Product teams need to interact like teams. There will be a few compulsory meetings set up by your scrum masters. Just the usual things: Standups, Sprint plannings, demos, retros… if you just show up 100% when you need to then life should be groovy.
Your scrum masters will keep you in the loop with what you need to do to prepare for these meetings and when they will be.
Now, pay close attention.
You still need to fill these in. Yes, even if you feel like you are repeating yourself in standup meetings with your scrum team. Please fill these in properly.
Why?
Because we still need to take your attendance. It’s just how we’ll be doing things. Don’t fight it.
Teamwork is hard enough when you are sitting right next to each other. Remote teamwork is even harder. Here are a few hints:
When you are responding to a message or reviewing some code, always remember that there is a person on the other side of that text. That person is trying to learn and grow just like you. So be kind and share your knowledge. A good team player is a force multiplier.
Optimise your efforts around making your team successful and you will be successful.
This is also hugely important: always try to understand what your team mates are working on and how that relates to your work. For one thing this will make you an all round better human being and will make your mother proud. For another thing it will reduce waste on the team.
We’ve had a few situations in the past where two developers built the same thing in different ways on the same project. And then what happens is we have to just delete someone’s code. And that suuuucks. A lot! Don’t let that be you. And don’t let that be your team mate.
So basically, focus on communication! They say communication is a soft skill, but it’s actually pretty hard. So give it the care and attention it deserves.
Also: make sure you push your code every day.
I REPEAT: PUSH YOUR CODE EVERY DAY. There are many reasons to do this.
And read this: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workflows/feature-branch-workflow. That’s how we work. You need to understand it and follow it.