Not a single Moscow. About the work of geographically distributed teams in the ESF
Geographically distributed teams are a reality of development today. The situation in the team, when an analyst in Moscow, a developer in Yekaterinburg, a designer in St. Petersburg, is more likely a normal distribution than an exception. Only the probabilities in this model are much higher, and they are not as predictable as Uncle Gauss bequeathed. Read about the incidents and surprises that we encountered in the work of remote teams in the ESF, under the cut.
Before the cuts in the eyes and the squeak in the lips - the topic of comparing the work of a free code artist or a white collar to IT has hopelessly exhausted itself. But we have to admit that it does not lose relevance, and we would not be surprised if you add pepper in the comments.
')
Today, the boundaries between freelance and corporation are erased: advanced companies, following the trend, make the schedules increasingly flexible - free days, floating work hours, an informal dress code and home comfort with slippers in the office. And now bearded free hands are increasingly thinking about office life, are drawn to stability, interesting projects and great technical capabilities. Rare freelancing can afford practical experiments, new technologies and other IT nishtyaki to the extent that is available to developers of leading IT-companies.
Along with the blurring of private corporate boundaries, the geography of the team’s location expands. It becomes a common situation when the team of developers and the owner of the product are in different cities, and since our country is huge, it is in different time zones.
And if earlier IT expansion belonged to large software suppliers that provide custom development services, more and more companies from related industries are seeking to share their share in the region.
The reasons for which companies are shifting recruitment plans into the depths of the region are transparent - the lack of qualified staff in the metropolitan region, the overpriced costs and the rapidly growing needs for new, ambitious developers.
The EFS program today employs about 300 developers and technical specialists in cities such as Bryansk, Yekaterinburg, Vologda, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Ryazan, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg, Cherepovets, Innopolis.
Along with the benefits of such a situation at the first stage, we faced a number of difficulties that we want to discuss with Habr's readers.
Even if the participants are from the same region, due to the difference in the background and interaction features, it is most likely that this will not completely avoid misunderstanding.
Of course, a common goal and faith in a single bright future unites, but not as quickly as necessary or desirable.
When the product owner is inattentive to what his team is worried about, what difficulties there are in the work of employees in the regions, he may be unaware of existing conflicts for a long time: until the moment of direct escalation.
At the end of each month, we hold general meetings in which you can take part in person or by connecting to a video conference. During the meeting, any team member can ask a question directly to the Head of the Unified Frontal Program - a strong motivation to prevent the development of the conflict and resolve issues before escalation. Another effective tool that is used centrally is polling. Through a simple mailing list, a link is sent to the questionnaire, which, if desired, can be filled without naming your name. In the course of such a survey, we manage to level local problems, the practice of solving which will be effective for all regional teams.
So the feedback allowed to supplement the methodological materials for new employees: as a result, there were far fewer distracting questions on the air, it became more comfortable for geographically distributed teams to work.
The question of organizing a comfortable office in the region deserves special attention: simple wishes in the spirit of “For larger people, stronger chairs are needed”, “Want to have a stronger coffee” will make the living environment even more comfortable, and the staff happier.
Misunderstanding in a team can be provoked by ineffective communications: too long discussions, scattered attention or lack of preparation for the meeting, information overload.
And if mobile communication tools and contact policies allow us not to spam our colleagues with inappropriate information for them, then everything turned out to be much more difficult to control.
When everything is in front of each other, it’s clear who is doing what or is slacking off. In the case of teams in the regions - it's hide and seek in the dark. Personal responsibility, involvement, execution of tasks in Jira and other special means are available and used, but they do not completely solve the problem, and some two talents in one of the regional offices are now playing table tennis.
When controlling, it is important not to overdo it, when there is already more harm than good, it will be interesting to read about your best practices.
Most of Scrum's "magic" is based on the joint close interaction of team members who meet face to face every day. It seems everything is clear, the means of video conferencing are set up, even if not immediately in a new office, even the power of time has been overcome, and the work was initially quite usual.
