Accompanying slides to the Agile Coaching Exchange meetup workshop on how distributed teams affect agility.

1. © The App Business
AGILE IN A REMOTE WORLD
ACE meetup - 12/12/18

2. Hello and welcome to TAB
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👋
We are on the lookout for:
Agile Delivery Leads
Product Owners
and many more!
Visit our website or speak to a TABber

3. Introduction to your facilitator today
01© The App Business
@annaraefm
Anna Fletcher Morris

4. What is remote working?
What is the trend for remote working?
What do the Agile Principles say about remote working?
Activity: The origami challenge
Discussion: Remote working challenges + benefits
Top tips for remote working
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What we’ll cover today

5. Get into groups of 4 or 6 people
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6. 01© The App Business
Activity: Let’s get to know each other
Each team has a map
Draw a dot on the map
Go around and take turns to tell each other where you’re from
3m

7. © The App Business
WHAT’S REMOTE WORKING?
And why are we talking about it?

8. © The App Business 8
A REMOTE TEAM IS WHEN ONE
OR MORE INDIVIDUALS ARE
WORKING AS A TEAM IN
SEPARATE LOCATIONS ON A
REGULAR BASIS

9. 01© The App Business
What does this look like in real terms?
One person on the team
working remotely
A dependency team
working remotely
Several people on the team
separately working remotely
Several people within the
same team working remotely

10. © The App Business
WHAT IS THE TREND FOR
REMOTE WORKING?

11. 01© The App Business
5 facts about remote working
The number UK remote-workers has increased by almost 250k over the past 10 years (ONS)
It’s projected that 50% of the UK workforce will be working remotely by 2020 (ONS)
Home workers regard themselves as more productive, rating their avg productivity at 7.7 out
of 10 vs 6.5 out of 10 from office workers (CanadaLife)
50% of respondents to a recent Deloitte survey plan to outsource software development
based on developments in big data, business processes, enterprise mobility, and cloud
computing.
Numerous surveys have found that workers would choose flexible working over a pay rise.
1
2
3
4
5

12. 01© The App Business
5 facts about remote working
The number UK remote-workers has increased by almost 250k over the past 10 years (ONS)
It’s projected that 50% of the UK workforce will be working remotely by 2020 (ONS)
Home workers regard themselves as more productive, rating their avg productivity at 7.7 out
of 10 vs 6.5 out of 10 from office workers (CanadaLife)
50% of respondents to a recent Deloitte survey plan to outsource software development
based on developments in big data, business processes, enterprise mobility, and cloud
computing.
Numerous surveys have found that workers would choose flexible working over a pay rise.
1
2
3
4
5
Remote working is on an upwards trend

13. 01© The App Business
My experience with distributed teams

14. © The App Business
WHAT DO THE PRINCIPLES
SAY?

15. 01© The App Business
What do the Agile Principles say about remote working?
Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behaviour accordingly.

16. © 2015 The App Business
THE ORIGAMI CHALLENGE

17. © 2015 The App Business
Round 1 (4 mins)
Sit back to back
Player 1: Explain instructions
Player 2: Make pelican
The origami challenge 4m

18. © 2015 The App Business
Round 1 (4 mins)
Sit back to back
Player 1: Explain instructions
Player 2: Make pelican
Round 2 (4 mins)
Sit side by side
Player 1: Explain instructions & provide feedback
Player 2: Make samurai hat
The origami challenge 4m

19. © 2015 The App Business
Round 1 (4 mins)
Sit back to back
Player 1: Explain instructions
Player 2: Make pelican
Round 2 (4 mins)
Sit side by side
Player 1: Explain instructions & provide feedback
Player 2: Make samurai hat
Round 3 (4 mins)
Sit face to face
Players 1 & 2: Explain & make duck collaboratively
The origami challenge 4m

20. © 2015 The App Business
Key Takeaways

21. © 2015 The App Business
Co-location, wherever possible, enhances collaboration.
Face to face communication is more effective.
Collaborative activities such as pair-programming can lead to better results.
Key Takeaways

22. © The App Business
When working remotely, how do we enhance our communication?
Face to face
conversation
Video Call Lose body language
Phone Call Lose facial expression
Instant
messaging
Lose tone of voice
Email Chain Lose conversation
Document Lose short feedback loops
The ideal

23. © The App Business
DISCUSSION: REMOTE
WORKING, CHALLENGES +
BENEFITS

24. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second
3m

25. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second

26. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second

27. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second

28. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second
8m

29. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
Write individually on post its a few topics around remote working you’d like to discuss
Cluster your themes
Dot vote which you’d like to speak about (3 votes each)
Pick your top 2
You have 8 minutes to chat about your first topic
Thumb vote: Continue discussing your first topic for 8 minutes, or move on to your second
8m

30. 01© The App Business
Discussion: Remote working, challenges + benefits
How did it go?

31. © The App Business
TOP TIPS FOR REMOTE
WORKING

32. © The App Business
Creating a one team mentality with physical constraints
4 Key Takeaways
WRITE DOWN
ALL KEY
INFORMATION
1
GET THE RIGHT
CADENCE
IN PLACE
2 3
EMBRACE
OPPORTUNITIES TO
BOND
4
INVEST IN
FACE-TO-FACE
INTERACTION

33. © The App Business
WOULD YOU CHANGE WHERE
YOU PUT YOURSELF ON THE
TEMPERATURE GAUGE?

34. THANK YOU
© The App Business
Anna Fletcher Morris
@annaraefm