Episode #54: Steven R. Baker

Episode #54: Steven R. Baker

Oct 17, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Steven R. Baker, shares his experiences facilitating a remote team in Canada, his philosophies that led to working remotely,

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Show Notes:

Steven R. Baker (twitter / blog)

01:10 – Steven Introduction & Background

  • Writing software between 10-20 years
  • Focus on testing and developing high quality software
  • For the last 8-10 years, working from home

02:01 – Working from the road

03:07 – VersaPay: Bank transfers in Canada

  • 5 developers and a designer
  • Coordinate work with office in Toronto
  • Don’t know where team members are working from on a given day and don’t care

05:16 – Coordinating

  • Optional daily standup
  • Mailing lists

06:34 – Managing the distribution of work

  • Take the next story at the top of the backlog
  • Rotate through the team every two weeks to have a new Q&A/support person

08:03 – Avoiding knowledge silos

10:15 – Looping others into a project

11:33 – Philosophy that led to working remotely

15:04 – Finding business

  • Twitter
  • Conferences
  • Develop personal connections

17:23 – Facilitating/encouraging a remote team

  • Maintain a culture of openness and trust
  • Standup format: “What are you working on right now?”
  • Utilizing tools

25:41 – Team building offsite days

About the Author: Avdi Grimm

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 five (soon to be six) children.

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