Building and scalingeffective distributedteamsLindsay Holmwood
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About meWorked in and leaddistributed softwareengineering teamsfor 7 years
About meLead teams withfollow-the-suncoverage
About meCurrently at Envatoleading distributedteam of 15
The journey 0. Fundamentals1. Starting out2. Growing the team3. Scaling to the whole org
InclusionPractices TechnologySponsorship
No managementbuy in?Don’t even bother.
Starting out
Regular face to facecatchups.Ideal: once a quarter
Regular face to facecatchups.Likely: once a year
Establish rituals
Multiple internetconnectionsDongle with lots of data
Multiple internetconnectionsDon’t skimp on quality(fast upload a must)
Multiple internetconnectionsMove to areas with NBN
Multiple internetconnectionsHave backup equipment
Instant messagingNon-negotiable,primary comms method
Instant messagingYour lifeline toyour team.
Instant messagingScheduled do notdisturb time
Instant messagingAnnouncestart/stop
Ceremonies:Daily standupRotate the facilitationresponsibility
Ceremonies:RetrospectivesDiscuss and refactorpractices
LeadershipparticipationShow endorsement.Build empathy.
Growingthe team
The basicsEven more important!
The basicsBring in coaches toobserve and facilitate.
Hack:Greet everyone to check
Hack:Ask questions in the negative“Does anyone disagree?”not“Do we all agree?”
Team design:Time zone coverageHow many time zones?How much time zone overlap?
Team design:Time zone coverageAdd people in new timezones in pairs.
Team design:Time zone coverageBeginning &end of day standups.
Team design:Time zone coverageRecord crucial meetings.
Team design:Antipattern:Forcing everyone to workat exactly the same time
Team design:Antipattern:Communication in physicalspaces that excludesremoters
Team design:Antipattern:Activities that exclude remoters(use of whiteboards)(in-person icebreakers)
Google Quick Draw
Team design:Defining questionHow would this decisionmake me feel if I wasworking from home?
Scaling to thewhole org
What does it take tomake distributedteams a first classcitizen in theorganisation?
The executive andmanagement workingremotely at least 2days a week.
GuildsShare lessons learntwith other teams
Feedback loopsKeep refactoring yourways of working.
Feedback loops“What got us herewon’t get us there."
Thank you! (and questions?)