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Wide Teams episodes
- Episode #53: Josh Ballanco
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 NotesJosh Ballanco (twitter / github)
ELC Technologies01:00 – Josh Ballanco Introduction & Backgroud[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- 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
[/unordered_list]
02:48 – Why Ankara?03:24 – Distribution of ELC Technologies[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Tech lead of 4-6 people
- All remote except for some dev ops guys in Portland
[/unordered_list]
06:22 – Remote work job postings and securing a job09:13 – Turkey[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Unique but similar to the U.S.
- Giant melting pot
- Youth-oriented
- Turkey is the place to be for startups
[/unordered_list]
12:38 – Coordinating & leading a dispersed team[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Micromanagement
- Letting people know if they are available for pairing daily
[/unordered_list]
14:50 – Pairing[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Flexibility
- Skype for voice
- Join.me
- Navigator/Driver setup
- Google+ Hangouts
[/unordered_list]
18:16 – Yak Shaving Days[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Once per sprint
- Giant problem that gets a days worth of help from the entire team
[/unordered_list]
19:32 – Communication outside of pairing[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- HipChat
- Email = important but tricky
- Wiki
[/unordered_list]
22:15 – Communication is key[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Non-verbal means of communicationHumor is tremendously nonverbalEmoticonsShared contextPatience[/unordered_list]
27 min - Episode #52: Gabe Hollombe
In this episode, Gabe Hollombe, talks about his adventures traveling throughout Southeast Asia while working for a company based in Australia. He discusses staying connected to the Internet and home-based coworkers, traveling with coworkers, and essential equipment for the vagabond programmer.
Show Notes:Gabe Hollombe (twitter / github / blog)
Tutoring AustralasiaPairkit.com00:37 – Gabe Hollombe Introduction & Background[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Los Angeles native
- Moved to NYC
- Has an English degree as opposed to Computer Science
- Currently calls Sydney, Australia home for the past 6 years
[/unordered_list]
01:48 – Traveling[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Has traveled to and worked remotely from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, and Spain in the past 8 months
- Took two teammates and co workers from Sydney with him
- Earning Australian dollars; spending in Southeast Asia
- Devotes time to working half and half between company and his own other projects
[/unordered_list]
04:20 – Staying connected to the Internet while traveling[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Ubiquitous free wifi in Southeast Asia
- Thailand = most wired out of all above-mentioned
[/unordered_list]
05:35 – Staying connected to the team back in Australia[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Morning (daily) stand ups
- Time change between Southeast Asia and Australia works well
- Google Hangouts
- Fall back on Skype
[/unordered_list]
06:30 – Nha Trang, Vietnam08:03 – Traveling with coworkers[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Easier to work
- Keep each other focused and motivated
- Feel less isolated
[/unordered_list]
08:42 – Adjustment for “home team†to have coworkers working away[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Flew the team to Vietnam about halfway through the trip
[/unordered_list]
10:28 – Tutoring Australasia[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Connects students to tutors online, 24/7
- Intelligent matching system
- Real-time sharing
- Schools/public libraries can pay for a subscription
[/unordered_list]
12:11 – Lessons learned from making the change to working on-site to off-site[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Communication
- Having conversations be captured in a place where everyone can see them
- 6 month sweet-spot
[/unordered_list]
14:18 – Start smaller (traveling)[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Do a trial run with coworkers
[/unordered_list]
16:08 – Equipment for the vagabond programmer[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Universal general power adapter
- Universal power board
- iPad
- Unlocked GSM phone
- Camera
- MacBook Air
[/unordered_list]
19:55 – Key advice for people working remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- If youâ€re thinking about doing a trip like this, do it
- Saving more while working half as much
- Itâ€s easier than youâ€d think
[/unordered_list]
22:45 – Pairkit.com[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Gabe’s FREE! Beta pet project
- Makes SSH reverse tunneling easy
[/unordered_list]
29 min - Episode #51: Lonocloud
In this episode, Aaron Brooks, Chris Houser, and Alan Dipert, of Lonocloud, share their distributed team’s hiring strategy, topic-oriented versus individual-oriented meetings, and yours/mine protocol while pairing.
