By Francis Chan
On March 16, 2020, three days into a seven-day Belize vacation, I found myself canceling and rebooking flights as part of a hasty return to California due to the rising case numbers from COVID-19 and uncertainty in the global travel situation. My wife and I
It is an understatement to say that the pandemic has been a challenge for many organizations. At DivX, we’re fortunate to have a nimble team and the kind of work that allows us to successfully work remotely. Our team of engineers is spread across San Diego and everyone is dealing with the new challenges of working from home. But we’ve adopted a new way of operating by setting up new rituals.
Sometimes our twice-daily meetings feel like not enough interaction, and other days we are flooded with ad hoc meetings meant to replicate spontaneous meetings on the engineering floor. I’ve learned that the remote environment can easily lead to a day of interrupted workflow, with virtual meetings after virtual meetings. Now, I try to stack meetings on certain days to allow other days to have enough time to focus on deep work.
During this challenging time, I’ve found that each member of the team has different experiences and has developed their own ways to cope. Our personal ability to find a routine affects the way we work and how to interact. It’s important that DivX team members are honest and transparent about how they’re doing, even when it’s not great, so our team can work together to find solutions to accommodate each person’s experiences.
While engineers like to solve
DivX has never been a remote workforce, but for now, we are. COVID-19 has tested our trust, resilience, and teamwork. These past months have taught us that we can work from home effectively and successfully. In the process, we have refined how we interact, improved our communications, and implemented new processes to guide our days. We know we need to over-communicate. We need to be honest and transparent about our personal struggles. We need to be proactive about how to care for the people we work with. We’ve adapted our homes, our commutes, and our schedules to a manner of work that may never fully revert to the pre-pandemic days.
A long time ago, the question we would often ask is “What would DivX do?” Fast forward to today, nothing has really changed for me at DivX. I find this same question continues to serve me well, as we continue to find our way to adapt, learn, and thrive in a changing world.