Wide Teams

Episode #53: Josh Ballanco

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In this episode, Josh Ballanco of ELC Technologies, talks about working remotely from Ankara, Turkey, the trials and tribulations of sorting through remote work job postings, pairing, and yak shaving days.

Show Notes

Josh Ballanco (twitter / github)

ELC Technologies

01:00 – Josh Ballanco Introduction & Backgroud

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  • Software engineer with ELC Technologies – a consulting group based out of Portland, OR
  • Works out of Ankara, Turkey
  • Currently working on SOA (service-oriented architecture) and libraries to support clients

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    02:48 – Why Ankara?
    03:24 – Distribution of ELC Technologies

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    • Tech lead of 4-6 people
    • All remote except for some dev ops guys in Portland

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      06:22 – Remote work job postings and securing a job
      09:13 – Turkey

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      • Unique but similar to the U.S.
      • Giant melting pot
      • Youth-oriented
      • Turkey is the place to be for startups

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        12:38 – Coordinating & leading a dispersed team

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        • Micromanagement
        • Letting people know if they are available for pairing daily

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          14:50 – Pairing

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          • Flexibility
          • Skype for voice
          • Join.me
          • Navigator/Driver setup
          • Google+ Hangouts

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            18:16 – Yak Shaving Days

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            • Once per sprint
            • Giant problem that gets a days worth of help from the entire team

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              19:32 – Communication outside of pairing

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              • HipChat
              • Email = important but tricky
              • Wiki

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                22:15 – Communication is key

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                • Non-verbal means of communication
                • Humor is tremendously nonverbal
                • Emoticons
                • Shared context
                • Patience

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