The Portal

The New York–Dublin Portal is an interactive installation created by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, allowing people in New York City and Dublin to interact with each other through two 24-hour live streaming video screens.

The idea is so intuitive that it seems straight out of an Avengers movie. Many people doubted its effectiveness when it first opened, while in reality, it worked surprisingly well. People stayed for extended periods to observe the people on the other side. They gestured, smiled, danced, copied each other’s moves, and were entertained. The portal feels very different for people because it has a physical presence. It occupies space in the real world, and makes interactions much more organic and tangible. This sense of connection and engagement was precisely what many of our remote team members expressed they were craving. Our team is hybrid, with half the members in Cambridge and the other half distributed worldwide. We pride ourselves on being as inclusive and accommodating as possible, but sometimes the remote experience is still less than ideal.

Although many software engineers prefer working in a quiet environment, consistently missing out on team discussions can lead to disengagement. To solve truly difficult problems, you need an engaged team. Working together with other people is the easiest way to feel a sense of mission, of working on something larger than ourselves. This is precisely why startup founders who have a good co-founder are much more likely to succeed and endure the challenges a difficult problem can bring. The partners encourage each other, keep each other accountable, and have much more to lose when it’s not only themselves they disappoint if it doesn’t succeed.

This type of team cohesion is what the remote workes say they miss. After meetings, it's natural for us to continue discussions, but they often miss out on spontaneous conversations. When product managers drop by to bounce ideas off us, they often hear about these new developments only after decisions have been made and tasks assigned.

It is no longer realistic in today’s hybrid world to ask everyone to come into the office, but our team has really struggled in this hybrid mode. When we heard about the portal, we knew it was the solution we were looking for. We set up an all day virtual meeting for the team. Everyday, I, as the in person team mate, goes into the office, and sets up my laptop at the end of the team room and starts the meeting. When the remote folks hop on, they can see almost everyone in person, but the resolution is low enough that they can’t really spy on what they’re doing. It has so far been one of the only ideas to fix the remote workers not inclusiveness that was able to stick. We have 2 people who regularly joins the Portal, deriving enough value from it that they keep coming back. To encourage others who have not really tried this at all, we set up a rule that rewards people being on the portal by the in person person reaching out by walking up to the portal and initiating a conversation instead of through Teams.

There are a variety of office “robots” that accomplish the same mission but are in my opinion not worth the price. As the NYC portal demonstrated, the only need for an authentic connection between two locations is a true physical presence. And a laptop that’s designated for only that meeting, sitting at the same place everyday is more than enough to make the in person people feel the presence of the remote ones and include them in discussions.