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How to See a Distributed Team’s Frequency of Real-Time Communication

When Mark Kilby and I wrote From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, we discussed the fact that we no longer needed physical face-to-face interactions. Instead, we needed high-fidelity virtual interactions. (High-fidelity virtual interactions didn’t exist when the guys got together at Snowbird to write the Agile Manifesto for Software Development.) The Allen Curve explains …

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How To Understand Your Team Type: Collocated, Satellite, Cluster, Nebula

I’ve been hearing people talk about “hybrid” remote teams. So far, every person I’ve talked to means something different. When Mark Kilby and I wrote From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, we differentiated between these types of teams: Collocated, as all the people are within 8-16 m of each other. (See the Allen Curve …

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Backchannel Discussions Might Create Serendipity

When Mark Kilby and I wrote From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, we suggested teams add a text backchannel. Even when the backchannel is asynchronous, the information in it increases the value of all the team’s communication. The backchannel helps everyone see all the information. That helps all the team’s communication. Some of my …

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For Distributed Agile Teams, It’s Not All about the Tools

Summary: Many managers and distributed team members think that if they just had the right tools, they could make some agile approach work. Maybe, but tools only enhance the work of a collaborative agile team. Before you select tools, make sure you have people who can work together and have enough skills and capabilities for …

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Successful Geographically Distributed Agile Teams Book Milestone

I’ve been pair-writing a book with Mark Kilby, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams: Collaborate to Deliver. We hit a big milestone today: We published the first complete draft today. We’ve been working on this book for a year. It’s much better because of our collaboration. We reflected a little on our success to …

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