that help me build rapport with my current colleagues and teammates. The reason for establishing a rapport with my colleagues is to facilitate better communication and collaboration. It also improves my team’s psychological safety.

Building a connection with my colleagues and teammates has made me more comfortable seeking help for any blockers I face. Thus, helping me settle in my role quicker.

Team building games, coffee time, and random coffee

Regular check-ins and interactions with a core group of people can help improve your psychological safety with your teammates or colleagues. However, one of the difficulties of remote working is that there is hardly any chance of you having casual conversations with your colleagues at work.

At Missguided, we have several opportunities to interact and have regular check-ins with our teammates or colleagues. We have a weekly random coffee pairing generated in Slack. We can take the opportunity to have a remote coffee session with a random colleague at Missguided and widen the circle of colleagues working at Missguided. We also put aside 5 minutes to play a round of games at stand-up every morning. Also, every Thursday, our team has half an hour of coffee time for random conversations or usually a game of scribbl.io.

I have enjoyed taking part in these opportunities, and these have helped me bond better with my teammates and colleagues.

Make an effort for casual conversation

There is always a chance to bump into your colleagues and say hi when working in the office. However, it is harder to have casual conversations with any of your colleagues at work unless you make a concerted effort to do it with remote working.

I always take the time to sneak in a bit of small talk with my colleagues through Slack when I message them regarding work. Through more interaction with my colleagues, I would build more trust and honesty between us, thus enabling us to collaborate better with openness, equanimity, and trust. Working well with my colleagues has helped me settle comfortably in my role.

Give praise for a job well done, or say thank you for someone’s help and support.

It is always good to acknowledge when someone does a good job or goes out of the way to help you. However, this applies even more when you are a new starter and working in a remote setting. By doing this, you build a better rapport with your colleagues, which would help you work effectively together in the future.

One way in which Missguided encourages its employees to give praise is to send an ecard through Missguided’s Wanna platform. It is more challenging to do this if you are working remotely, but I always make an effort to reach out to my colleagues through Wanna or Slack.

Starting a job in a new organisation can be pretty challenging when it is remote. Often, I have to make extra effort to reach out to my colleagues because they are not sitting next to me or even in the same room; compared to working in the office. Not knowing anyone in person can make it even harder to settle in my new role quickly.

The points that I have mentioned above have helped me settle in Missguided quicker than I have hoped. Even so, I have not had the chance to interact with a lot of my colleagues. But I am looking forward to my future experiences in Missguided.