What I learned from starting a new job during the pandemic – CTech
Posted By admin on February 16, 2021
Last month I met my team face to face for the first time. Not a very surprising statement coming from a newcomer to an organization. However, in my case, it happened exactly on my 10th month anniversary of joining the company.
For me, starting a new position always meant spending a lot of time in joint breaks and random discussions in the hallways, until I got to know everyone. This usually also included quite a bit of traveling, visiting my remote teams, to personally experience the different sites.
This time I started a new job without ever leaving home, never having a chance to meet even my local team, not to mention visiting other sites.
The Challenges
Humans are social animals. Social distancing helps in controlling the spreading of diseases but it's bad for teamwork. This is especially felt when you are new to the team and trying to build knowledge and relationships from scratch.
Non-verbal communication - To be an effective leader, you have to connect with your people on a personal level, and empathize with them. A lot of this is based on non-verbal cues, which, even over video conferencing, are often lost on the digital medium.
Free flow of information - Development work is creative work. Innovation is associative in nature. A lot of great ideas come up unintentionally by overhearing a technical conversation. A lot of problems are solved at random ad-hoc discussions. All of this is significantly impacted by the fact there is no office and all conversations are planned and pre-scheduled video conferencing calls.
Dont say it cant be done, be adaptive, and find another way to do it - When everything changes, keep your focus on achieving the results and adapt your methods to the new situation. I was lucky to get a team of fighters. We worked closely remotely, got to know each other through the camera, learned with a virtual whiteboard, brainstormed along with network connection problems, pushed changes by communicating through google excels and slides, improved, and showed success.
There is no substitute for visual contact - Audio calls or emails do not fill the gap of not being able to look somebody in the eyes. Video calls are not a perfect replacement to face to face meetings but it is a significant improvement. In this case, the video part really saved me.
Good vibes and a bucket full of energy - Keeping a good atmosphere is especially important in hard times. A mixture of openness, trust, and a sense of humor can help overcome the fact that our only communication is currently, through digital media and make it feel less cold and more real.
A lot of 1:1s - Under normal circumstances, you get to meet your local colleagues on a daily basis, for coffee, lunch, or just walking past them in the hallways. In these times, the only people you meet are those you Zoom with. And so, if you don't set up a meeting with someone, you are not going to talk to them at all.
Business as usual - At Imperva, we kept up the focus - we recruited and built a new R&D site, without ever visiting it, we made a significant acquisition and we kept running at full speed as if there was no pandemic.
We are already entering 2021 and Covid-19 is still not behind us, but hopefully, this is the beginning of the end.
Although I joined at a difficult time, I am very happy with the choices I made along the way.
I have certainly learned a lot from it all: Striving for success despite the challenges, adapting to changes, and keeping a positive energy and a can-do attitude at rough times.
A good runner is someone that knows how to run when he has hurdles in hteir way. When they recognize a hurdle, they quickly calculate a new path. Team - thank you for this run.