The team took on the tasks for the sprint and quietly performed them, but after the first sprints the lack of communication manifested itself fully: the result was significantly different from the requirements and vision of the product owner. Alterations were significant.
The common truths of finding participants in a single information field are not necessary to explain, but in practice everything worked differently: it’s one thing to turn around and ask a colleague at a nearby table, another thing is to write, call and plan time for communication. The team could not track changes and respond promptly to them. It was aggravated by the fact that people were new and did not know who to address with this or that problem — they perceived their scrum masters as the boss who creates problems and does not solve them. The stand-up seemed like a very formal reporting procedure to the leader, not a means of improving teamwork.
Bottlenecks in the work were identified in the framework of the retrospectives - online communication and video conferencing tools partly helped to synchronize with regional participants, to visualize some tasks, but there was no complete interaction.
Later they came to the conclusion that once a sprint in the region, a system analyst went to the team, who held a big meeting with a retrospective and planning work for the next sprint. Trust grew, contact was getting better - it was understood that a stand-up is not a tribute to the owner of the product, but several important minutes that participants can usefully identify their difficulties and get real help.
Departing from the classical methodology of flexible development, an additional half-hour meeting was held with regional participants, within the framework of which the global changes in the project were discussed, and not only in terms of the work they did.
If we talk about the tasks of the new level for the organization of effective work of regional teams, these are issues of professional development and personal growth.
To practice and knowledge learned, you must still "boil in a common pot." And when there are many creative and ambitious developers in the team, fermentation will surely begin on the topic “well, where we are not”, “and wages in the capital are higher, but conditions are better”. And very quickly acidity is born in the soul, the team spirit is lost and the motivation creeps down.
In order not to sour - stir.
To do this, we hold various contests in the areas of design and development, we present awards to the best in the quarter. The team has an “exit” coach who helps participants on the ground to build communication, sets up ceremonies.
The most interesting direction for us now is to see the organization of training - at the end of last year we launched a program of internal mentoring, but this is another story, which we will tell about in the following publications.
Do you think it makes sense to create remote workplaces or, to collect teams or is it an imaginary benefit? Let's talk in the comments, we are interested in your experience.
Before the cuts in the eyes and the squeak in the lips - the topic of comparing the work of a free code artist or a white collar to IT has hopelessly exhausted itself. But we have to admit that it does not lose relevance, and we would not be surprised if you add pepper in the comments.
')
Today, the boundaries between freelance and corporation are erased: advanced companies, following the trend, make the schedules increasingly flexible - free days, floating work hours, an informal dress code and home comfort with slippers in the office. And now bearded free hands are increasingly thinking about office life, are drawn to stability, interesting projects and great technical capabilities. Rare freelancing can afford practical experiments, new technologies and other IT nishtyaki to the extent that is available to developers of leading IT-companies.
Along with the blurring of private corporate boundaries, the geography of the team’s location expands. It becomes a common situation when the team of developers and the owner of the product are in different cities, and since our country is huge, it is in different time zones.
And if earlier IT expansion belonged to large software suppliers that provide custom development services, more and more companies from related industries are seeking to share their share in the region.
The reasons for which companies are shifting recruitment plans into the depths of the region are transparent - the lack of qualified staff in the metropolitan region, the overpriced costs and the rapidly growing needs for new, ambitious developers.
The EFS program today employs about 300 developers and technical specialists in cities such as Bryansk, Yekaterinburg, Vologda, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Ryazan, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, St. Petersburg, Cherepovets, Innopolis.
Along with the benefits of such a situation at the first stage, we faced a number of difficulties that we want to discuss with Habr's readers.
Habitat
Even if the participants are from the same region, due to the difference in the background and interaction features, it is most likely that this will not completely avoid misunderstanding.
Of course, a common goal and faith in a single bright future unites, but not as quickly as necessary or desirable.
When the product owner is inattentive to what his team is worried about, what difficulties there are in the work of employees in the regions, he may be unaware of existing conflicts for a long time: until the moment of direct escalation.
