Working in Babel: My Experiences in a Multilingual Workplace

A presentation at DevOpsDays Berlin in September 2022 in Berlin, Germany by Areti Panou

Slide 1

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 2

@unremarkableQA 2

Slide 3

Slide 3

αστέρι star Stern @unremarkableQA 3

Slide 4

Slide 4

My journey Hallo??? Γειά! Γειά! Hi! ¡Hola! 1979 2005 Γειά! 2009 Hi! ¡Hola! 2022 @unremarkableQA 4

Slide 5

Slide 5

My experiences Learning Resources Understanding Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA 5

Slide 6

Slide 6

My experiences Learning Resources Understanding Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA 6

Slide 7

Slide 7

Taken by the Hubble telescope @unremarkableQA 7

Slide 8

Slide 8

Edwin Hubble Hubble Law “…describes the effect by which objects in an expanding Universe move away from each other with a velocity proportionally related to their distance. “ 1929 - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America @unremarkableQA 8

Slide 9

Slide 9

Georges Lemaître Edwin Hubble Hubble Law “…describes the effect by which objects in an expanding Universe move away from each other with a velocity proportionally related to their distance. “ 1929 - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1927 - Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles @unremarkableQA 9

Slide 10

Slide 10

Edwin Hubble Hubble-Lemaître Law 2018 Georges Lemaître “…describes the effect by which objects in an expanding Universe move away from each other with a velocity proportionally related to their distance. “ 1929 - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1927 - Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles @unremarkableQA 10

Slide 11

Slide 11

Blogs Conferences Books Learning Resources Social Media Podcasts @unremarkableQA 11

Slide 12

Slide 12

Blogs Conferences Books Learning Resources Social Media Podcasts @unremarkableQA 12

Slide 13

Slide 13

My experiences Learning Resources Understanding Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA 13

Slide 14

Slide 14

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 14

Slide 15

Slide 15

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 15

Slide 16

Slide 16

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 16

Slide 17

Slide 17

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 17

Slide 18

Slide 18

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 18

Slide 19

Slide 19

Understanding your users’ problems @unremarkableQA 19

Slide 20

Slide 20

My experiences Learning Resources Understanding Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA 20

Slide 21

Slide 21

@unremarkableQA 21

Slide 22

Slide 22

@unremarkableQA 22

Slide 23

Slide 23

Can’t wait to see them in Jenkins I love code reviews as well! Let’s write more unit tests!!!! @unremarkableQA 23

Slide 24

Slide 24

Can’t wait to ??? Jenkins ??? code reviews as well! Let’s ??? unit tests!!!! ????? @unremarkableQA 24

Slide 25

Slide 25

Can’t wait to switch off Jenkins Let’s get rid of code reviews as well! Let’s stop writing unit tests!!!! ?!!#?! @unremarkableQA 25

Slide 26

Slide 26

@unremarkableQA 26

Slide 27

Slide 27

My experiences Learning Resources Understanding Users Work Relations @unremarkableQA 27

Slide 28

Slide 28

Exchanging material with colleagues in multiple languages Starting small to better understand the context rather than the language Learning Resources Understanding Users Being mindful of people’s reactions when a new language is involved Work Relations @unremarkableQA 28

Slide 29

Slide 29

Which one is better? One language Multiple languages @unremarkableQA 29

Slide 30

Slide 30

Which one is better? Communication is easier Common ground Less discomfort One language Multiple languages @unremarkableQA 30

Slide 31

Slide 31

Which one is better? Communication is easier Common ground Less discomfort One language Multiple languages Drilling down to details More diverse knowledge More thoughtful @unremarkableQA 31

Slide 32

Slide 32

No right or wrong, just different Communication is easier Common ground Less discomfort One language Multiple languages Drilling down to details More diverse knowledge More thoughtful @unremarkableQA 32

Slide 33

Slide 33

Thank you! Areti Panou Product Owner CI/CD Tools, SAP SE https://unremarkabletester.com/

Slide 34

Slide 34

References • Introduction to “User Story Mapping” by Jeff Patton • Edwin Hubble – Wikipedia • Georges Lemaître – Wikipedia • iau1812 — Press Release @unremarkableQA 34

Slide 35

Slide 35

Attributions • Cover image by Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel • Photos by • • • • • • • Susan Q Yin on Unsplash cottonbro from Pexels fauxels from Pexels Pixabay from Pexels Lachlan Ross from Pexels Jopwell from Pexels Sora Shimazaki from Pexels • Hubble Space Telescope by Nasa from rawpixel • Flag icons by www.freeflagicons.com • Icons created by Freepik - Flaticon @unremarkableQA 35