In the recent weeks Russia has carried out a series of heavy missiles and drone attacks which resulted in 40% damages of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. In order to mitigate that, the government introduced stabilization blackouts and power cuts.

The Ukrainian IT sector, being highly dependent on uninterrupted power supply, is probably the first industry to react blazing-fast. Jumping ahead, the situation is fairly manageable, though requires extra planning and preparation. 

Hygge has updated a number of its project management procedures to ensure the availability of the team and timely delivery: 

1. Updated communication schedule 

War hasn’t changed the way we approach the project flow. We continue performing all procedures according to agile methodology and daily calls is one of the major methods allowing us to set the context for the upcoming day’s work. 

The power supply operator issued the schedule of power cuts, and the project manager updated the daily call times accordingly. 

2. Adjusted working hours 

Again, after the first ten days of emergency blackouts, the power cut schedule was introduced to make sure the households and remote workers can adapt to the new reality. 

Hygge team is working in its full capacity and in most cases has adapted the working hours to fit EU and US time zones to make the communication with foreign clients smoother than ever. 

3. Continuity plan

In order to ensure all developers are in touch and available for quick fixes, the project manager checks on the team twice as often and breaks the delivery into smaller assignments. 

In case a team member is unavailable due to a power cut, we have prepared a stand-in option for each project we have. This is one of the major perks of choosing a development company instead of a sole freelancer because the organization is always capable of providing back up in terms of working hours and problem solving. 

4. Added resources 

On the organization level we have extended the list of resources we view as essential for software development. Portable power stations, power generators, power banks and other battery charging devices provide a solid backup to allow our employees to continue working in case of power outages.

5. Reliable infrastructure

The ongoing power cuts have boasted the development of remote infrastructure, especially in big cities like Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Lviv where the critical number of IT companies are located. 

Many coworking centers installed power generators and extra internet lines to ensure smooth operation and/or invested in Starlinks to stay online during emergencies. Our team members who are enduring power outages have moved their work places to these coworking centers.

We still have normal daily operations despite having power cuts. And we are far from severe power outages on a national level.

Our company is also prepared for the unexpected by investing in battery technology and using bolsted infrastructure to continue to provide the work you need.