At the end of each month, we hold general meetings in which you can take part in person or by connecting to a video conference. During the meeting, any team member can ask a question directly to the Head of the Unified Frontal Program - a strong motivation to prevent the development of the conflict and resolve issues before escalation. Another effective tool that is used centrally is polling. Through a simple mailing list, a link is sent to the questionnaire, which, if desired, can be filled without naming your name. In the course of such a survey, we manage to level local problems, the practice of solving which will be effective for all regional teams.
So the feedback allowed to supplement the methodological materials for new employees: as a result, there were far fewer distracting questions on the air, it became more comfortable for geographically distributed teams to work.
The question of organizing a comfortable office in the region deserves special attention: simple wishes in the spirit of “For larger people, stronger chairs are needed”, “Want to have a stronger coffee” will make the living environment even more comfortable, and the staff happier.
Misunderstanding in a team can be provoked by ineffective communications: too long discussions, scattered attention or lack of preparation for the meeting, information overload.
And if mobile communication tools and contact policies allow us not to spam our colleagues with inappropriate information for them, then everything turned out to be much more difficult to control.
When everything is in front of each other, it’s clear who is doing what or is slacking off. In the case of teams in the regions - it's hide and seek in the dark. Personal responsibility, involvement, execution of tasks in Jira and other special means are available and used, but they do not completely solve the problem, and some two talents in one of the regional offices are now playing table tennis.
When controlling, it is important not to overdo it, when there is already more harm than good, it will be interesting to read about your best practices.
Scrum's magic power
Most of Scrum's "magic" is based on the joint close interaction of team members who meet face to face every day. It seems everything is clear, the means of video conferencing are set up, even if not immediately in a new office, even the power of time has been overcome, and the work was initially quite usual.
The team took on the tasks for the sprint and quietly performed them, but after the first sprints the lack of communication manifested itself fully: the result was significantly different from the requirements and vision of the product owner. Alterations were significant.
The common truths of finding participants in a single information field are not necessary to explain, but in practice everything worked differently: it’s one thing to turn around and ask a colleague at a nearby table, another thing is to write, call and plan time for communication. The team could not track changes and respond promptly to them. It was aggravated by the fact that people were new and did not know who to address with this or that problem — they perceived their scrum masters as the boss who creates problems and does not solve them. The stand-up seemed like a very formal reporting procedure to the leader, not a means of improving teamwork.
Bottlenecks in the work were identified in the framework of the retrospectives - online communication and video conferencing tools partly helped to synchronize with regional participants, to visualize some tasks, but there was no complete interaction.
Later they came to the conclusion that once a sprint in the region, a system analyst went to the team, who held a big meeting with a retrospective and planning work for the next sprint. Trust grew, contact was getting better - it was understood that a stand-up is not a tribute to the owner of the product, but several important minutes that participants can usefully identify their difficulties and get real help.
Departing from the classical methodology of flexible development, an additional half-hour meeting was held with regional participants, within the framework of which the global changes in the project were discussed, and not only in terms of the work they did.
Thank you for being alive
If we talk about the tasks of the new level for the organization of effective work of regional teams, these are issues of professional development and personal growth.
To practice and knowledge learned, you must still "boil in a common pot." And when there are many creative and ambitious developers in the team, fermentation will surely begin on the topic “well, where we are not”, “and wages in the capital are higher, but conditions are better”. And very quickly acidity is born in the soul, the team spirit is lost and the motivation creeps down.
In order not to sour - stir.
To do this, we hold various contests in the areas of design and development, we present awards to the best in the quarter. The team has an “exit” coach who helps participants on the ground to build communication, sets up ceremonies.
The most interesting direction for us now is to see the organization of training - at the end of last year we launched a program of internal mentoring, but this is another story, which we will tell about in the following publications.
Do you think it makes sense to create remote workplaces or, to collect teams or is it an imaginary benefit? Let's talk in the comments, we are interested in your experience.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/347618/
All Articles