Show Notes:Lonocloud
Aaron Brooks (twitter github blog)Chris Houser (twitter github blog)Alan Dipert (twitter github blog)00:47 – Introduction & background[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Aaron Brooks: Engineer #2 at LonocloudChris Howser: Working remotely for 2 jobs; at Lonocloud for 1 year,Alan Dipert: Programmer at Lonocloud, no prior distributed team experience[/unordered_list]
02:27 – Location[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Every time zone in the US is represented
- Development team is fully distributed
- 10-15 range
[/unordered_list]
03:41 – History of distributed team[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Hired remotely to be able to access different people
- Lonocloud builds next generation multi-cloud federating infrastructure platforms
- Emphasis on dynamic information policies
- Distributed team working on distributed applications
[/unordered_list]
06:40 – Hiring developers[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Some people worked together previously and became available at the same time
- Closure language community
[/unordered_list]
08:16 – Difference between remote work and fully distributed work[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Effort between teams with a central office/being fully distributed
- Separate cliques between in-office and out-of-office groups
- Fully distributed teams are all working towards the same goal
- Shared pain of being fully remote
- Unify around benefits of working from home
[/unordered_list]
12:08 – A day in the life of Lonocloud[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Daily developer callCentral server to log in remotelyOwn development environment on their own screen; but can step in to see others workAd hoc pairing and splittingMore minds usefully contributing more quickly to a problemPairing, tripling as needed[/unordered_list]
17:22 – Topic-oriented meetings versus individual-oriented[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
People can chime in with input if they want, but donâ€t have toGoogle Doc for daily agendaNot ticket-driven[/unordered_list]
19:34 – Tools[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
HipChatSIP service phonesVideo sharing while pairing[/unordered_list]
26:05 – Yours/Mine protocol while pairing[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
ContextVocalized[/unordered_list]
28:38 – Splitting up work[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Obvious fitsDynamicSee what makes senseKey person help sessionsPeople normally step up without obligation[/unordered_list]
33 min - Episode #50: Shaun Eutsey of Terenine Technology Solutions
In this episode, Shaun Eutsey, of Terenine Technology Solutions, talks about kids being a big reason to transition into the work-from-home-community, cool remote tools distributed teams can use, and having the opportunity to never stop learning while working.
Show Notes:shauneutsey.com@shauneutsey00:45 – Shaun Eutsey introduction & background
[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Shaun is in Pittsburgh, PA
- Terenine Technology Solutions is based in Chattanooga, TN
- Dispersed team in Chattanooga, Texas, Florida, Utah
- First position working remotely
[/unordered_list]02:16 – Why Shaun is working remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Pittsburgh commutes are terrible
- Losing time
- Wanted to work from home to be with his kids
[/unordered_list]04:00 – Interviewed with Terenine twice before getting his current job09:30 – Distribution of Terenine[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Corporate office in Chattanooga, TN
[/unordered_list]12:20 – Day-to-day work experience[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Work closely with teammates
- Daily standup via GoToMeeting.com
- Pairing Programming on Skype
[/unordered_list]15:10 – Tools[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- TMUX
- Amazon Cloud
- ELinks
20:35 – Learning[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Pulling knowledge without sitting in the same room
- Always have channels of communication open
[/unordered_list]22:58 – Drawbacks of working remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Missing human interraction
- Hard transition into remote work (.NET)
[/unordered_list]25:30 – Pair programming[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Why arenâ€t more companies doing this?
- Keeps teams focused & engaged
- Helps teams put out better software
- 6 out of 8 hours spent pairing per day
- Popcorn Pairing
[/unordered_list]30:20 – Tips for remote workers[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Transition from working in an office to being remote is hard
- Retraining how youâ€re working
- Learning to stay focused without someone looking over your shoulder
- Train your family when you are working
[/unordered_list]
36 min - Episode #49: Wade Minter and Andrew Berkowitz of TeamSnap
Wade Minter and Andrew Berkowitz, of Teamsnap, chat about their company’s need for not so many formalized meetings, why all distributed workers and teams should dabble in improvisation, and being the right candidate to gain remote work.
Show Notes:Teamsnap.com
andrewberkowitz.com@andrewberkowitz@minter00:45 – Wade Minter and Andrew Berkowitz Introduction[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Andrew Berkowitz: Vice President of Product Management at TeamSnap and one of the original four founders of the company
- Wade Minter: Director of Engineering, manages technical operations, contractor with TeamSnap since the beginning
[/unordered_list]
01:51 – What is TeamSnap?[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Mobile application on Android and iOS
- Manages recreational youth or competitive sports teams
- Roster, schedule, messaging
[/unordered_list]
02:17 – Location[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Based in Boulder, CO
- Andrew is in Portland, OR
- Wade is in Raleigh, NC
- Rest of team in Austin, TX, Baltimore, MD, Washington, D.C., etc.
