Wide Teams

Podcast #41: Jonathan Wallace of Highgroove Studios

Jul 18, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

Jonathan Wallace, of Highgroove Studios, talks about the team’s management philosophy, ROWE, and why it works, and how the concepts of overcommunication and summarization are extremely important practices when working within a distributed team. Show Notes: Highgroove Studios blog.jonathanrwallace.com Twitter: @jonathanwallace @highgroove 00:52 – Jonathan Wallace Introduction 01:14 – Distributed Team 01:58 – Becoming Distributed 07:43 – Being “there” versus getting things done: Results Only (ROWE) 11:50 – Work Flow while Working from Home 14:42 – Challenges of Remote Work 18:00 – “Overcommunicating” 20:30 – Summarizing 23:44 – Advice for Remote Teams

Podcast #37: Justin Searls of Test Double

Jun 20, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Justin Searls of Test Double, shares his experiences – both good and bad, in working with distributed teams, how to turn the tides when things are going noticably sour within a project, and the importance of forming habits that stick. Show Notes: Test Double Twitter: @searls Beautiful Front End Code Conference 01:14 – Justin’s history and background with remote work 01:53 – Bad experiences with distributed teams 05:30 – Turning the tide 07:50 – Good experiences with distributed teams 11:25 – Normalization 13:33 – Communication cost is significantly higher within distributed teams 16:06 – Warning signs that the cost of communication is becoming too expensive 19:50 – Advice for dispersed teams

Wide Teams Podcast Episode 19: Interview with Steven Willmott

Nov 23, 10 • In Interviews, Podcast

In this episode of the Wide Teams podcast, I interview Steven Willmott of 3Scale. We talk about supporting clients in multiple timezones, what you do when one of your developers who lives on a mountainside and generates his own power gets hit with a snowstorm, and much more!

5 myths of remote work

Oct 6, 10 • In Basics

Working in a dispersed team has its share of challenges, but some of the fears that people have about remote work simply aren’t born out by the experience of real-world teams. Here are a few if the more common misconceptions I’ve encountered. Working outside the office is distracting. This is one of the most persistent myths I’ve run into. Sure, working from home can be distracting. But out of the remote workers I’ve talked to, the majority find their home office a better environment for focused work than a traditional office.Which shouldn’t really come as a surprise. After all, if you work with people you like, it means that your workplace is going to be filled with people you have a lot in common with, having conversations about things that are interesting to you! While

Wide Links #9: Smart, Productive, Agile

Oct 1, 10 • In Links

It’s been a while since I did one of these. In this edition, productivity tips, videos, notes on distributed Agile processes, and more. A short video interview with Salim Ismail He talks about the importance of meeting your team in person at the start of a project. But what I found most interesting is when he says that he sees dispersed teams as a way to get the best possible talent no matter where they are located. tags: wideteams Work Smart 2: Stay Connected While Telecommuting | Fast Company – Annotated A lot of great advice in this short video. tags: wideteams Working remotely is so liberating–you get to do what you do best, in a location of your choice, without your co-workers or boss always looking over your shoulder. But telecommuting also requires a

Wide Teams Podcast Episode 13: Interviews with Jody Alkema and Peter van Hardenburg

Sep 13, 10 • In Interviews, Podcast

Two final interviews from RailsConf 2010 this week. The first is with Jody Alkema, a web developer with Domain 7 who spoke to me about his experience augmenting his Agile software team with some remote help. The second is with Peter van Hardenburg, a developer at Heroku who is transitioning back to a collocated team after a couple years of working remotely

Wide Teams Podcast Episode 11: Interview with John McCaffrey

Aug 30, 10 • In Interviews, Podcast

In this episode I talk to John McCaffrey, a software consultant who specializes in ironing out performance problems in Ruby on Rails applications. In the course of his consulting he works with dispersed teams, and in this interview he delivers a detailed rundown of the tools and workflow involved in doing Agile software development in a distributed team

Wide Teams Podcast Episode 10: Interview with Aslak Hellesøy

Aug 16, 10 • In Interviews, Podcast

In this episode: an interview with Aslak Hellesøy, who talks about the contrasts between coordinating a large Open-Source project and a small dispersed team; the importance of constantly re-evaluating your tools and practices; and more. Also: theme music!

Wide Links #8: I’m on a Train!

Aug 13, 10 • In Links

Links about remote work and dispersed teams, from all around the web. In this edition: workshifting from the train; the disciplined remote worker; more evidence that telework increases productivity, and more

Staying in Sync with a Core Hour

Aug 11, 10 • In Practices

One of the attractive features of a dispersed team is the ability for the team to get things done without all being on the same schedule. Members of the team are able to use their time more flexibly, scheduling work around life instead of vice-versa. They may also be scattered across time zones as well. This advantage comes with a significant dark side, however. With less time spent in direct communication, teams members have a much increased potential for getting out of sync with each other – leading to delays, duplicated or unneeded work, and confusion. Collocated organizations that practice flex time often define a block of “core hours” when every employee is expected to be in the office. While it is typically impractical – and quite possibly inefficient – for a dispersed team to