category: communication

  • The Survey Request That Improved Our Team Communication
    Aug 23, 2022 Written by Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

    “It’s not that I mind filling out another survey, it’s more that we haven’t heard anything about the other one we just filled out.” The comment had no snarky tone or accusatory subtext. It was meant as a simple matter-of-fact comment on what I had just asked the team to do.

  • The Whys and Hows of Applicant-Centered Recruiting at Corgibytes
    Jan 27, 2022 Written by Melissa Todd

    Have you ever filled out a job application only to never hear back from the company? Probably more than once. Probably more than ten times, right? It seems like the cultural norm is to ignore job applicants - unless you’re calling them in for an interview. Well, here at Corgibytes we do things differently.

  • Conflict as a Tool for Healthy Team Growth
    Dec 16, 2021 Written by Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

    It’s 3 a.m. You’re wide awake. You’re having a conversation in your mind with a colleague, a boss, a client. Again. The same one. Seemingly on repeat for the past few days, weeks, or months even. Barring some intractable factors, it appears it’s time to transition that hard conversation from inner monologue to outer dialogue.

  • Defining Empathy Is Like Nailing Jell-O to a Wall
    Sep 14, 2021 Written by Andrea Goulet

    I thought I understood empathy...until I started writing a book about it. Chances are, empathy doesn't mean what you think it means, either.

  • More to Localization
    Aug 17, 2021 Written by Liz Glasser

    When we talk about localizing or internationalizing an application, we often focus on just the wording of labels and other text. However, there is more to it than just “what is the translation of this word”. Take for example this real world story.

  • The Developer's Time Dilemma
    Jun 22, 2021 Written by Dan Hein

    A developer's schedule can be fraught with distractions and can feel overwhelming with commitments. Here is a surface look into why, and how we can work to overcome distractions in the work environment.

  • Ultimatums, Edge Cases, and Basecamp
    May 3, 2021 Written by Andrea Goulet

    A few days ago, Basecamp announced some changes to their organization. Since we've publicly shared that some of Basecamp's books and philosophies have influenced the Corgibytes culture, we feel it is necessary to share our dissent on some of their recent decisions, particularly around their policy of "no more societal and political discussions" at work.

  • Working Remotely While You Work From Home
    Mar 30, 2021 Written by Liz Glasser

    I have been working remotely since 2016, but I have been working from home since March 2020. Those are not the same thing. Sure, they sound the same and they have a lot of common traits... But they are very different.

  • Empathy-Driven Development Defined
    Jan 12, 2021 Written by Andrea Goulet

    Empathy is an important technical skill that can drive the decisions developers make when they code. How can we make the practice of applying empathy throughout a codebase concrete? It starts with defining the practice.

  • Legacy Code and the Buddhist Monk
    Dec 5, 2019 Written by Andrea Goulet

    Software systems can find themselves in a state of "rock bottom." When we encounter projects like these, we need to channel our inner monk. Start where you are. Eliminate the shame that goes with having a messy codebase. Embrace that your system is worth investing in and start making it better from where you are today.

  • Better Documentation Through Commit Messages
    Mar 20, 2019 Written by Josh Kelley

    Wouldn't it be great if there were a documentation tool that's directly tied to the source code (so that you can always access information that's relevant to the code you're looking at), that doesn't clutter up the code itself, that's carefully and automatically timestamped (so that you know how current its information is), and that's guaranteed to be updated whenever the code is? Oh, wait. There is.

  • Want Better Software? Focus On Communication.
    Mar 29, 2018 Written by Andrea Goulet

    If you want to eliminate your technical debt, communication HAS to be a critical component of your efforts. If you're struggling to break up your monolith and move to a microservices model, the first place to look is how your team is communicating. Command and control silos will result in monoliths. Self-organizing and autonomous teams give rise to microservices.

  • Dude, Where's My Code?
    Mar 2, 2017 Written by Brian Bassett

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one... After spending years understanding the inefficiencies of a marketspace, a brilliant subject-matter expert strikes out on their own as an entrepreneur. Using their grit, knowledge and connections, they build their business. Soon after, investors and paying clients follow to benefit from the new product.