[/unordered_list]
02:52 – History of TeamSnap[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Doorway to leave the web design world
- Half the team is design and development
- Half is non-technical, i.e. customer support
[/unordered_list]
05:13 – A day in the life[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Campfire is the primary communication tool
- Github is used on the technical side
[/unordered_list]
06:46 – Meetings[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- 1 scheduled company meeting per week
- 1 scheduled developers-only meeting per week
- Development style is very “montessorialâ€
- If people need help, they ask
- Donâ€t need a ton of formalized stand up meetings
- Ad hoc conversations
[/unordered_list]
10:00 – Challenges[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Building a sense of community
- Preventing people from overworking
[/unordered_list]
11:54 – Identifying people who work well remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Improvisational backgrounds
[/unordered_list]
13:30 – Improv[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Skills help with interpersonal communication
- Intellectual component
- Listening skills
- Be opinionated and have a voice
- Big ideas & tiny ego
- Building on prospective
[/unordered_list]
23:46 – Flexibility in work/life balance[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Knowing when to unplug
- Preferred schedules
- Multiple time zones
- Dev at their desk for 18-20 hours/day
- Product coverage
[/unordered_list]
26:02 – How to find remote work and be the right candidate[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Personal connections
- Job boards
- Local tech meetups
- Coworking facilities
- Donâ€t look for job postings, reach out to the company you want to work for
- Listen to Wide Teams podcasts
[/unordered_list]
32 min - Episode #48: Kevin Old of DicomGrid
Kevin Old, of DicomGrid, talks about the concept of “think time,” his theories on people solving problems subconsciously, and the importance of trusting other team members and talking things out as a group.
Show Notes:Twitter: @kevinoldkevinold.com00:44 – Kevin Old Introduction & Background
[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Software engineer of 16 years
- Self-taught in Perl
- Graduated to JavaScript & Ruby
- Family situations led him to try working remotely
- Has worked remotely now for 5 years
[/unordered_list]02:15 – Benefits of remote work[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Freedom
- Work/life balance
- Ability to walk away from a problem
- “Think Timeâ€
- Ability to slow down
- Ability to work at your own leisure
[/unordered_list]07:20 – A typical day[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Things happen in the morning that you react to in the afternoon
- Solving problems subconsciously
- Working at times that you are at your best
[/unordered_list]11:40 – Working remotely for DicomGrid[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Familiar faces + new folks
- Based in Phoenix, AZ
- Health Care industry
[/unordered_list]14:00 – Communication setup[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Trello
- Asynchronous culture
- Skype
- Lessons learned from previous companies
[/unordered_list]17:30 – Collaboration[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Customer-driven requests
- Idea board
- Bugs
- List of features
[/unordered_list]20:00 – Remote culture[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Cutting ties when things arenâ€t working out
- Talking things out as a group
- Trusting the team
[/unordered_list]24:30 – Building trust[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Navigation of tough situations
- There are no magic team-building activities
[/unordered_list]27:18 – Bringing someone on board a remote team[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Mentorship
- Going through “seasonsâ€
[/unordered_list]33:30 – Advice for distributed teams[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- If youâ€re stuck on a problem, revisit it later
[/unordered_list]
37 min - Episode #47: Will Farrington & Mike Skalnik of Github
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.comGithubTwitter: @skalnik
mikeskalnik.comGithub00:35 – 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?â€
[/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]
39 min - Episode #46: Katie Cunningham of Cox Media Group
Katie Cunningham, of Cox Media Group, talks about implementing the Pomodoro time management technique, silly, but effective ways of getting people’s attention in IRC channels, and making yourself attractive to prospective remote employers.
