Office logistics (mainly London centric - sorry non-London people!)

Owned by Matt Leech (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 12 Apr 2024 by Rob Pink
6 min read

This page is obsolete 

Logistics - the physical workplace

  • YOUR PASSCARD
    You arrive - you need to get through doors. You need your pass. You should have already completed the relevant forms. You should already be on the system waiting to be activated.
    Your contact person on your first day should take you down to the postroom where they will take your photo and create your pass.
    You will then need to go up to reception to programme the pass for the specific things you need access to in the TIS team. Also head over to Senate House reception to activate the card for the access doors in Senate House.
    Your pass is also your key for accessing any print jobs you send through - more on this in the next section.
  • OUR OFFICE
    To get to our team. From reception continue into the building, turn left, go up in the lifts. We're on the 3rd floor. Turn left out of the lifts. Use your pass to go through the doors. Walk to the end of the room and the final three banks of desks are ours, next to a bank of hotdesks that are sometimes also available.
  • FACILITIES
    Toilets and kitchen are on the other side as you come out of the lifts - right for the kitchen and left for the toilets. Kitchen has drinking water, fridges, microwaves and an eating area.
  • DESKS
    All desks are hotdesks, but be sensitive to the fact that most people have go used to sitting where they sit! There will always be somewhere for you to work.
  • LAPTOPS
    If you're joining as a full-time HEE employee you should be allocated a work laptop, which will make hotdesking/working remotely much easier. With this, you can use the full programs, rather than the Office 365 skins of apps. You can also print too - check with a colleague how to do this.
  • FLOORPLAN (to follow)
  • TEAM LOCATIONS (to follow)
  • OTHER
    • Lockable pedestals: if you are assigned an allocated desk, there should be a pedestal as part of that working space. Otherwise, be nice to at least one of your colleagues!
    • Rubbish/recycling: there are two bins on the way to the meeting room, one for each.
    • Working remotely: Office 365 access allows this.
    • Telephone: Direct dial. Simplz! If you are hotdesking and don't have regular access to a landline phone, you should still have a number and pin for a phone. Go to a landline, log in, forward the number to your mobile, log out. Now your HEE number will call on your mobile and you need never use an HEE landline again.
    • Restrictions on website access: some things are firewalled on an internal PC, it limits access to some tech stuff we use – we have our mac addresses whitelisted so we can use the Wi-Fi network instead which is open (though this prevents access to internal resources like printers).
    • Restrictions on attachable USBs: we need to be extremely careful as our team has been allowed use of USBs (which are locked down for everyone else). We don't want that privilege revoked for the whole team, please!

Culture - Acronyms/buzzwords and such...

  • REFERENCES
    The Glossary page on Confluence is your bible when you start. With details of useful references (especially acronyms) relating to HEE/TIS, and Agile/Digital
  • DEVOLVED
    HEE is a very regional organisation, with 13 local offices across (now) 7 regions within England.
  • SICKNESS
    If you are unwell inform your line manager / colleagues each day of your sickness.
    From HEE policy document: Members of staff are responsible for taking reasonable, appropriate and timely action to notify their manager of an absence in the context of illness.
    See: https://connect.hee.nhs.uk/Interact/Pages/Content/Document.aspx?id=2942
  • HR BENEFITS
    Amongst other things, if you are directly employed by HEE you can apply for a voucher for an eye test and spectacles (if for VDU use). Click here for the form and return to HR.Rewards@hee.nhs.uk
  • OTHER? (to follow) 

Initial Confluence reading to better understand HEE and where TIS fits within it

Logistics - the virtual workplace

  • HEE NETWORK
    You should have been allocated a network login [firstname].[lastname]@hee.nhs.uk and password (you will have been provided the details). You'll be prompted to change password immediately.
    Your network login should enable you to select a networked printer to print to. Print in the normal way. Go to the nearest printer. Tap your pass on the reader on the side of the printer. Login on the screen console, using your network login credentials. Print. Next time you use the printer, just tap your pass on the reader.
    There is also Wi-Fi that you can access: ONEHEE | [ask Eniola, or one of the team for the password - or search "ONEHEE" on the TIS Slack channel].
  • OFFICE 365
    Office 365 is the default setup. This is the basis for hotdesking and remote login and should contain the majority of apps you need to work at HEE. Your Office 365 account allows you to use web versions of the Microsoft Office applications and also download the full versions to your laptop.
    Open a browser - Chrome is probably best - and go to Office 365. Sign in (your O365 login should be the same as your network login, but probably with a different password). You'll be prompted to change password immediately.
    Once you're in, ping a request to TIS.Team@hee.nhs.uk or Andy Nash (Unlicensed) for you to have access to the calendars for: 'Scrum Ceremonies' and 'Team availability' (team leave etc).
  • OTHER SOFTWARE
    Other common software the team uses includes: Slack as the chat package / internal conference calling; Jira as the Scrum management tool. Confluence (document / information storage tool) is integrated into Jira; Skype for wider HEE and external conference calling (takes over when Slack reaches is 15 person limit), amongst others.
  1. Slack:
    Facilitates 1-1 rapid chats and also group discussions (some groups have been pre-setup, or you can create groups yourself with as few or as many people as you'd like)
    You can also hold 1-1 or group voice chats (limited at 15 attendees) with screen share / remote control, or video if you prefer.
    Drag and drop files onto a chat window for a fast exchange of files, hit PrintScreen and Paste into a window for fast exchange of screenshots.
    Note: Slack is used for collaboration within the TIS Team - not with the wider HEE, as each individual is licensed monthly. You can invite guests limited to a single channel for free, we do use this occasionally.
    More on using Slack here
  2. Jira
    Great tool for recording requirements - sometimes referred to as 'Tickets', These can be Epics, User Stories, Bugs etc. Great detail can be added them, they can be tracked, all within the overall context of the Sprints 
    1. Active Sprint: the task board / Kanban board view with To Do, In Progress, Ready for release and Done columns for the current sprint), also shows the backlog and reporting on previous Sprints.
    2. Backlog view: the Active Sprint, plus what's coming up Ready for Sprint Planning, For Refinement and full product backlog
    3. Issues view: Shows a tabular representation of the backlog - queryable to a very high degree using JQL.
    4. Sprint backlog: a tabular view of the current Sprint
    5. Dashboard: Allows a user to put a range of gadgets together on a custom screen to summarise Jira in many different, often visual ways.
  3. Confluence
    Integrated with Jira - is used for storing documents and information relating to the Programme of work, and linking them where appropriate with individual Jira tickets
    List of Confluence shortcuts here
  4. Skype for Business
    Service we use for managing conference calling, useful as the wider HEE organisation all have access to this tool (though not all have it installed, check before you call someone you haven't called before). It allows conference calls greater than 15 attendees, Slack's limit.
    You may need to download and install it through your Office 365 login.
    It is the HEE equivalent of some elements of Slack, so should probably be used in that context. Alistair and Joanne use it for liaising with their SMLs.
    (Note we use Skype for Business, a different application to Skype (personal use version))
  5. Microsoft Teams - It is the HEE equivalent of some elements of Slack, so should probably be used in that context. Alistair and Joanne use it for liaising with their SMLs (engaged stakeholders).
  6. Yammer - worth using this channel at all? - It is the HEE equivalent of some elements of Slack, so should probably be used in that context when talking to stakeholders.

List of useful links:

Slack: https://hee-nhs-tis.slack.com/
Jira issues: https://hee-tis.atlassian.net/issues/?filter=14213