Distributed Agile - today's pitfalls, tomorrow's tips
Contributors: Linda, Scott, Nimat, Mike, Kathy, Ravi, Bill G, Syed, Ken
Facilitator: AgileBill Krebs
Outline:
1) Context
2) The state today
3) Suggestions for tomorrow
1) Context
We took a survey of the number of timezones faced by our teams, as well as the maximum spread between them.
Other Factors: Culture and Language
Contract vs Employee
Organization Mixture (example, 3 vendors, 1 client)
In some places, if you miss the 6pm bus, you have to wait until 11pm for the next one. Cars are not a given.
2) Today
Linda:
Remote placement of teams imposes more document driven practices.
It can slow down the project = 18 month releases, which is twice what is desired.
It puts people in the pattern of team lead to team lead communication, which is not as good as all members of the team networking.
And allows or devolves into a lack of shared practices between teams.
Nimat:
We adjust work hours to share time.
We need tools, more than e-mailing and documentation, need social tools.
VersionOne / ScrumPad have been helpful
Kathy:
They use Live Meeting
Share early morning hours
Rotate team members and time shifts
Tools are helpful - such as Mingle and cardwall
Shared source for continuous integration is key
Watch for diverging use of practices, and Knowledge Silos
Syed:
Look at cultural questions, not just time and language
Ravi:
Their team uses a Remote Desktop Connection
It helps to use coding templates (in their case, for Java), to get some common feel to class design
Mike Cottemeyer:
We have established skill sets - makes a difference in combining teams
We overlap work hours to allow some same time interaction
People rotate on a 3 month cycle
Periodically get the whole team on site
Having people far away increases the desire for code reviews, yet makes it harder!
Offshore is painful, but has been made to work
Scott:
Remote is okay. But the question is really - how to be more Agile?
They have invested $400 in webcams.
With the camera, people are less likely today no than they re on the phone.
Metrics can play a role in working with remote teams.
Bill Gaiennie:
Offshoring is the norm. What re the teams' norms?
Shared understandings are key.
We want tacit learning. We want spontaneous conversations and discoveries. These things happen naturally in face to face environments.
AgileBill Krebs:
Today I teach and work in virtual worlds. I have an island reserved for the Agile Community. In my typical day I work with people from 4 counties, and forget they are not in the room. I can profile surf, backchat, create interactive models, and use only the body language I wish. But the learning curve for my clients is very hard. It takes an hour to learn basic navigation, but weeks toget comfortable in the environment. It's a big task. But the rewards are huge. For example, I learned a lot from the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference in March 2010 (I was chair of the poster session). This 48 hour event featured 175 presentations, 46 posters, and 3,000 attendees from across the globe. My Agile Worlds 2010 conference saved 75% of the cost of a non online conference. Virtual worlds are new, but are an emerging alternative. Join
_3) Suggestions_
Linda: ensure the teams mix and blend the skills, don't Silo
Have a 2 hour overlap (or follow the sun)
Kathy: Use a Developer's Chatroom: Yammer - or a closed twitter steam
Mike: Place shared accountability - don't measure each split team, measure the Whole Team. Don't dictate the solution
Proper collaboration tools can cut e-mail by 20-30%
_Tools_
Skype
Virtual Worlds (see AgileBill Krebs for pros and cons of each - Teleplace, Reaction Grid, Second Life)
ooVoo
Video Walls, like at the University of Chapel Hill
Contributors: Linda, Scott, Nimat, Mike, Kathy, Ravi, Bill G, Syed, Ken
Facilitator: AgileBill Krebs
Outline:
1) Context
2) The state today
3) Suggestions for tomorrow
1) Context
We took a survey of the number of timezones faced by our teams, as well as the maximum spread between them.
| Number | Hours Spread |
| 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 2 | 11 |
| 3 | 10.5 |
| 2 | 9 |
| 3 | 12 |
Other Factors: Culture and Language
Contract vs Employee
Organization Mixture (example, 3 vendors, 1 client)
In some places, if you miss the 6pm bus, you have to wait until 11pm for the next one. Cars are not a given.
2) Today
Linda:
Remote placement of teams imposes more document driven practices.
It can slow down the project = 18 month releases, which is twice what is desired.
It puts people in the pattern of team lead to team lead communication, which is not as good as all members of the team networking.
And allows or devolves into a lack of shared practices between teams.
Nimat:
We adjust work hours to share time.
We need tools, more than e-mailing and documentation, need social tools.
VersionOne / ScrumPad have been helpful
Kathy:
They use Live Meeting
Share early morning hours
Rotate team members and time shifts
Tools are helpful - such as Mingle and cardwall
Shared source for continuous integration is key
Watch for diverging use of practices, and Knowledge Silos
Syed:
Look at cultural questions, not just time and language
Ravi:
Their team uses a Remote Desktop Connection
It helps to use coding templates (in their case, for Java), to get some common feel to class design
Mike Cottemeyer:
We have established skill sets - makes a difference in combining teams
We overlap work hours to allow some same time interaction
People rotate on a 3 month cycle
Periodically get the whole team on site
Having people far away increases the desire for code reviews, yet makes it harder!
Offshore is painful, but has been made to work
Scott:
Remote is okay. But the question is really - how to be more Agile?
They have invested $400 in webcams.
With the camera, people are less likely today no than they re on the phone.
Metrics can play a role in working with remote teams.
Bill Gaiennie:
Offshoring is the norm. What re the teams' norms?
Shared understandings are key.
We want tacit learning. We want spontaneous conversations and discoveries. These things happen naturally in face to face environments.
AgileBill Krebs:
Today I teach and work in virtual worlds. I have an island reserved for the Agile Community. In my typical day I work with people from 4 counties, and forget they are not in the room. I can profile surf, backchat, create interactive models, and use only the body language I wish. But the learning curve for my clients is very hard. It takes an hour to learn basic navigation, but weeks toget comfortable in the environment. It's a big task. But the rewards are huge. For example, I learned a lot from the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference in March 2010 (I was chair of the poster session). This 48 hour event featured 175 presentations, 46 posters, and 3,000 attendees from across the globe. My Agile Worlds 2010 conference saved 75% of the cost of a non online conference. Virtual worlds are new, but are an emerging alternative. Join
_3) Suggestions_
Linda: ensure the teams mix and blend the skills, don't Silo
Have a 2 hour overlap (or follow the sun)
Kathy: Use a Developer's Chatroom: Yammer - or a closed twitter steam
Mike: Place shared accountability - don't measure each split team, measure the Whole Team. Don't dictate the solution
Proper collaboration tools can cut e-mail by 20-30%
_Tools_
Skype
Virtual Worlds (see AgileBill Krebs for pros and cons of each - Teleplace, Reaction Grid, Second Life)
ooVoo
Video Walls, like at the University of Chapel Hill