  • Using Metaphors to Drive Business - Part 1, The Seat Belt Metaphor
    Jan 24, 2017 Written by Wendy Closson

    At a CTO Roundtable in NYC, I sat with several other technical leaders. During our session, we listened to each other’s current challenges and responded with empathy and advice. When I responded to one of the concerns with the advice “influence the CEO to adjust the schedule,” I was caught off guard by everyone’s response. Our former respectful and inquisitive dialog broke down into sneers, laughs and eye rolls.

  • Don't Take the Bait
    Jan 19, 2017 Written by Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

    Even though Conway's Law originated in the software world, it's easy to extrapolate the idea to pretty much anything an organization produces, including content. I would even say that it’s not only the communication structures that permeate the content, but also the organization’s values and culture.

  • White Space as an Active Element: Learning to Say No
    Dec 22, 2016 Written by Andrea Goulet

    If you sent me an email today, you’d get an autoresponder that starts with a quote from Jan Tschichold. What better quote to feature during my own “White Space” time in December and January, during which I’ve purposely limited my meeting schedule and am only checking email once a day.

  • Technical Blogging as Storytelling
    Dec 8, 2016 Written by Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

    Do you remember the scene in Silver Linings Playbook when our main character portrayed by Bradley Cooper, Pat Solitano Jr, finishes reading his Hemingway novel (if you haven’t, caution, strong language)? I’ve done that. In my mind only, sure. But I have uttered swear words after finishing books, movies, TV series, and even blog posts.

  • Free Class on Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, and DevOps!
    Nov 22, 2016 Written by Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

    Our beloved Chief Code Whisperer, M. Scott Ford, was invited – again – to be a guest lecturer at the Harvard Extension School. Watch this FREE class on continuous integration, continuous delivery, and DevOps from our own “Bob Vila of the Internet” (and special thanks to Trainer and Coach Richard Kasperowski, Teaching Assistant Wendy Wong, the Harvard Extension School, and the amazing students in the Agile Software Development class).

  • Bootstrapping a Simple Blog Scheduler
    Oct 4, 2016 Written by Nickie McCabe

    As our blogging efforts increased this past quarter, our Lead Content Whisperer, Jo, requested a mechanism to publish blog posts in advance. I was happy to volunteer to build a simple solution using the tools we already had in place.

  • My Quest for Mediocrity
    Aug 30, 2016 Written by Don Denoncourt

    “How would you rate yourself as a programmer?” They always have to ask THAT question in job interviews. And I hate it. So much. Why do I hate it? Because I know they won’t like my answer. But what am I supposed to do, lie? Nope. I have to be honest. Which is why I take my time before responding. I take a deep breath, look deeply into the eyes of the interviewer, and, finally, I say: “Average.”

  • How We Use Daily Journals
    Aug 2, 2016 Written by Nickie McCabe

    One of the most important expectations we have for all team members is that he or she keep a daily journal. While I was skeptical when we first started this practice, now I can’t imagine our team functioning without it.

  • A Mob of Corgis
    Jun 12, 2016 Written by Andrea Goulet

    An experience report of using Mob Programming at Corgibytes. Trust, which was already high, became even stronger. Clients became more engaged and several commented on how much value they were getting from working with the Corgibytes team. When clients felt like they were getting more value, sales, grew, too.

  • Communication Is Just As Important As Code
    Jun 6, 2016 Written by Andrea Goulet

    I had the pleasure of keynoting at Ruby Nation where I expanded on one of the core values at Corgibytes: Communication Is Just As Important As Code. This post is pretty much a transcript of my talk. I got great feedback and am looking forward to presenting on this topic more.

  • How We at Corgibytes Developed Our Core Values
    Apr 28, 2016 Written by Andrea Goulet

    At Corgibytes, we have five core values: Think of Others, Calm the Chaos, Communication is Just as Important as Code, Adopt a Growth Mindset, and Craftsmanship in Context. These values are the nucleus of our company: the center of all decisions, big and small, for the Corgibytes executive team and staff. Here's a look at each one in detail.