This presentation represents some of the early principles that Johanna Rothman and I are uncovering in our work with successful distributed agile software teams.

1. THRIVING IN VIRTUAL
(TEAM) SPACE
MARK KILBY - OCT 2017

2. Community
Group
Support
volunteer
Mark’s distributed agile background …
2001
2003
2008
2012
2013
2016
2014
for hire
consultingacrossindustries

3. What about you?

6. more info at
http://remotelyagile.info / @mkilby
Satellite
one or a few remote
from team
Nebula whole team dispersed
Clusters
team in a
few locations

7. What kind of distributed
teams have you worked in?

8. HOW DO WE HELP PEOPLE
BE SUCCESSFUL ON
DISTRIBUTED TEAMS?

9. PRINCIPLES
OVER
PRACTICES & TOOLS

10. PRINCIPLES
OVER
PRACTICES & TOOLS
IN COLLABORATION WITH …

11. Principle 1:
Pervasive Communication
WHY before WHAT
Delegate “How” - don’t tell the teams what to do
Assume multiple communication / learning styles
to absorb new information
Broadcast over the right number of channels
Consider “timing” across different channels
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

12. Facilitators need multiple
tools and techniques
Back Channel - always have all
hailing frequencies open (chat);
someone should always monitor
Buddy System - each remote
person has a “buddy” in the
room to make sure they are
connected to the team
(paired communication)
Co-Pilot – someone at another
location that can help you
coordinate the whole team
(paired facilitation)
more info at http://remotelyagile.info / @mkilby

13. Principle 2:
Assume Good Intent
Trust is reciprocal and earned
Trust has a financial impact
It is difficult to trust unless…
we can see demonstrations of
trustworthiness (competency,
honesty, reliability)
see http://bit.ly/distributedtrust
we know their natural tendencies

14. Learning natural
tendencies within a team
EaseofAdoption
Time to Introduce
easy
more
difficult
1-2 hours week weeks or months
DISC
MBTI
Strength Finder
2.0
Compass
exercise
(diy)

15. North: Acting - “Let’s do it;” Likes to act, try things, plunge in.
South: Caring - likes to know that everyone’s feelings have been taken into
consideration and that their voices have been heard before acting
East: Speculating - likes to look at
the big picture and the
possibilities before acting
West: Paying attention to detail -
likes to know who, what, when,
where and why before acting

16. Learning natural
tendencies within a team
EaseofAdoption
Time to Introduce
easy
more
difficult
1-2 hours week weeks or months
DISC
MBTI
Strength Finder
2.0
Compass
exercise
(diy)
Liftoffs (diy)
Other benefits - shared vision,
working agreements?
© Mark Kilby 2017

17. Principle 3: Rhythm
Whether time-boxed (e.g., Scrum, XP) or in Flow
(Kanban), all teams have a rhythm
Encourage the team to decide their rhythms as
they form
Encourage the team to change their rhythm when
retrospectives indicate they are not “keeping a
beat”
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

18. Principle 4:
Adaptability & Resilience
Can individuals quickly adjust to meet a goal?
Can teams quickly adjust to meet a goal?
Can the organization quickly adjust on goals or approach?
How resilient is the individual / team / organization to
hardship?
Can the organization provide an “adaptive environment”?
i.e., how much can team control their workspace?
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

19. Checking Adaptability &
Resilience
Example - Communication
How many communications tools are available to the
team? Which are primary and which are backups?
Can anyone on the team start a new communication
channel at any time?
Example - Facilitation
Can anyone on the team facilitate any ceremony?
(backlog refinement, planning, standup, review,
retrospective)
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

20. Maybe time for 1-2
questions?

21. Principle 5:
Pervasive Collaboration
Deep Focus can be important, but …
Pervasive Collaboration can help you explore
problems and solutions faster
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

22. Distributed Collaboration Limits?
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

23. Distributed Collaboration Limits?
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

24. Distributed Collaboration Limits?
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

25. Principle 6:
Continuous Improvement
Change leaders should model improvement first
Then focus on the team
Works with rhythm principle
Examples:
Personal - Improvement Days / Mentoring
Team - Retrospective / Training / Meetups
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

