Qcon London2020 Scaling distributed teams
- 1. Ranganathan Balashanmugam Scaling Distributed Teams Around The Globe
- 2. Scaling Distributed Teams Around The Globe By Applying Learnings From Distributed Systems Ranganathan Balashanmugam
- 3. G'day mate, I’m Craig
- 4. “Its funny”
- 8. *Continuously improve through continuous feedback. Improve at macro and micro levels
- 9. Hi, I am Ranganathan Balashanmugam
- 10. Hi, I am Ranganathan Balashanmugam Ran-ga-na-WHAT???
- 11. Hi, I am Ranganathan Balashanmugam People butcher my name
- 12. ‘Ranganathan Balashanmugam’ makes for strong passwords
- 13. ‘Ranganathan$Balashanmugam’ makes for strong passwords
- 14. Call me R A N G A
- 15. My journey so far has been interesting. Head of India, Aconex Named as one of the top10 CTOs in India by CEO Insights Mag Software engineer for ~12 years Work with remote teams for 15 years 2016 Nov 2018 Founder and CTO, EverestEngineering Dec 2019
- 16. If you could all stand up and….
- 21. “A distributed system is a collection of autonomous computing elements that appears to its users as a single coherent system.” - Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms Book by Andrew S. Tanenbaum
- 22. “A distributed system is a collection of autonomous computing elements that appears to its users as a single coherent system.” - Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms Book by Andrew S. Tanenbaum teams team
- 23. Characteristics of distributed systems They operate concurrently They fail independently They do not share a global clock
- 24. Characteristics of distributed systems teams They operate concurrently They fail independently They do not share a global clock
- 25. <— Image source: https://www.holacracy.org/
- 26. “Fundamentals”
- 27. Why do you want to go distributed?
- 28. Why do you want to go distributed? It’s cheap Hiring limits Remote potential markets Outsource dirty work
- 29. Where to go?
- 30. Where do you want to go? Same city, same country, other country (limited by timezones) Availability of developers (competitive hiring) Language Agency vs own teams Cost of developers Trusted network for advice Ease of travel 23 million developers
- 31. Where to go? Number of software developers in the world Content source: https://www.daxx.com/blog/development-trends/number-software-developers-world
- 32. Number of software developers in the Europe Content source: https://www.daxx.com/blog/development-trends/number-software-developers-world
- 33. People who speak English Content source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_world#/media/File:Anglospeak.png
- 34. We vs They Us
- 35. Hiring, firing, retaining “Don’t hire the best.”
- 36. Hiring, firing, retaining “Don’t hire the best. Hire the right fit.”
- 38. Hiring, firing, retaining “Coach, Grow, Give Autonomy”
- 39. Virtual Distance “It is a sense of psychological distance from others that affects collaboration performance” The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski
- 40. Virtual Distance = Physical Distance + Operational Distance + Affinity Distance Content source:https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2006.484 Karen Sobel Lojeski “It is a sense of psychological distance from others that affects collaboration performance”
- 41. Virtual Distance = Physical Distance + Operational Distance + Affinity Distance Geography, time zones, and organizational affiliation. The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski
- 42. Virtual Distance = Physical Distance + Operational Distance + Affinity Distance The “noise” in the system. The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski
- 43. Virtual Distance = Physical Distance + Operational Distance + Affinity Distance The barriers to form deep, meaningful relationships. The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski
- 44. How might we reduce this virtual distance?
- 45. 7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams Communication is the foundation. Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision making. Choose right tools - software and hardware. Plan for collaboration and concentration time. Local first. Find the local leader. Promote open online chit-chats.
- 46. 7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams Communication is the foundation. Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision making. Choose right tools - software and hardware. Plan for collaboration and concentration time. Local first. Find the local leader. Promote open online chit-chats. *Continuously improve through continuous feedback.
- 47. Communication is the foundation Handwriting images source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PSM_V34_D861_Espy_letter.png, https:// surgeryattiffanys.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/doctors-handwriting.jpg, https://www.quora.com/Why-do-doctors-write- prescriptions-in-an-illegible-manner, https://www.bankslane-jun.stockport.sch.uk/assets/Uploads/Handwriting-Policy-and- Guidelines4.pdf
- 48. Communication is the foundation My current thoughts.This talk is boring and I feel like sleeping. I feel full after the lunch. The conference has good lunch. Do I have any notifications on slack? If I am reading this, I am smiling. Handwriting images source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PSM_V34_D861_Espy_letter.png, https:// surgeryattiffanys.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/doctors-handwriting.jpg, https://www.quora.com/Why-do-doctors-write- prescriptions-in-an-illegible-manner, https://www.bankslane-jun.stockport.sch.uk/assets/Uploads/Handwriting-Policy-and- Guidelines4.pdf
- 49. Communication is the foundation
- 50. Communication is the foundation
- 51. Communication is the foundation
- 52. Communication is the foundation
- 53. Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision making.
- 54. Choose right tools - hardware and software Activity time
- 55. Choose right tools - hardware and software
- 56. Choose right tools - hardware and software
- 57. Plan for collaboration and concentration time
- 58. Local first Story and image source: https://worksthatwork.com/2/a-hole-in-the-darkness
- 59. Find the local leader
- 60. Promote open online chit-chats
- 61. Promote open online chit-chats
- 62. *Continuously improve through continuous feedback. Improve at macro and micro levels
- 63. Summary Understand why? Set We vs Us. Where do you want to go? Hiring, firing, retention Virtual distance = physical + operational + affinity distance. How do we reduce virtual distance?
- 64. 7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams Communication is the foundation. Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision making. Choose right tools - software and hardware. Plan for collaboration and concentration time. Local first. Find the local leader. Promote open online chit-chats. *Continuously improve through continuous feedback.
- 66. Questions? “It depends” is his standard answer https://medium.com/@ran_than https://twitter.com/ran_than https://in.linkedin.com/in/ranganathanb