Wide Teams

Episode #84: Interview with Jay Hayes of Big Nerd Ranch

Jun 5, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Jay Hayes of Big Nerd Ranch, talks agile software development and overcoming isolation and communication issues while working remotely on a distributed team. Show Notes: Jay Hayes (twitter github blog) 00:39 – Jay Hayes Introduction 01:54 – Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) 03:23 – “A Day in the Life” 05:18 – Topography of Big Nerd Ranch 07:18 – Free Time 08:32 – Challenges of going from collocated to remote work 10:37 – Isolation & Personal Development

Episode #82: Interview with Amos King

May 22, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Amos King, talks about his experiences working remotely and gives a pretty cool background noise resource for those lonely times. Show Notes: Amos King (twitter github blog) 00:39 – Amos King Introduction 01:43 – Commute 03:02 – Asynchronous Communication 04:44 – Backgound Noise 06:25 – Companies & Promoting Remote Work 08:16 – Transitioning into working remotely 13:18 – Amos’ Office 16:21 – Having spare time 17:47 – This Agile Life Podcast

Episode #80: Interview with Ernie Miller of LivingSocial

May 1, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Ernie Miller of LivingSocial, talks about his transition into managing a dispersed team, “Optimizing for Happiness”, and dealing with distraction. Show Notes: Ernie Miller (twitter github blog) 00:41 – Ernie Miller Introduction 01:07 – Transition to leading a dispersed team 02:25 – Remote Working Days 03:31 – “Optimizing for Happiness” 06:52 – Dealing with Recruiters 09:26 – Considering Remote Work 12:02 – Dealing with Distraction 15:25 – Remote Meetings 16:51 – Ernie’s Remote Team

Episode #79: Interview with Nick Adams of Hudl and remotejobs.co

Apr 24, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Nick Adams of Hudl and remotejobs.co, talks about living and working in Rochester, New York, and starting a remote jobs board for companies dedicated to specifically hiring remote workers and people specifically looking to be them. Show Notes: Nick Adams (twitter github blog) 00:37 – Nick Adams Introduction 01:35 – Hudl as a Distributed Team 02:02 – Nick’s history with remote work 04:29 – Tools 07:46 – Challenges of working remotely 09:08 – Making Hudl a dispersed team 09:42 – Living in Rochester, New York 13:21 – remotejobs.co 19:39 – Advice for companies looking to hire remote workers

Episode #78: Interview with Jonathan Mason of VersaPay

Apr 17, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Jonathan Mason, of VersaPay, talks about life living in Victoria, British Columbia, and the importance of documentation and visibility to others while working on a distributed team. Show Notes: Jonathan Mason (twitter github) 01:28 – Introduction 02:45 – Life in Victoria 05:55 – VersaPay and it’s distributed team 07:32 – Team Work Process 10:22 – Challenges of working on a remote team 15:01 – In-person Team Interaction

Episode #77: Interview with Elliot Rodriguez

Apr 10, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Elliot Rodriguez talks about his experiences on a distributed team, overcoming isolation, and being able to work remotely for as long as possible. Show Notes: Elliot Rodriguez (linkedin) 00:54 – Elliot Rodriguez Introduction 02:04 – Wanting to work from home 05:54 – Working with a distributed team 12:25 – Video Conferencing 13:15 – Overcoming Isolation 14:23 – Ideal Work Environment 16:05 – Sticking with the remote working lifestyle

Episode #75: Interview with Javier Gonel

Mar 20, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, software engineer Javier Gonel, talks about living and working remotely from Greece and why he enjoys commuting and having the freedom to work from interesting places. Show Notes: 01:11 – Javier Gonel Introduction 03:37 – Working Remotely 07:19 – Benefits of Working Remotely 08:46 – Enjoying Commuting 09:42 – Working from Interesting Places 13:34 – Advice for people thinking about moving to remote work

Episode #74: James Costa and Matt Herron of The Phuse

Mar 13, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, James Costa and Matt Herron of The Phuse, discuss task management, overlap meetings, and the concept of code audits. Show Notes: 01:04 – James Costa (twitter blog) Introduction 01:20 – Matt Herron (twitter) 01:31 – The Phuse (site twitter blog dribbble) 02:43 – History of being a remote company 05:54 – Task Management 09:00 – Overlap Meetings 11:00 – In-person Meetings 12:48 – Benefits of having a distributed team 16:27 – Code Audits 18:33 – Distributed working challenges

Episode #73: Eric Farkas of TalentSoup

Mar 6, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Eric Farkas of TalentSoup, talks dealing with timezone disparities, overcoming cultural differences, and sharing values with others for successful remote work. Show Notes: 00:37 – Eric Farkas (twitter blog) Introduction 00:59 – Working Remotely 02:31 – Dealing with Timezone Disparities 03:36 – Cultural Differences 05:29 – Working for TalentSoup Remotely 09:40 – Day to Day Life & Communication 13:11 – Yahoo says no to telecommuting 15:02 – Advice for people seeking remote work

Episode #72: Matt Groves of Telligent

Feb 27, 13 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Matt Groves of Telligent talks about choosing to work remotely and prior hesitations, fantasy remote tools, and gives us a preview of his soon-to-be published book, Aspect-Oriented Programming in .NET. Show Notes: 00:36 – Matt Groves Introduction 02:15 – Choosing Remote Work 03:16 – Daily Life and Tools 04:41 – Pair Programming 06:03 – Pros and of Working Remotely 06:58 – Challenges of Working Remotely 07:42 – Fostering a Distributed Working Community 09:19 – Fantasy Remote Tools 11:25 – Sticking w/ remote work or going back to office life 12:35 – Work Schedule 14:48 – Upcoming book: Aspect-Oriented Programming in