From Solo Work to Team Player: My Co-op Journey

During my 7 months as a Software Developer Co-op at Dialpad, I’ve learned invaluable lessons about effective team collaboration. Working within a 4-person team responsible for building multi-platform libraries and frameworks for call & audio/video functionality has given me unique insights into remote teamwork dynamics.

What makes our team particularly effective is how we engage with each other despite being mostly remote. Through constant collaboration with other product teams and within our team, I’ve received crucial feedback from my seniors and learned about what truly makes teams work well together. This feedback and learning has shaped my understanding of collaboration in ways I never expected.

In this post, I want to share the key insights and feedback I’ve received about team collaboration.

1. Seek Feedback Early and Often

One of the most valuable lessons I learned is to seek feedback on code and design early and often - even before creating a pull request.

As a co-op student, I initially thought that demonstrating strong technical skills and problem-solving abilities was most important. However, I discovered that seniors don’t expect co-op to excel primarily in these areas.

Complex tasks aren’t typically assigned to co-op, and even simple tasks can often be completed faster by busy seniors than co-op who work on just one task.

Seniors assign tasks to co-op to train and confirm that if this co-op student can work as team member in future. In order to do that, we need to learn two things:

1. Solving problems efficiently through collaboration skills
2. Understanding the codebase, tech stack, and team conventions

The first skill - collaboration - is arguably more critical than technical prowess. This is why seeking frequent feedback on code and design decisions before moving forward is essential.

This collaborative approach has transformed my workflow:

1. Share approach early: Discuss design decisions before investing significant implementation time
2. Break down tasks: Divide work into manageable, reviewable chunks
3. Implement incrementally: Build small pieces that can be easily reviewed
4. Seek quick feedback: Get input on each chunk before proceeding
5. Refactor based on input: Incorporate feedback promptly
6. Iterate rapidly: Move to the next task and repeat the cycle

This proactive approach not only saves time and prevents major rework later, but also helps build a strong reputation by demonstrating consistent progress and collaborative skills.

2. Ask Questions Without Hesitation

My seniors emphasized that there are no stupid questions in a collaborative environment. Here’s what I’ve learned about effective questioning:

In Meetings

Ask questions immediately

No developer knows everything. Ask questions immediately if you don’t understand something, even during meetings. Don’t let confusion accumulate; address it when it happens. If you’re in a large meeting, post your question in chat. This demonstrates active engagement and leaves a positive impression on seniors.

Prioritize understanding over note-taking

Initially, I wrote down extensive notes during meetings to capture new technical terms for later study. This approach was counterproductive for three key reasons:

1. It created the impression of disengagement during the meeting
2. Poor retention: Without active engagement, information wasn’t properly absorbed or retained
3. Lack of context: Technical terms were much harder to understand when studied in isolation later

Instead of extensive note-taking, I now focus on understanding concepts in real-time and asking questions when something isn’t clear. This approach is both more impressive to colleagues and more effective for learning.

Work & Tasks

In agile environments, you’ll receive assigned tickets that sometimes lack clear requirements. Always ask clarifying questions to ensure you understand both the task objectives and the expected deliverables before beginning work.

3. Tailor Your Communication

In my role, I participate in four distinct types of meetings, each requiring different communication approaches:

• Daily Standup: Share progress and blockers within our core 4-person team
• Weekly One-on-One: Discuss progress and career development with my manager
• Cross-Product Meetings: Collaborate with other product teams like iOS and Android
• Division All-Hands: Share updates with the broader engineering division

Each audience has different information needs and technical backgrounds. For instance, managers need high-level progress updates rather than detailed implementation specifics. Through experience, I’ve learned to tailor my communication style based on the audience:

• With fellow developers: Share technical implementation details, code architecture decisions, and specific challenges
• With managers: Focus on project timeline, business impact, and any blockers that need escalation
• With cross-functional teams: Emphasize integration points, dependencies, and how our work affects their deliverables
• In large meetings: Keep updates concise and relevant to the broader audience’s interests

You could adapt this approach to your own needs and audience. But it’s important to tailour your message to the audience’s background and interests.

4. Embrace a Learning Mindset

Perhaps the most important insight is that we are all learners, regardless of experience level:

Viewing PR Comments Positively

When I first received comments on my pull requests, I assumed they meant I had made mistakes. However, my seniors explained that these comments are actually opportunities to start conversations and learn from one another.

This perspective shift completely changed how I approach code reviews. Now I view PR feedback as valuable learning exchanges where we can improve both our code quality and design decisions together.

Contributing to Team Learning

We can contribute to team learning by bringing topics for discussion to team meetings, sharing interesting problems we’ve encountered or solutions we’ve discovered, and creating an environment where everyone can learn from each other.

Conclusion

These strategies have not only improved my communication skills but also strengthened my relationships with team members. The key is remembering that effective teamwork is built on open communication, continuous learning, and mutual support.