Karthik’s a young and passionate developer. He started with Thoughtworks as part of the interning with pride program and later joined us full time.

A person with diplegia, Karthik’s been in Hyderabad ever since he moved back from the US. He stays with his family. Karthik cherishes his time with his dog - Oscar, who he  adopted from an animal welfare charity.

When the pandemic hit, Karthik was transitioning from working on a project for our clients, to facilitating ThoughtWorks’ immersion and onboarding program. Little did he know that the whole program would have to go remote.

As remote facilitators, Karthik and his team look for tools that can drive engagement, interactivity and group collaboration. Here are some tools he recommends:

1. Zoom for video conferencing

2. Mural for collaborative activities

3. Hangout chats for short, asynchronous interactions

While the new onboarding experience has been a runaway success; Karthik tends to find remote work claustrophobic. When at home, he locks himself up in a room and is usually confined to his desk, so he can work uninterrupted. In contrast, if he had the chance to be in the office, he’d have the opportunity to move from one meeting room to another. While he has all he needs to be productive at home, he also misses the impromptu, in-person conversations. 

To combat his claustrophobia, Karthik either plays board games with his cousin or immerses himself into the virtual world of his books. Karthik believes communication is the key to making a distributed workplace functional. His top tip is to have a defined work schedule. It’s easy to overwork oneself or to work late hours and get burnt out as a consequence; so some discipline definitely helps!