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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Show Notes:

Twitter: @wfarr
willfarrington.com
Github

Twitter: @skalnik
mikeskalnik.com
Github

00:35 – Introduction

Will Farrington: System Operations @ Github
Mike Skalnik: Rails Developer @ Github
Calling in together at Github Summit in San Francisco

01:40 – Github is widely distributed all over: Korea, Australia, New Zealand, England, USA

⅔ of company works remotely, full-time
Company paid office setups
Traveling is a huge part of being a part of the company

04:48 – Github Summit

Semi-annual week-long get-together
Meeting people in person

05:40 – Coordinating work

Everything is asynchronous
Loosely organized teams
Weekly live streaming fireside chats in Campfire

09:15 – Keeping people on the same page and adding employees

Put on notification blinders
People hired have specific focuses

11:00 – Flow of incoming information

Danger Room: everything non-work related
Internal Twitter: keep up to date on higher level things
Mass emails
Using team & individual mentions

15:14 – Planning

Pull requests
Unofficial policies
Rolling things out internally, staff-only first

18:09 – HUBOT

Deploys the site
Automates tasks
A source of fun within the company

23:50 – Frustrations working distributively

HR software

25:40 – FaceTime

Mostly during summits & conferences
Trust
Constructive criticism

30:30 – Getting into remote work

Seeking out companies that trust remote workers
User groups & conferences
Getting involved within the community
Being passionate about what you’re working on
Ask your favorite companies, “What would it take to work for you?”

34:30 – Advice for distributed teams

Make it reasonable for everyone to be able to participate
Communicate

distributed teams Interviews podcast remote work

About the Author: Avdi Grimm

Husband, father, software cultivator, and amateur community builder, Avdi has been leading and participating in dispersed software development teams since 2007. He works from home in Southern Pennsylvania, and loves the fact that working remotely enables him to spend more time with his wife and four children.