Nagging Aunty aka Remote Iteration Management

Has anyone else discovered that they are a Nagging Aunty instead of Iteration Manager, Scrum Master or Delivery Lead?

Week 1 - I realised my ears were not burning anymore. At the office they would perk up towards various conversation. I would hear agreements on a solution that was not reached upon in that 2hr workshop. I enjoyed the ones that highlighted that risk that has not been brought up at standup. In today's virtual world all I have is whatever music genre am listening to that day or the ding of entering yet another zoom meeting. So how do I get the information that came from water coolers, the lunch table and the developers chat across the room that I used to understand how we were truly tracking?

Well I decided to slack/chat/ping (whatever you call messaging your team members) twice daily to understand the progress of their work. My gut told me I was morphing into a nagging aunt instead of a remover of blockers. My gut talks too much so I switched tactics to asking having more tech huddles and elaboration sessions, hoping my ears would start burning again.

Week 2 - My regular one on one catchups popped up in my calendar. Turns out checking in on how my team is doing remotely is some kind of alchemy. Where as before I could read body language at the cafe or when we took a walk round the block now all I see is the headshot nods. Seems all over sudden my team members are agreeable to most things and aside from how hard it is to work at home there isn't much left to talk about. They are all zoomed out and another 30min one on one is something they can complain about. No one seems to hear my silent "I must know how you are really doing otherwise am failing in my people care duties" cry. I am also zoomed out because I prefer my one on ones to be a walk round the block.

Week 3 - I remembered this is not the first time am working remotely. I spent several months on a completely remote team in 3 timezones servicing over 5 timezones. I don't remember having these issues. Probably because this team was developing new processes for our global finance and people teams and my current team is a software delivery team.

Week 4 - I understand that a big part of my struggle with being a remote Iteration Manager was to do with my mind not enjoying this strange thing called stay at home. The truth is, it is not the type of work or team but the mindset. In my previous team before we were confined to working from home, I enjoyed the flexibility of doing my own hours and still went about my life without being confined to the 4 rooms that are my apartment. The realisation brought on the mindset shift I needed to morph back into Mayase the Iteration Manager formerly Nagging Aunty Mayase.

My ears are burning again as I attend yet another zoom meeting. I am beginning to listen out for what am not hearing and asking the questions. When I have my one on ones I listen out for my team being too hard on themselves as I was.

Remember to be kind to yourselves as you navigate remote work no matter what role you are in.