Shane discuss his experience working in a distributed, virtual organization which is founded on an Agile Mindset. The challenges of maintaining agility when remote, the ways the ICAgile team have consciously designed their team and organization culture and provide actionable advice based on real experience on how to maintain collaboration, teamwork and live the agile values in a remote only organization. ICAgile is a global, virtual organisation working with partners across over 100 countries spanning almost every timezone. There is no single corporate office and the ICAgile team is spread across seven locations in three countries. We have managed to build a strong collaborative culture and a truly safe working environment focused on outcomes rather than activities, holding each other to account and being really effective and productive while having a joyful workplace

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Shane Hastie MIM ICE-PO
Director of Agile Learning Programs
Being Agile in a Remote Team:
the ICAgile Experience
Myths & Facts
What do we
Know About
Remote Workers
and Teams?

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Adapt the process to the needs of the people.
Agility in Implementation

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Benefits of Remote Teams
Are there any?
Org
Benefits
• Get the right people, irrespective of their location
• More engaged people
• Higher productivity
• Time-zone coverage
Individual
Benefits
• Flexibility around the demands of family and life
• Adapt to your own productivity profile (while adapting to your
teammates needs)
• Time for deep thinking/flow
• No commute
• Work from where you need/want to

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Brian de Haaf
https://blog.aha.io/19-big-myths-about-remote-work/
Simply put, remote work is the opportunity to do
your best work from anywhere. Great achievements
are measured by outcomes — not places.

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A Clear, Compelling Vision
OUR MISSION:
Advance the State
of Agile Learning
Globally
Correct .

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The Core ICAgile TeamThe Extended ICAgile TeamICAgile MembersICAgile Certified Professionals

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CULTURE
Deliberately Designing

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Great Teams
https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness/steps/identify-dynamics-of-effective-teams/

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Advice for Leaders
• Start with trust
• Measure outcomes not activities
• Provide the support needed
• Allow time/space in meetings and
collaborative sessions for social
bonding (yes, that can include some
gossip)
• Try some experiments

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Advice for Teams
• Hold each other to account
• Accept that different is not wrong
• Find ways to create “water cooler” moments
• Use “Inception Levels” idea for are you
disturbable
• Establish team norms, adapt them as
needed
• Agree which interactions need which level of
context/response time (video vs chat vs
email or task assignment)
• Consciously look for opportunities to have
fun together

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Advice for Individuals
• Be disciplined - hold yourself to account
• Communicate, don’t assume,
share your context, indicate mood, query
intent if you’re not sure, use emoticons
• Presume good intent
• Practice empathy
• Understand how each other likes to communicate
• Be clear about time (who’s 10am is that, and which day?)
• Have a working space that isn’t your bedroom (if possible)
• Professional appearance
• Take care of your health - exercise, breaks, time out
• Take the time to understand your teammates - culture, background, interests,
motivations …

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Remote
Agile
Teams
Work
Remote Agile teams work
when supported in the right ways.
Shane Hastie MIM ICE-PO
Director of Agile Learning Programs
Contact Information
shane@icagile.com
ICAgile.com
Twitter: @shanehastie
LinkedIn: http://nz.linkedin.com/in/shanehastie/