Liat Ashkenazi is the Senior Director Of Engineering and Data Security at Imperva
Read the original post:
What I learned from starting a new job during the pandemic - CTech
- Illinois Governor, Israeli Foreign Minister and Sheba Medical Center CEO Partner on the Chicago ARC Innovation Center to Advance Health Equity - Yahoo... - March 5th, 2021
- Friday With the Fellows: Expressing Identity and Vulnerability Through Art - jewishboston.com - March 5th, 2021
- Jake Cohen embraces the 'ish' in Jewish with his new cookbook - Jewish Insider - March 5th, 2021
- Israeli FM to 1st UAE Amb in Israel: 'Another Historic Day in the Middle East' - The Jewish Voice - March 5th, 2021
- Protecting Ashkenazi Jewish Magic: Preservation Through Storytelling and History - tor.com - March 3rd, 2021
- Israel, US reach behind-the-scenes agreement on Iran, FM says - Ynetnews - March 3rd, 2021
- Israel, Jordan relations warm up, but not thanks to Netanyahu - Al-Monitor - March 3rd, 2021
- Study Shows Loss of Function of PLD1 Gene is Causal to Congenital Heart Disease - Newswise - March 3rd, 2021
- Israel to spend 35m compensating families of children who disappeared - Jewish News - March 3rd, 2021
- IDF prepared to take action to stop Iran from obtaining nukes - Gantz - The Jerusalem Post - February 26th, 2021
- Israel Elections: Stop blaming Gantz, unite to fight the Right - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - February 26th, 2021
- Israel to Pay $50M to Families of Children Who Disappeared in State's Early Years - Jewish Exponent - February 26th, 2021
- Israel offers compensation to families of missing children - Minneapolis Star Tribune - February 26th, 2021
- Illinois Governor, Israeli Foreign Minister and Sheba Medical Center CEO Partner on the Chicago ARC Innovation Center to Advance Health Equity -... - February 26th, 2021
- Israel giving 'symbolic' number of COVID vaccines to Palestinians, other nations - Ynetnews - February 26th, 2021
- The dispute on how to handle Iran could cost us - JNS.org - February 26th, 2021
- Straight or natural: The best hair products for curly hair - Edmonton Journal - February 19th, 2021
- Children are increasingly the casualties of COVID - Ynetnews - February 19th, 2021
- Bidens first call in region will be Netanyahu, White House says - The Jerusalem Post - February 18th, 2021
- Veteran diplomat Gideon Meir dies at 74 - The Times of Israel - February 18th, 2021
- Harris' stepdaughter accidentally highlights the complexity of Jewish identity J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - February 16th, 2021
- Lilly exec resigns after relationship that violated policy - The Republic - February 14th, 2021
- Ins and outs: Changes at Merck, Lilly and Editas - BioProcess Insider - BioProcess Insider - February 14th, 2021
- Israel not the reason Biden hasn't called Netanyahu. What is? - analysis - The Jerusalem Post - February 14th, 2021
- A place in the sun? Assessing the Turkish governments olive branch to Israel - Global Risk Insights - February 14th, 2021
- Dagashiya in decline: The slow fade of a traditional sweets institution - The Japan Times - February 7th, 2021
- This 25-year-old Ashkenazi-British-Sudanese comedian is blowing up on TikTok - Forward - February 6th, 2021
- Maxwell House Haggadah used 1695 art, calmed Ashkenazi nerves (the coffee bean is not a bean) - The Jewish Star - February 3rd, 2021
- Bahrain FM mourns victims of Holocaust in letter to Ashkenazi - The Jerusalem Post - February 3rd, 2021
- Letters to the editor - Wicked Local - February 3rd, 2021
- Verimatrix launches enhanced Application Protection service for Android - Help Net Security - Help Net Security - January 22nd, 2021
- For the first time, a Jew of color will lead pathbreaking diversity group Be'chol Lashon - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - January 22nd, 2021
- Is There a Jewish Link to Cancer? - Atlanta Jewish Times - January 18th, 2021
- Early elections increase indicators of an existential threat to Israel - Middle East Monitor - January 18th, 2021
- For the first time, a Jew of color will lead pathbreaking diversity group Be'chol Lashon - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - January 18th, 2021
- For the first time, a Jew of color will lead Jewish diversity org Be'chol Lashon - The Jewish News of Northern California - January 18th, 2021
- Being a Black Jewish woman in America on Jan. 6 - The Jewish News of Northern California - January 18th, 2021
- New South Philly Shop Pays Homage to Traditional Jewish 'Appetizing Stores,' Features Artisanal Smoked Fish - Jewish Exponent - January 18th, 2021