Show Notes:Twitter: @kcunning
TheRealKatie.net00:38 – Katie Cunningham introduction & background[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Django and Python developer with Cox Media Group of Atlanta
- Author of forthcoming Accessibility Handbook: Making 508 Websites
- Based in Washington, DC
- Previously worked for NASA
- Pursued by a recruiter to work at Cox
[/unordered_list]
03:53 – Cox actively looks for people who can work remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Have remote days
- All remotes on one team
- All conversations must happen in IRC
[/unordered_list]
06:05 – A day in the life[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Work right away to get off earlier
- Pomodoro method: get up and walk somewhere else every 25 minutes
- Check email, IRC channels
- Exercise is important
- Work on books during lunch
- Code reviews
- Admin work
[/unordered_list]
12:30 – Advantages of working from home[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Relaxed
- Flexible with kids
- No office: kids are behind her and she can keep an eye on them
[/unordered_list]
16:20 – Isolation working from home[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Up time is other peoples†down time
- Limited interruptions and distractions
- Having kids/husband around is fun
[/unordered_list]
18:50 – Transitioning to working from home[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Thought sheâ€d be lonlier
- Thought sheâ€d miss getting out of the house
[/unordered_list]
20:12 – Problems working from home[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Fatigue
- Training the family
- Getting help for work/asking questions/getting peopleâ€s attention in IRC
[/unordered_list]
26:20 – Communication strategies[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Always have an ally
- Calling your manager or office admin and asking whoâ€s around
- Silly code words in IRC
[/unordered_list]
29:55 – Exercise[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Constantly moving within an officeGo for walksConcentrating while standingWii Fit/Kinect[/unordered_list]
33:42 – Where can people find remote work?[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Talk to good recruitersGood remote positions donâ€t advertise theyâ€re looking for employees[/unordered_list]
36:31 – Making yourself attractive prospective employers[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Present yourself wellNetwork like crazyGo to conferences–even if paying out of pocketOrganize your own dayExceptional writing skills[/unordered_list]
38:38 – Most important pieces of advice for remote workers[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Learn how to communicate earlyLearn who to communicate withMake your presence felt on the teamNetwork with social media: stay involved[/unordered_list]
43 min - Episode #45: Mike Smith of Blitz.io
Mike Smith, of Blitz.io, talks about being a part of a distributed team while being based in Austin, TX, why notifications and knowing your app is being used are good for team morale and self-esteem, and different strategies that promote communication between working regions.
Show Notes:Blitz.io
Twitter: @evilmike00:33 – Mike Smith Introductory[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Tech Lead at Blitz.io
- Based in Austin, Texas
- Team is based mostly in California with 2 others in Brazil
[/unordered_list]
01:25 – History of being distributed[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Worked with the others in CA before moving to TX
- Brazilian team are contractors by refferal
- 6 team members total
[/unordered_list]
02:50 – Working together[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Keeping in touch on a daily basis
- Campfire & Pivotal Tracker
[/unordered_list]
03:47 – Automation around Campfire[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
New user registrationPlan purchasesException reporting & errors[/unordered_list]
07:00 – Energy of knowing your app is being used[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Sales get a notification
- Everybody likes to hear the bell ring
[/unordered_list]
08:30 – Strategies to promote communication between regions[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Weekly call
- Live internal demos
[/unordered_list]
10:30 – Challenges of distance[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Communication bandwidth
- Whiteboard
- Lucidchart
- Gesturing
[/unordered_list]
14:35 – Advice for teams starting to work remotely[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Work with people youâ€ve worked with before if possible
- Shared sense of humor
[/unordered_list]
18:43 – Facetime with team members22 min - Episode #44: Rob Park
In this episode, Rob Park, an independent software consultant and Agile coach talks about all aspects of remote pair programming, different ways distributed teams choose to communicate, and the art of participating in daily standups.
Show Notes:Twitter: @robpark
00:30 – Rob Park introduction & history[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Independent software consultant & Agile coach
- Teams trying to hang on to good talent
- Based in Colorado
[/unordered_list]
02:22 – Remote pairing[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Extreme programming background
- Finding the right setup
- Great way to get ideas
- Fun to work that way
[/unordered_list]
06:20 – Pairing etiquette[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
Visual cuesAsking permission[/unordered_list]
07:51 – Communication is everything[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- You can tell the health of an Agile team by the buzz in the room
- The keyboard is not the bottleneck
[/unordered_list]
09:13 – Ways teams choose to communicate[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Open chat rooms and IRC channels
- Open Skype room
- Chatrooms will die if people do not participate
- IM tools
- Email in some rare instances
[/unordered_list]
11:24 – Standups via phone[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Freedom to be wherever you want to be
- Headsets required even when co-located
- Enforce contact
[/unordered_list]
13:44 – Kanbanpad[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Whiteboards
- Webcams set up on all the whiteboards
[/unordered_list]
18:22 – Standing up while doing standups[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Easy to lose focus in front of a screen
[/unordered_list]
20:40 – Joining a distributed team in the future[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Going stir-crazy in the house
- Pairing in public
[/unordered_list]
23:05 – Problems getting synced during a pairing session[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Promiscuous pairing
- Timezone issues
- Be flexible and patient
[/unordered_list]
26:56 – Encouraging pairing30:55 – Tips and tricks[unordered_list style=”bullet”]
- Enabling remote workers
- Privilege to work at home
[/unordered_list]
35 min
About Wide Teams
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The blog for geographically dispersed organizations