The London based section of Rumble Labs increased by 100% in the last month when I moved over. We needed to expand our office space, and so, as fate would have it, the London Field office has moved from Shoreditch to London Fields.
The Trampery
We're now in The Trampery, a hub for artists and creative people doing interesting things, including, but not limited to fashion. The space is located in the same building as the Mare Street location of Look Mum No Hands, the venerable cycling-centered café. This has the added bonus that Nicklas is only steps away from watching all the live Tour de France action on the big screen, not to mention that there’s beer on tap, and the blueberry-infused cinnamon buns are the best in East London.
Nicklas excited by the prospect of bikes
One of the other companies we work with in The Trampery has an office dog, as a dog lover this is a huge perk!
Remote Challenges
There are some interesting challenges that come with working remotely when the majority of the team is working from another location. Instead of leaning over to talk to people you have to set up a meeting, then dial in.
I am making heavy use of HipChat's 1-to-1 phone functionality. I have found it works pretty reliably, with the limitation of not being a group conversation tool.
Being able to quickly jump onto chatting to someone using your throat instead of your fingers is an undervalued proposition. Sometimes, an issue which would take hours of writing to resolve, could be dispelled in minutes by talking it through.
Rumble have always had a good remote work policy so we have a good infastructure in place. The transition has been as smooth as I could have hoped for, but I’m collecting a list of issues relating to working away from the majority of the team, which would make an interesting future post.
London Challenges
Something I have noticed is that everything in London takes about an hour to get to, my commute into the office is no exception, and involves a few different modes of transport. Time will tell if I cave and start biking to work, but for now the benefits of sitting beside Nicklas and being able to bounce ideas off each other outweigh the downsides of the commute.
London Benefits
Since moving over I have had the chance to meet clients face to face, I even let one of them beat me in a game of Table Tennis! Working side by side with clients isn't something that makes sense all the time, but every once in a while it can be really beneficial to a project.
This week I am attending the London Ruby User’s Group and I have plans for attending a lot more events. Belfast is quite good for things to do in the tech community but it pales in comparison to London’s tech scene.
Toby Looking Happy to be in London
Come say Hi
If you are about London and would like to beat me at Table Tennis, come say hello. We’re in 125 - 127 Mare Street London, E8 3RH, we’re always happy to meet up for a coffee or a beer.