Wide Teams

Podcast #31: Joseph Moore of Pivotal Labs

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In this episode I talk to Joseph Moore of Pivotal Labs. We talk about the challenges of moving from a collocated team to being a “satellite team member” thousands of miles away. What’s especially interesting about Joseph’s story is that he still pair-programs all day, every day with other members of his team despite being remote.

 Show Notes:
00:55 - Introduce Joe

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  • Software Developer
  • Moved from San Francisco to Atlanta and continued working for Pivotal remotely

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    01:41 – Interview begins
     01:58 – Joeâ€s background

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    •  Pivotal Labs is a consulting company specializing in web apps, web development, and mobile development
    • Worked on site for Pivotal and continues working remotely from new location in Atlanta

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      04:50 – Pair Programming

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      • Two developers sitting side by side at one computer, working on the same problem together
      • Slower, but teams produce code that is higher quality, fewer defects, better design, etc.
      • Quickly & easily make changes

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        06:55 – Pair Programming 100% of the time while remote

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        • Same standard equipment (iMac)

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          09:10 – Patience and Social Skills while Pairing

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          • Be a good listener
          • Not let ego and opinions take too much precedence
          • Have an open mind
          • Arrive at solutions together
          • Patience with finicky technology
          • Video face time is important
          • Being disciplined with distractions
          • Take breaks (naturally)
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            13:55 – Keyboard back & forth sharing

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            • 100% access vs watching and critiquing
            •  Etiquette and cues
            •  Latency
            •  Free up CPU by using multiple machines

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              23:08 – Daily Pair Swapping

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              • Change who youâ€re working with
              • Make sure everybody is aware of everyone involved in a project
              • People are introduced to many other ideas and opinions

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                25:09 – Going from co located to remote (Joeâ€s experience)
                27:18 – Daily Standups

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                • Discuss standing up versus sitting down
                • Avoiding distraction during daily standups
                • Look at what has been done and what goals are for that day

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                  32:01 – Daily check-ins with clients

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                  • Ensures everything is moving smoothly, have priorities changed, and verify work that has been done

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                    33:56 - Social impact of going from co located to remote

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                    • If you can make occasional physical visits, do it

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                      36:40 - Advice for remote workers

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                      • Discipline
                      • Patience with technology and others

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                        38:17 – Type of person who can be successful at remote work

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                        • 50% patience
                        • 50% skill

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                          39:40 – How much of a “normal” work environment can be replicated with distributed teams?
                          40:35 – Aspects that are superior to remote versus co located work
                          42:00 – Remote pair programming and coworking
                          43:38 – Wrap Up

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                          • Anyone interested in agile project tools should check out Pivotal Tracker
                          • Free software: Pivotal Tracker
                          • Pivotal Labs is a consulting company located in San Francisco, New York, Boulder, CO, and Joe in Atlanta
                          • Twitter @joem
                          • Blog: 40withegg

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                            Wide TeamsBy Avdi Grimm
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