We Are Mobile First
In my role as Business Manager here at We Are Mobile First, I have traditionally shared posts that concern the inner workings of the wider team – such as ‘The Benefits of Teamwork and Collaboration’ and ‘Team Building: Why Invest In It?’. On this occasion, I’d like to focus on a day in the life of our iOS team, taking a closer look at how they work and stay motivated.
We follow agendas company-wide in order to maintain the Agile working practices that we pride ourselves on and to best prioritize urgent and important tasks across the week.
No two days look the same here at WAMF HQ but the following is the general daily schedule that our iOS developers follow in order to maintain good communication with one another and clients alike.
A daily meeting amongst the iOS team to discuss the progress of the day before and the tasks of the day.
If there are any existing blockers, the team will use this time to problem solve in order to find a solution. This helps to save time further down the line and prevents stress.
We’re currently working on a project with a team in the UK so our team lead uses this time to attend the UK standup in order to stay abreast of the project as a whole.
The standup follows the same structure as above and seeks to clarify the progress of any open topics.
The whole iOS team here at WAMF then attends the standup, along with the UK product owner, in order to discuss organisational details and best practices.
The weekly iOS team meeting is held on a Thursday.
These meetings generally concern technical topics and approaches. The team use a shared Trello board to keep track of the things they want to discuss and the state of them.
In addition to these pre-scheduled meetings, the iOS team hold spontaneous meetings as and when they are needed, either to address a specific problem or to talk about the execution of an entire project.
In between hands-on development, the iOS team like to work collaboratively in order to solve problems and to come up with realistic solutions that help them achieve objectives.
If you read Christian’s post on ‘How To Lead A Successful Software Development Team’, you may well be aware that our iOS team lead likes to share the decision making in order to best facilitate solutions.
When they’re facing a particularly meaty challenge, they usually head to the meeting room or the lab to troubleshoot and test approaches. Each team member is encouraged to get involved and actively seek answers, as well as ask any questions they may want to ask, in order to further their experience and learning.
This close-knit dynamic has fostered sustainable, fulfilling relationships between each of the iOS team members as it has created an environment that thrives on good communication and the process of trial and error.
Here at We Are Mobile First, we believe that scheduling regular opportunities for relaxation throughout the working day is hugely important for maintaining productivity and team morale.
As much as we love technology, we encourage each and every one of our team to disconnect every once in a while in order to reconnect with themselves and stay healthy. When the iOS team aren’t working together on their latest project, they can typically be found discussing their home life, passions or industry news over mugs of coffee in the Aticco cafeteria. Or if they fancy something a little stronger, we have a selection of local craft beers in our laboratory/playroom/tasting room.
When chats over drinks aren’t quite cutting it, however, they can be found playing StreetFighter on the Super Nintendo or participating in Nerf gun battles.
Each member of the team has their preferred ways to relax, of course. For example, Francesco likes to take a short walk post-lunch and listen to music. Christian, on the other hand, likes to head out on his skateboard for a ride around the city streets whilst Pere likes to focus his energy on tending to his personal Open Source projects.
Whilst conducting my research for this post, I asked the iOS team for their thoughts about working together as a team.
They recognised that it isn’t always easy to work as a team, particularly if you haven’t quite learned to strike the right balance. They combat that risk by sharing their varying opinions and approaches with one another, not being afraid to discuss ideas that may differ from the ones usually brought to the table because they’ve nurtured the art of productive conversation.
The team also credited their closeness to the time they’ve spent sharing their individual passions and personal lives with one another, recognising that life doesn’t just stop when they open the office door.
Their shared drive and ambition is something they also credit when considering their success, noting that no matter how much hard work the role requires they feel privileged to do the work that they do as iOS developers and when undertaken in the right environment it can often be a dream job.
We are so very lucky to have such a vibrant, considerate and mission-lead iOS team here at We Are Mobile First.
From their well-informed and insightful blog posts to their thoughtful and collaborative work ethic, we appreciate them for all that they do.
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Are you an iOS Developer? If so, what does your day look like? Tweet us and we’ll be sure to retweet the responses!
We Are Mobile First is a digital product agency based in Barcelona helping to transform businesses in a mobile-first world. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Medium to be notified of our future posts and stay up-to-date with our company news.
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