Wide Teams

Podcast #36: Ben Johnson of Merrill Corporation

Jun 13, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, Ben Johnson of Merrill Corporation talks about evolving into remote work, why working in an office is bad for focus and productivity, and why putting your face out on the Internet is a good thing. Show Notes: Twitter: @deafgreatdane Merrill Corporation Merrill DataSite Pragmatic Geek 01:10 – Ben’s introductory and background 01:37 – Merrill Corporation 02:20 – Evolving into remote work 03:12 – Tools 05:19 – Day to day operation 07:11 – Advantages of working remotely 10:41 – Remaining in touch with your team 12:45 – Helpful management techniques 13:53 – Standardized tools are important 16:45 – Advice for others working remotely

Podcast #35: Harvey Losin

Jun 6, 12 • In Featured, Interviews, Podcast

Wide Teams field correspondent Keith Bennett interviews Harvey Losin, talking about outsourcing and the challenges that come with it; working with people in different time zones and cultures; and why knowing business is more valuable than any technical tool you can offer. Show Notes: 02:30 – Harvey’s background and information 04:40 – Working with time zones 05:22 – Communication issues 07:00 – Assignments 09:35 – Working with time zones 11:00 – Tools 12:30 – Providers should adjust to their clients 13:15 – Outsourcing challenges 15:41 – How Harvey got his start 19:35 – Keep a balance of local and overseas clients 20:43 – Never be complacent with technology 25:40 – Studying business 27:25 – Dealing with clients from a different culture 35:00 – Advice

Podcast #27: Susan Tenby & Jessica Dally of TechSoup

Mar 16, 11 • In Interviews, Podcast

This podcast is a departure from the dispersed software development teams I usually cover. I interviewed Susan Tenby and Jessica Dally of TechSoup, a nonprofit focused on providing other nonprofits with the technology they need to better accomplish their missions. One way they assist nonprofits is in helping them to use Second Life, a massive on-line “virtual world”, to collaborate and build community online. I talked to Susan and Jessica about why TechSoup is a distributed organization, and why organizations are using Second Life to meet, network, and do their work. For someone who spends a lot of time doing remote collaboration, it was eye-opening for me to discover this whole new frontier of online interaction. After listening to this interview you may just be inspired to add a virtual world meeting space to your

Podcast #24: Derek Wade

Feb 15, 11 • In Interviews, Podcast

In this episode, a conversation with Derek Wade, a collaboration expert and Team Coach at Kumido Adaptive Systems. We talk about building “high-gravity” distributed teams, work-scapes, and the benefits of simple, free-form tools for collaboration. This episode is “back from the dead” — all of the audio from my side of the interview was lost, but I reconstructed and re-dubbed my questions so that I could share this interview. Show notes: Derek can be found at derekwwade.net, and is @derekwwade on Twitter. Slides for the presentation “High Gravity Distributed Teams“ The #lrnchat hashtag on Twitter I did a video demo of the Cardmeeting tool