13. We do not use remote
teams as a cost saving
Our primary goal was finding talented developers
14. We do not use remote
teams as a cost saving
Travel
Facilities, Hardware, OďŹice Supplies, Furniture
Recruiting
Training (including language skills)
Communication Equipment
Incorporation Overhead
Talent
15. 2. Have a different Management
style across locations
ITALY
TURKEY
POLAND
SOUTH AFRICA
USA
PHILIPPINES
AUSTRALIA
INDIA
SINGAPORE
UK
16. 2. Have a different Management
style across locations
ITALY
TURKEY
POLAND
SOUTH AFRICA
USA
PHILIPPINES
AUSTRALIA
INDIA
SINGAPORE
UK
17. 2. Have a different management
style across locations
DiďŹerence in management style should
be tailored to people, not locations
20. Autonomy is vital for distributed teams and non-
distributed too
Training and opportunities should be available
Ensure shared vision
Set clear expectations for everyone in organisation
We have the same management
style across locations
21. Manifesto
How We Make Things
⢠Heterogeneous over homogeneous
⢠In-house over external
⢠Outcome driven over date driven
⢠Do it correctly over do it quickly
⢠Autonomy over control
⢠Finish one task completely over
multi-tasking
How We Function as a Team
⢠Rapid releases over batching it up
⢠It is not done until it is live in
production
⢠Automated testing over manual
checking
⢠Do not be afraid to experiment
⢠Build tools to allow other teams to
experiment safely over saying no
How We Operate
⢠As flat an organisation as possible,
but no flatter
⢠Cross team/cross project cooperation
at all times
⢠Grow team at sustainable rate
⢠Retention and promotions over new
hires
⢠Make time to learn and grow as
developers
⢠Be active in the developer community
We have the same management
style across locations
23. 3. You can rely on free
communication tools
Communication is key
24. 3. You can rely on free
communication tools
Communication is key
25. 3. You can rely on free
communication tools
Communication is key
26. We donât rely on free
communication tools
Invest in high quality Video Conferencing tools
Document sharing, real time annotations, pair
programming easier
Asynchronous communication patterns are preferable
29. Need to have all co-located or all remote
Need to have geographic centric teams
4. Donât use âhybridâ teams
30. Both co-location and remote:
Team members have diďŹerent needs
Trains team to treat distributed employees like full
members of the team
Retain talent
We use âhybridâ teams
31. We use âhybridâ teams
Non Geo-centric:
Location not a significant factor in team assignments
Prevents us vs. them
Encourages cross geo-communications
Allows flexibility
32. 5. You can have lower
standards for Offshore teams
When all else fails âŚ
lower your standards.
33. We have the same standards
across all teams
Make no allowance for lowering the bar of technical
competency
Do not create a second tier remote team for scrub work
Extra work
Resentment
Give distributed teams same access to training / career
enrichment
38. Results
Not all sunshine and rainbows:
Split geographic teams increases workload of team leads.
Spreading the pain means more people feel pain.
39. Results
Not all sunshine and rainbows:
Split geographic teams increases workload of team leads.
Spreading the pain means more people feel pain.
Communication is still more diďŹicult
40. Results
Not all sunshine and rainbows:
Split geographic teams increases workload of team leads.
Spreading the pain means more people feel pain.
Communication is still more diďŹicult
Time zones still exist
41. Results
Went from 0 to 16 distributed employees in 18 months
Total employees from 7 to 34 in 2 years.
42. Results
Zero distributed team resignations in Manila over 12
months
StaďŹ attrition rates are between 25% to 50% (depending on source)
amongst skilled outsourced teams.
Zero distributed team resignations anywhere else in
the world (except for Sydney) over past 2 years.
43. Results
High levels of job satisfaction - Local and Distributed
Flexible work schedules
Attract Talent
Team given chance to self organise, overwhelmingly
wanted cross-geo teams
Increased awareness of problems facing distributed teams