Editor’s note: Beyond the Call is a new section in Around the O Workplace that highlights the exceptional work of UO employees during COVID-19. Each story features an interview with one employee, in his or her own words, with light editing for clarity and length only.

Daniel Mundra Interview

Senior Developer

How long have you worked at the UO?

Ten years in July.

Tell us about your work:

I would say my role is split between a developer where I work on products and a senior role where I look at how the team should grow in terms of adopting and expanding new technology. Another part of my work is we follow a practice called “Agile” or more specifically “Scrum.” That means the way we do our development as a team has some structure to it. We try to do this continuous interactive cycle to get more client involvement on the features we work on.

In my role as scrum master, I'm essentially writing the plans of how these processes will work in the team. I’m coaching the team members on the processes – how they can get their input in there, how they can work to talk to each other as team members and how they can adjust the process to work for them.

How has your work changed during COVID-19?

I wouldn't say my day changed too much. I’ve gotten extra responsibilities. For example, some of the other managers realized that I can help them coalesce as a team, get feedback going, get them talking to each other, and help them make progress. I joined in with two other teams to help them as they spun up Canvas sites and provided support due to COVID-19.

For our regular team, we're still doing the same work or the same amount of output without needing to be in office. We miss the personal interactions when we meet with clients, but having all that other structure in place has made the job and the transition much easier.

What is keeping you motivated during this challenging time?

The people are keeping me motivated and inspired. They're all in it. They realize the situation, but they're still wanting to do the best they can of helping each other out.

I feel very lucky and privileged that I have a job and am able to participate and actually produce and love all the solutions. But the only reason I can do that is because we have a great department and great culture of IT folks.

Daniel is part of Information Services.

Do you know someone who has gone beyond the call? Nominate a UO employee.