Wide Teams

Episode #47: Will Farrington & Mike Skalnik of Github

Listen Later

Will Farrington and Mike Skalnik, of Github, talk about being a part of one of the most widely distributed companies out there, coordinating work between teams, and give advice about successfully securing a remote working position.

Show Notes:

Twitter: @wfarr

willfarrington.com
Github

Twitter: @skalnik

mikeskalnik.com
Github

00:35 – Introduction

[unordered_list style=”bullet”]

  • Will Farrington: System Operations @ Github
  • Mike Skalnik: Rails Developer @ Github
  • Calling in together at Github Summit in San Francisco

    • [/unordered_list]

    01:40 – Github is widely distributed all over: Korea, Australia, New Zealand, England, USA

    [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

    • â…” of company works remotely, full-time
    • Company paid office setups
    • Traveling is a huge part of being a part of the company

      • [/unordered_list]

      04:48 – Github Summit

      [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

      • Semi-annual week-long get-together
      • Meeting people in person

        • [/unordered_list]

        05:40 – Coordinating work

        [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

        • Everything is asynchronous
        • Loosely organized teams
        • Weekly live streaming fireside chats in Campfire

          • [/unordered_list]

          09:15 – Keeping people on the same page and adding employees

          [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

          • Put on notification blinders
          • People hired have specific focuses

            • [/unordered_list]

            11:00 – Flow of incoming information

            [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

            • Danger Room: everything non-work related
            • Internal Twitter: keep up to date on higher level things
            • Mass emails
            • Using team & individual mentions

              • [/unordered_list]

              15:14 – Planning

              [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

              • Pull requests
              • Unofficial policies
              • Rolling things out internally, staff-only first

                • [/unordered_list]

                18:09 – HUBOT

                [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

                • Deploys the site
                • Automates tasks
                • A source of fun within the company

                  • [/unordered_list]

                  23:50 – Frustrations working distributively

                  [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

                  • HR software

                    • [/unordered_list]

                    25:40 – FaceTime

                    [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

                    • Mostly during summits & conferences
                    • Trust
                    • Constructive criticism

                      • [/unordered_list]

                      30:30 – Getting into remote work

                      [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

                      • Seeking out companies that trust remote workers
                      • User groups & conferences
                      • Getting involved within the community
                      • Being passionate about what youâ€re working on
                      • Ask your favorite companies, “What would it take to work for you?”

                        • [/unordered_list]

                        34:30 – Advice for distributed teams

                        [unordered_list style=”bullet”]

                        • Make it reasonable for everyone to be able to participate
                        • Communicate

                          • [/unordered_list]

                          ...more
                          View all episodesView all episodes
                          Download on the App Store
                          Wide TeamsBy Avdi Grimm
                          • 4.6
                          • 4.6
                          • 4.6
                          • 4.6
                          • 4.6

                          4.6

                          10 ratings