Remote control? How to organize work in Corona times and what we can learn from Open Source communities FrOSCon, August 23, 2020 Jutta Horstmann . eyeo . Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Remote collaboration in Open Source communities Remote in companies similarities and differences Examples from a hybrid approach - pre-Corona How to organize remote work in a global pandemic 2

Remote collaboration in Open Source communities

Developing software as an Open Source project requires the ability to involve any contributor irrespective of their → location, → timezone, → or working hours. 4

▪ Asynchronous ▪ Written ▪ Volunteers ▪ Tooling for collaboration and communication ▪ Yearly conferences ▪ Regular local user groups 5

“Doing remote” in companies

Varieties of remote work Distributed vs. Dispersed 7

Varieties of remote work Fully remote vs. Sometimes 8

Varieties of remote work Settlers vs. Digital Nomads 9

Varieties of remote work Fully-remote Remote-first Remote-friendly Remote by default Hybrid 10

Cool Best talent Diversity Family-friendly Inclusive Eco-friendly 11

Cool Best talent Sucks Remote to the team Diversity Timezones Family-friendly Crappy connection Inclusive Conference calls Eco-friendly Loneliness 12

▢ Global talent pool Why remote ▢ Lower salaries ▢ Mergers and acquisitions ▢ Closer to customers ▢ Diverse teams ▢ Happy workforce 13

Remote Strategy 14

Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 15

Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 16

Remote Strategy Business Goals Leadership Remote Culture Collaboration Commu-n ication Co-Located 17

Remote Strategy ▢ Hiring strategy ▢ Onboarding strategy ▢ Education and training ▢ Communication policies ▢ Team building ▢ Tooling ( → Privacy!) ▢ Remote facilitation ▢ Workplace experience 18

Remote strategy of Open Source communities ▢ Hiring strategy → Worldwide ▢ Onboarding strategy → RTFM ▢ Education and training → Code review, code sprints ▢ Communication policies ▢ Team building → Netiquette, Code of Conduct ▢ Tooling ( → Privacy!) → Conferences, User groups ▢ Remote facilitation → Git{Hub,Lab}, mailing lists… → Async communication 19

Examples from a hybrid approach pre-Corona

eyeo… Who?

Open source Most popular browser extension worldwide #1 ad blocker 22

We create a AUTHORITIES sustainable and fair ecosystem by building, monetizing and distributing USERS ADVERTISERS ad blocking technologies for everyone and everything online. PUBLISHERS SOLUTIONS 23

44% Cologne 39% Remote 13% Berlin 4% Malmö 100% Home Office 24

Remote at eyeo - “Open Source heritage” ▪ Public asynchronous written communication ▪ Public documentation ▪ Public work tracking ▪ Individual working hours ▪ Free choice of topics to work on 25

Clash of cultures - Building a for-profit business on an Open Source project ▪ Public tooling vs Business confidentiality ▪ Long waiting times vs Agile flow ▪ Individualism vs Team work 26

eyeo’s Remote Strategy Remote Fitness Tooling Workplace experience Trust building 27

Remote Fitness 28

Tooling 29

Trust Building 30

Workplace Experience 31

How to organize remote work in a global pandemic

What happened ▪ End of Feb: 1st encounter with infected person ▪ March 7: Closing Cologne office ▪ March 14: Closing all offices; Travel ban ▪ Lockdowns and curfews ▪ Schools and kindergartens closed ▪ 12 people quarantined, 3 positive ▪ All in-person company and team events canceled 33

Crisis management Goal:

  1. Set up Corona Task Force Keep everybody safe
  2. Set up communication and information channels Keep productivity up
  3. Set everybody up for “new normal” 4. Create emergency plans 5. Learn & improve 34

Communication ▪ Mailings ▪ Intranet: Weekly updates ▪ Corona News Hub ▪ FAQ ▪ #coronavirus Channel ▪ AllHands presentations 35

Set everybody up for “new normal” ▪ 2 Corona Community days ▪ Get equipment from the offices ▪ 100€ extra office allowance ▪ Ensure tools’ scalability ▪ Corona Family Care 36

Improve tooling ▪ Video call: More connections ▪ Ensure scalability and stability ▪ 24/7 helpdesk ▪ Better chat tool: Mattermost ▪ Whiteboard / flipchart tool: Mural ▪ Games ▪ Security & Privacy! 37

Ensure team collaboration ▪ Daily in-person standups ▪ Team agreements ▪ Remote facilitation trainings ▪ Remote team days 38

Keep us together as a company ▪ #coronavirus channel ▪ Blogs ▪ Always-on video call ▪ Virtual drinks ▪ Online lunches / games ▪ Cross-company “Summer week” ▪ Cross-company “Hackathon” ▪ “Happy Hour” for serendipity 39

Vacation / Staycation 40

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eyeo Corona mood curve We can do it! We’re all in this together! ? Set us up properly Home schooling Video call fatigue Isolation Pandemic! Stay at home! Getting used to it Adapting 42

Aren’t we there yet…? ▪ Lock down ▪ Curfew ▪ Kids at home ▪ Caring for parents ▪ Trying to achieve goals ▪ Covering for colleagues 43

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Mental Health Support ▪ Online Yoga - twice/week ▪ Online meditation - daily ▪ Leadership trainings ▪ InstaHelp & therapist ▪ Keep 2019 vacation days ▪ Descoping & de-parallelizing ▪ Re-opening the offices? 45

Office Re-Entry? ▪ Re-Entry Plan - since April ▪ Involve Medical and Workplace Security advisor ▪ Innovation Jam project 46

What’s next? ▪ Aug: In-person Team Days pilot ▪ Sep: Corona Office Re-Entry? ▪ Sep: Influenza vaccinations ▪ Oct: Remote Ad Blocker Dev Summit ▪ Oct: Next cross-company remote event? ▪ Dec: Christmas party - in person? 47

Old normal COVID-19 times Video calls: 150 people in same call Video calls: 150 people in same call Onboarding: 2 weeks in Cologne Remote onboarding eyeo lunch crew Remote lunch time together After hour beer on the office terrace Virtual drinks Meet at the coffee machine Always-on video call; Random chat-roulette Flipcharts and whiteboards Mural: Virtual whiteboards, post-its… Summer week June Remote Event Hackathon Remote Hackathon and Innovation Jam Yoga in the offices Online Yoga Board game night Lunch games - Jackbox, Drawful… 48

Take-Aways

Take-Away #1 Working remotely under normal circumstances is different from during a pandemic.

Take-Away #2 Be approachable. Share your stories. Stay kind.

Take-Away #3 Nothing beats an in-person encounter.

Thank you. Questions? Find me on Twitter: @smphr LinkedIn: jhorstmann Mail: j.horstmann@eyeo.com 53