As the world of work continues to change, the idea of building a geographically distributed tech team is an intrinsic part of a journey towards growth, progress and better outcomes. We recently hosted an insightful session with Apurva Dalal, Director of Engineering, Twitter India on distributed tech teams! Here's a recap of some of the highlights from the session.

1. How to set up global
technology teams
Insights from Apurva Dalal,
Head of Engineering, Twitter
Talent50
0
Insights from Apurva Dalal, Head of Engineering, Twitter

2. Before you build your distributed teams
Plan. Discuss. Document.
Building your high-impact distributed team starts with
a thoroughly thought-out charter.
Think why you are building this distributed
team Work out a clear cut business plan
Chalk out your short-term & long term
roadmap Plan how the team can run
autonomously Outline the best way to onboard

3. Next, find the right talent
for your distributed team
Invest in the right seniority. Hire engineers with relevant
experience, who’ve been a part of distributed teams
before, have leadership skills, and know how to collaborate
and build the culture right.
Once you have that, scaling your team gets faster.
Ensuring culture fit in distributed teams can be
tough, especially when you hire from a diverse pool.
As a leader, look at these three aspects
Engineering culture:
Think what makes the engineers tick
Company culture:
Think corporate values & non-negotiable traits
Local culture:
Think nuanced regional attributes & motivations

4. Creating written working agreements work well for
teams across time zones. Working agreements are
forever evolving documents that detail out how
teams will communicate, communication frequency,
shared tools, collaboration channels, working hours,
and everything to set the right expectation for the
teams.
Designing the collaborative
nature of teams working
across timezones
Apurva Dalal
Head of Engineering, Twitter
Like in any new arrangement, there is trust-building.
And nothing builds trust faster than signs of execution
working very well. I want to see them start executing…
[and] it's okay to show baby steps but start showing that
you can execute independently as a distributed team.

5. Async works!
Asynchronous work is all about giving the focus
time back to your teams. Ditch the constantly
connected way of working and encourage
people to create pockets of disruption-free flow
time.
Question the purpose of every meeting.
Discuss offline.
Think chat or email vs. face-to-face calls.
Collaborate async.
Lay more emphasis on written
communication.
Document everything.

6. Retaining your top talent
While compensation is a solid
differentiator for retention, professionals
today, also prioritize their work and the
impact that it has. People are increasingly
looking for opportunities to put out their
best work.
In remote-first organizations, another real
challenge is isolation. Create team
programs that engage the talent,
encourage them to learn, and place equal
importance on having fun. Empower your
teams to find more diverse people and
build an inclusive culture in a democratized
fashion.

7. Simplify global hiring with
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