Week #4 – Cross-border Management
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This week I have had the misfortune of having to leave Gotland and head to London on personal business for a number of days. The timing could have been better, to put it mildly. We are currently in the final sprint before the Beta milestone, an important week for the entire group. Leading up to my departure I have been worried that losing the Producer in this stage of the project is quite risky for the team’s communication, and thus the completion of the sprint as a whole. So how did I deal with this? Firstly, I communicated that I would need to leave for a few days about a month before the date of my flight, this to avoid a situation where I would just up and leave the group without any preparation done. During the sprint planning meeting for the week where I would only be on the island Monday and Tuesday, I allocated around ten minutes time to make sure that everyone was on board with, and informed about me going away to London. A main point was to determine ways of communication with me whilst in the UK. The time difference did not need much consideration since it is only a one hour difference. It was decided that I would be available on the phone in case any conflicts would occur that needed my involvement, however we also confirmed that the lead roles would have a mandate in their respective field in these conflicts. The group was thus confident that the likelihood of any serious conflict not being resolved was low.
It has been quite interesting to see my team handle themselves well during my absence, a good omen for the future sprints coming up. They have for example continued with the daily stand-up meetings, and work has progressed without any major issues being brought to my attention, something that I am pleased to see as I have been quite stressed during this week as is. Thank you for reading this week’s entry,  |
Keeping up with the team’s work has proven to be easier than I feared as well. Since June 2017 roaming charges have been scrapped within the EU, which means I can use my phone just like I do within Sweden. A huge benefit is that I am not required to find a shoddy wi-fi hotspot at a café anymore, but can instead use my phone to keep track of progress and communicate with my team as necessary. The hospital I found myself in also had Eduroam infrastructure, which meant that I also could connect my computer, handy for writing assignments and finishing up my part of the week’s sprint.