26. Principle 7:
Transparency at all Levels
Keep team spaces as open as possible
“ask questions in public”
get multiple solutions
you may help educate others with your question
public appreciations and mea culpas
get to know each other & interests: 1:1s, lean coffees,
“guilds”, open lounge, meetups in person (team vs
workgroup)
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

27. WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN HIRING
VIRTUAL TEAM MEMBERS?

28. WHO DRIVES THE HIRING PROCESS
ON DISTRIBUTED TEAMS?

29. EVERYONE

30. Can the candidate … ?
Quickly collaborate with a (hiring) team of peers and
managers
Can they adapt to different schedules? Work
synchronously and asynchronously? Do they adapt
from one interview to the next?
Is there a rhythm to their communication?
Are they transparent with their history and experience
and why they are seeking new opportunities?
© 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

31. HOW DO YOU KNOW A DISTRIBUTED
TEAM IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

32. DO YOU HAVE CHOICE?

33. Can you work within these principles?
What about your team? Company?
Pervasive Communication
Assume Good Intent
Rhythm
Adaptability & Resilience
Pervasive Collaboration
Continuous Improvement
(self then team)
Transparency at All Levels
text © 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman

34. Some distributed teams
can look odd

35. or they have shiny
new tools

36. Focus on principles to get your
distributed team on the right course

37. Thanks! Questions?
more info at
http://remotelyagile.info
http://markkilby.com
@mkilby
http://worldretroday.com

38. References
(in order of mention)
- Paul J. Zak - Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies – January 17, 2017 -
https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Factor-Creating-High-Performance-Companies/dp/0814437664
- Mark Kilby, Presentation - Do I Trust What I Can't See? Successful Distributed Teams - http://bit.ly/
distributedtrust
- DISC vs MBTI assessments. https://coachfederation.org/blog/index.php/8211/
- Strengthfinder 2.0 - https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/
- Compass exercise adapted for online teams from “A Simple Exercise to Strengthen Emotional Intelligence
in Teams” KQED Mindshift https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/06/22/a-simple-exercise-to-strengthen-
emotional-intelligence-in-teams/
- Play Prelude for forming virtual teams http://www.playprelude.com/
- Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams, 2nd ed. https://pragprog.com/book/liftoff/liftoff-second-
edition
- All remaining material (c) 2017 Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman - for more information see http://
remotelyagile.info and https://www.jrothman.com/

39. Photo credits (in order of appearance)
- starry sky (title slide). Mitchell Hollander on unsplash.com
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Airman_1st_Class_Matthew_Hickle_instructs_a_plane_to_land_while_comp
leting_a_simulation_on_the_Tower_Simulation_System.jpg - Public Domain
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:ISS-47_Tim_Kopra_on_a_Laptop_in_the_Zvezda_Service_Module.jpg -
Public Domain
- https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/
iss036e006695.jpg - Public Domain
- Satellite.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Navstar-2F.jpg - Public Domain.
- Crab Nebula.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula#/media/File:Crab_Nebula.jpg -
Public Domain.
- The Pleiades, an open star cluster. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Lists_of_astronomical_objects#/media/File:Pleiades_large.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hohmann_transfer_orbit.png - under
the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
- Space station concept - https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/
arc-15570-1_160554main_jsc2006e43519_high.jpg - Public Domain
- Organize Your Distributed Team with Johanna Rothman - https://
www.collaborationsuperpowers.com/organize-distributed-team-johanna-rothman/
- used with permission from Lisette Sutherland
- Uhura / Star Trek https://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/
12263923206 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
- Buddy System for -6 PLSS, Apollo 14 press kit. https://
www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14pk_buddy_system_en.jpg - Public
Domain.
- Gemini astronauts. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/
258507main_s66-44601_full.jpg - Public Domain.
- https://dribbble.com/shots/3167286-Users-Icon-Free-PSD
- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/
STS-128_MCC_space_station_flight_control_room.jpg - Public
Domain. Star Trek cast at NASA Dryden - https://www.nasa.gov/sites/
default/files/thumbnails/image/ec76-5806.jpg - Public domain
- SpaceX CRS-8 first stage landing - https://www.flickr.com/photos/
spacex/25788014884/ - Public Domain.
- SpaceX JCSAT-14 Launch - https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/
26751237322/ - Public Domain.