Wide Teams

Episode #47: Will Farrington & Mike Skalnik of Github

Aug 29, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

Will Farrington and Mike Skalnik, of Github, talk about being a part of one of the most widely distributed companies out there, coordinating work between teams, and give advice about successfully securing a remote working position. Show Notes: Twitter: @wfarr willfarrington.com Github Twitter: @skalnik mikeskalnik.com Github 00:35 – Introduction 01:40 – Github is widely distributed all over: Korea, Australia, New Zealand, England, USA 04:48 – Github Summit 05:40 – Coordinating work 09:15 – Keeping people on the same page and adding employees 11:00 – Flow of incoming information 15:14 – Planning 18:09 – HUBOT 23:50 – Frustrations working distributively 25:40 – FaceTime 30:30 – Getting into remote work 34:30 – Advice for distributed teams

Episode #46: Katie Cunningham of Cox Media Group

Aug 22, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

Katie Cunningham, of Cox Media Group, talks about implementing the Pomodoro time management technique, silly, but effective ways of getting people’s attention in IRC channels, and making yourself attractive to prospective remote employers. Show Notes: Twitter: @kcunning TheRealKatie.net 00:38 – Katie Cunningham introduction & background 03:53 – Cox actively looks for people who can work remotely 06:05 – A day in the life 12:30 – Advantages of working from home 16:20 – Isolation working from home 18:50 – Transitioning to working from home 20:12 – Problems working from home 26:20 – Communication strategies 29:55 – Exercise 33:42 – Where can people find remote work? 36:31 – Making yourself attractive prospective employers 38:38 – Most important pieces of advice for remote workers

Episode #45: Mike Smith of Blitz.io

Aug 15, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

Mike Smith, of Blitz.io, talks about being a part of a distributed team while being based in Austin, TX, why notifications and knowing your app is being used are good for team morale and self-esteem, and different strategies that promote communication between working regions. Show Notes: Blitz.io Twitter: @evilmike 00:33 – Mike Smith Introductory 01:25 – History of being distributed 02:50 – Working together 03:47 – Automation around Campfire 07:00 – Energy of knowing your app is being used 08:30 – Strategies to promote communication between regions 10:30 – Challenges of distance 14:35 – Advice for teams starting to work remotely 18:43 – Facetime with team members

Episode #44: Rob Park

Aug 8, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Rob Park, an independent software consultant and Agile coach talks about all aspects of remote pair programming, different ways distributed teams choose to communicate, and the art of participating in daily standups. Show Notes: Twitter: @robpark 00:30 – Rob Park introduction & history 02:22 – Remote pairing 06:20 – Pairing etiquette 07:51 – Communication is everything 09:13 – Ways teams choose to communicate 11:24 – Standups via phone 13:44 – Kanbanpad 18:22 – Standing up while doing standups 20:40 – Joining a distributed team in the future 23:05 – Problems getting synced during a pairing session 26:56 – Encouraging pairing 30:55 – Tips and tricks

Episode #43: Greg Bell of Reverb Software

Aug 1, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Greg Bell, of Reverb Software, talks about mistakes he made during the early stages of managing a distributed team and what he’s done to combat those mistakes, and the ideal people that make up a widely distributed team. Show Notes: Twitter: @gregbell REVERB Software Greg Bell Design + Development github/gregbell Ruby Open Source Challenge 00:44 – Greg Bell Introduction and Background 02:05 – Type of software worked on 03:00 – History with distributed teams 05:20 – What went wrong at first? 08:30 – Plans to avoid future mistakes while managing a distributed team 09:45 – Ideal people 11:20 – A day in the life 13:14 – HipChat 15:10 – Division of work between people in Vancouver and people in France 18:42 – Being stalled during work due to others being unavailable