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Journals by EmailEver since I began my job, I’ve benefited from having my desk with the development team. This has gained me a place in their consciousness so that they remember more than they otherwise would to keep me in the loop.
However, a move is coming up for our department, and as a User Education Team, we’ve talked about the possibility of being located together. I’m a little excited at the possibility because we could gain a lot from working next to each other. We would be able to ask each other questions, get opinions on our work, and collaborate better if we sat together.
Of course, we recognize the need to be seen by the development teams we work with, so we would continue to participate in scrums and other team meetings. But I would miss being able to look around and see if someone I need to talk to is at his desk.
Right now, I’m in a bit of a lucky circumstance because my desk is almost at a hub between three different teams. I have quick access to a lot of people. Still, the fact that I work on multiple projects means that I have to use various means to get information and don’t sit next to everyone. I have to use IM and other means to get information (including getting off my derriere and walking around).
Either way we end up being arranged after we relocate, I’ll have limited access to some people and ready access to others. I will continue to need IM, email, and the phone to get work done.
I’m hoping that the User Education Team does get to sit together. I think we could gain a lot from sitting together. It would help us develop more of a team atmosphere and style to our work by constantly consulting with each other and looking over each other’s shoulders. Maybe it won’t work and we’ll be able to shift back to sit with the development teams. But I think it’s well worth a shot.
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1 Comment to 'The Team I’d Like to Sit With'
February 10, 2009
I hope it works for you, even though my gut says it won’t (sorry!).
Sitting with the developers is, as you say, a way of reminding them of the documentation/user education needs, I fear that without that reminder they will fall back to the habit of whatever is easiest for them (ie. NOT remembering).
May sound harsh but that’s what has happened everywhere else I’ve worked. It’s only now, sitting the writers with the team they are working with, that they seem to realise how important the documentation is.
But hey, happy to be proved wrong!
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