The Weekly Scrum series takes you in the kitchen of VMware Bulgaria dev teams. Learn what their work process looks like and what makes them stick around.
I’m Kris and I work at the Workspace ONE Intelligence Team. Our product is an AWS-based cloud service which aggregates and analyzes device, application and user data together from multiple sources in one place to give customers a complete view of their entire digital environment. Considering the new normal of working from everywhere it is essential for different departments to adapt and this is where our product shines. It’s a dynamic project and while no two days are the same here is a glimpse of what a typical week looks like.
Monday – flying start with a strong coffee
This is when a cup of coffee becomes a long day. First thing in the morning I check my email and Slack channels for anything urgent. Of course there isn’t — nobody merges changes on Friday. Then I review the progress on my goals to make sure I am on track and I grab the first thing in the to-do list. There is no second thought. I have to address the comments on my most recent pull requests, because I need them merged by the end of the day. Tomorrow is the sprint demo and I want to present the feature I was working on in the past two weeks. After the morning block of meetings I bump up my headphones and start refactoring till I lose focus.Finally I’ve got my changes merged! I attend a sync meeting later in the day as our team is spread across the globe (Atlanta, Bangalore, Palo Alto, and Sofia). And this usually wraps my day.
Tuesday –show time
Yesterday I managed to merge my changes, now I’m excited that I’ll demo a feature in front of the broader team. Usually I go through all the capabilities of the feature and setup the environment for the demo with some help from team mates. I’m ready and the demo goes well. Nothing like the feeling of seeing something you’ve worked on a certain amount of time to actually work and work flawlessly. Every second pays off.
Wednesday – plan
I love the opportunity to be able to balance between my everyday tasks and developing myself both professionally and personally. I’m taking the early morning to go enjoy things outside of work. The work day starts with a planning session in which we are deciding what to tackle next and with VMware I’m always looking forward for the next challenge. Rest of the day goes through meetings to ensure that the design is right, so the schedule isn’t long.
Thursday – to the top
The team decided to go for a hike in the morning in the mountain close to Sofia. It should be a light promenade, but when the team comes together it doesn’t matter whether it’s a hike or a new feature, it’s always to the top and no looking back. Definitely not the typical 9 to 5 job, but that’s what makes it great. There is something different every day, from the technical challenges, through brainstorming sessions to writing this diary after a hike with the team.
Friday – meditation
Friday starts with the biggest espresso mug, headphones and coding until I fall into a meditation-like state. Usually there are no meetings, and I can focus on development and expanding my knowledge in the cutting edge technologies we are using. At the end of the day – satisfied and knowing I have learned new stuff this week, I let business rest. Until the next Monday cup of coffee.