- Is a Jew Allowed to Eat Synthetic Meat & Then Drink a Dairy Coffee? - Yeshiva World News - January 18th, 2021
- Beyond Chopped Liver Cookbook Gives Jewish Food a Healthy Makeover - jewishboston.com - January 18th, 2021
- Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi will not run in Gantz's party - Haaretz.com - December 30th, 2020
- MK Cotler-Wunsh quits Blue and White, says shes committed to continue serving - The Times of Israel - December 30th, 2020
- TV report: Gantz, Ashkenazi considering departing politics - The Times of Israel - December 29th, 2020
- Common and rare variant prediction and penetrance of IBD in a large, multi-ethnic, health system-based biobank cohort - DocWire News - December 29th, 2020
- Thoughts on the attack on North Shore Hebrew Academys website - The Jewish Standard - December 23rd, 2020
- How can Israels left-wing parties win more Mizrahi votes? - The Jerusalem Post - December 23rd, 2020
- What will Israel's next government look like? It depends on us! - The Jerusalem Post - December 23rd, 2020
- Jon Ossoffs Letter to the Jewish Community - Atlanta Jewish Times - December 23rd, 2020
- Jews of color exist and heres why it matters - The Jerusalem Post - December 23rd, 2020
- Is Pakistan seeking to normalise ties with Israel? Here`s what new report says - Zee News - December 23rd, 2020
- 'Esau' Puts New Twist on Biblical Brotherhood - Jewish Exponent - December 23rd, 2020
- Treasures of Judaica From the Sassoon Family Collection - The Wall Street Journal - December 12th, 2020
- TV chef brings Mexican latkes and jalapeno matzah ball soup north of border - The Times of Israel - December 12th, 2020
- What are the ties that unite Spain and Israel? - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - December 12th, 2020
- Rapid and ongoing evolution of repetitive sequence structures in human centromeres - Science Advances - December 12th, 2020
- Morocco agrees to normalize ties with Israel in exchange for U.S. recognition of Western Sahara sovereignty - Haaretz - December 11th, 2020
- Ehud Olmert to 'Post': Women need to take on leadership roles in Israel - The Jerusalem Post - December 11th, 2020
- Author Joseph A. Levy's new book Forbidden Love is a moving story about love, friendship, and family for two New York professionals from different... - December 11th, 2020
- Israeli, Jordanian foreign ministers meet, with plenty of issues on their agenda - Al-Monitor - December 11th, 2020
- Ashkenazi: Netanyahu didn't mention budget once in his remarks - The Times of Israel - December 5th, 2020
- What Does the Jewish Last Name Epstein Mean? - Chabad.org - December 5th, 2020
- Films From a Vanished World - The Wall Street Journal - December 5th, 2020
- Israel and Jordan aim to thaw relations with secret meeting - Axios - December 4th, 2020
- Chanukah Foods From Around the World - Jewish Exponent - December 4th, 2020
- Bahrain minister to visit Israel, meet Netanyahu, Ashkenazi - The Times of Israel - December 4th, 2020
- Looking to the future from Izmirs glorious Jewish past - The Jerusalem Post - December 4th, 2020
- It's time to end the farce of this government - The Jerusalem Post - December 4th, 2020
- Fear of peace - Daily Pioneer - December 4th, 2020
- Becky with the good hair: Colorism and power in the Jewish community - Campus Times - November 17th, 2020
- Israel's Netanyahu Scared Fellow Countrymen Will "Misbehave" in the United Arab Emirates - Paddle Your Own Kanoo - November 17th, 2020
- Israeli FM: Biden Will Sign Amended Nuclear Deal with Iran and We Must Be Involved - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - November 17th, 2020
- Researchers Suggest Breast Cancer Screening in Black Women be Initiated by Age 40 - Cancer Network - November 17th, 2020
- Malawi to be first African nation to open embassy in Jerusalem - Cleveland Jewish News - November 5th, 2020
- Malawi to be first African state with embassy in Jerusalem - The Jerusalem Post - November 5th, 2020
- Will a possible Biden win have an influence on EU-Israel relations ? - European Jewish Press - November 5th, 2020
- Great non-fiction on tap at upcoming Arts, Books & Culture Festival - Jewish Community Voice - November 5th, 2020
- Rabbis volunteering in Philadelphia encounter the unexpected: Peace and optimism - The Times of Israel - November 5th, 2020
- Comprehensive Genomic Analysis in Some Patients With Breast Cancer Reveals Rare, Pathogenic TP53 Variant in Families of Ashkenazi Jewish Descent -... - October 25th, 2020
- Spiced, stuffed, and skinless Jewish sausages - The Jewish Star - October 25th, 2020
- Jewish Organization Sharsheret Helps Women with Breast and Ovarian Cancer During Pandemic - Jewish Journal - October 25th, 2020
Comments