How I use git & GitHub to make part-time working work (for me & my team)

Introduction

OK, apologies I feel like this title may be slightly click-bait territory. Although I’m also not sure a random data science blog can really fall into the realm of click-bait?

I’m going to put my cards on the table and say, this blog post does not hold the secret to solving all your workplaces diversity & inclusion problems. However, I will talk about how I am proactively using git and GitHub to feel more included in my workplace as a new mother working part time.

Disclaimer, I am one person and my experiences are not universal.

Git

What is git?

Git is a version control system that allows for multiple people to work on projects at the same time. It does this by tracking changes, merging multiple contributions together, and providing a history of a projects evolution.

It’s notorious for not being user-friendly. I would say it has a relatively high-bar to entry (not a very high bar but high for what it is), however it doesn’t take long to master the basic day-to-day actions that most users need.

I’m not going to give a tutorial on how to use git, there are plenty of those out there.

Why git?

Version control is really important. Finding a good solution for multiple team members to collaborate on projects is difficult, especially if it involves anything other than a Microsoft document (and even then there can be … hiccups).

Git is a meticulous record-keeping system, capturing every change made to a project over time. This provides a safety net for when things go wrong or approaches change, it also makes sure all team members contributions are acknowledged.

Git (& GitHub) as an inclusive tool

A bit about me

I returned to my role as a Data Scientist in January of this year, at the time my daughter was 7 months old. I wasn’t ready to return full-time, or more I wasn’t ready to give up 5 days with my daughter. However, I didn’t want to spend much longer as a full time mother (because babies are hard and mat leave is isolating). My husband also wanted more time with our daughter and less time with his work.

So I returned part-time. This has been a big adjustment for me. It seems so easy on paper, especially in the Civil Service, which is very family friendly. The reality is, even with the best will in the world, workplaces are set up for people working full-time hours.

I’m not going to detail all the ways part-time working is difficult, a lot of this will be specific to people’s team/workplace dynamics, my husband and I for example have almost polar opposite experiences of being part-timers. But needless to say when you are contributing to a project, not being around for two days when other people are actively working said project can be troublesome.

How I use git & GitHub

I’ve been fortunate enough to lead on a very interesting, and complex, project since I returned from mat leave. And by fortunate, I mean I’ve had some really supportive management who have believed in my abilities to deliver.

While technically complex, the project itself is a fairly standard data science project. There are multiple contributors, over ambitious deliverables, and tight deadlines. i.e. work can’t stop while I pretend to ride a sea horse in my toddlers swimming lessons.

On the other hand, if I want to be able to keep the project on track, plan and deliver through each sprint, with an eye on the final prize (deliverable) then I need to know what progress is being made.

As I work condensed hours I start a lot earlier than others in the team. If I waited until everyone logged on to catch up via Teams I’d have redundancy in my day. Not to mention, and I think this might be universal to all part-time workers, when you don’t work full time you really have to be callous and selective in what meetings you attend. If you don’t control your diary you can easily find a situation where your hours are cut back but your meetings are not!

This is where a GitHub kanban board with compartmentalized issues saves my day! Being able to log on Monday morning, see what progress has been made, where issues have arisen, and check out any code that’s been pushed means that by the time others have logged on I feel completely up-to-date. This means if I need to catch-up with anyone it’s for a specific reason. I don’t feel left out and the people around get more impact from my inputs.

The same works for any time I might want to check in on work outside my patterned working. We have a flexi system but I also have a hard line on no work while child is awake - this means I might log in after bedtime when others are doing more interesting things with their lives. I can respond to any comments or questions left on issues, contribute to any ongoing conversations around a problem, or run any small code changes to move forward pull requests.

Keeping these conversations on kanban issues rather than Teams makes these conversations open for wider input, and allows more junior members to gain insight into how data scientists work together.

You might think, yes but this is how a good Data Scientist should be working why is this specific to part-time workers. And you would be correct. Git and GitHub are not tools only to be picked up if someone in your team is working part-time, but if used correctly then they can make team members who may otherwise feel isolated and left out feel like fully contributing members of the team.

This doesn’t require any innovative thinking or reinvention of the wheel but a challenge to you, and your team, are you making the most of these tools? Have you consciously thought about how they can make everyone feel included and valued in your team?

What can you do

Even if you currently have a team of full-time workers all at the same grade, future proof yourself. Don’t have a system in place that needs overhauled if you suddenly have someone join who needs some workplace adaptations. Do your sprints start at a family friendly time? Do you proactively use GitHub issues to encourage others input? Do you leave detailed comments on reviews that can help others grow & develop? Does your use of these tools fall off during busy times, and could that be impacting other?

Summary image by charlesdeluvio from Unsplash