Remote teams are here to stay. But, can they be a part of a thriving agile culture? Absolutely. Learn about the hidden benefits of remote work and follow Trello's journey in adopting agile among globally distributed teams. We'll share our simple rules and guidelines for success as well as tips for building a strong team culture, good communication, and getting team-buy in.

1. Distributed Agile Teams: Trello's
Tips on Making Them Work
JORDAN MIRCHEV | HMM | TRELLO | @JORDANMIRCHEV

3. User Growth
Trellogrewfrom4
millionto35million
registeredusers.
Team Scaling
TheTrelloteamgrew
from15to150+.
Geo Diversity
Trelloin+20
languages.Trellistsall
overworld.
Atlassian
Continuedgrowth
withAtlassian
acquisition.
Some Stats

4. 55%
remotely distributed

7. WHY
REMOTE WORK?

8. Hiring
Fewgeographiclimitationsfortalentacquisition.
ResultsOrientedCulture
Canfocusongoalsandaccomplishmentsmore
easily.
IncreasedProductivity
Researchshowedremoteworkersarehappierand
moreproductive.
Benefitsof
Remote
Work

9. Hiring
Fewgeographiclimitationsfortalentacquisition.
ResultsOrientedCulture
Canfocusongoalsandaccomplishmentsmore
easily.
IncreasedProductivity
Researchshowedremoteworkersarehappierand
moreproductive.
Benefitsof
Remote
Work

10. Hiring
Fewgeographiclimitationsfortalentacquisition.
ResultsOrientedCulture
Canfocusongoalsandaccomplishmentsmore
easily.
IncreasedProductivity
Researchshowedremoteworkersarehappierand
moreproductive.
Benefitsof
Remote
Work

11. We have the flexibility to work different hours and
in different locations. We have shared empathy
around remote working challenges since we are all
remote. We get opportunities to travel and see each
other a few times a year.
Jason. Engineering Manager – Trello
REMOTE WORKER QUOTE

12. SO HOW
DO WE DO IT?

13. TrelloRemoteWorkingRules
AssumeRemote
Ifeven1personisremote,assume
remote.
Overcommunicate
Ifyoufeellikeyou’re
overcommunicating,it’sprobablythe
rightamount.
DedicatedSpace
Officewithdoorthatcloses,dedicated
childcare.
AnnualTeamOffsite
Facetimeisstillveryimportanttofoster
relationships.
ProperTools
Getthetoolsyouneedtogetthejob
done.Highspeedinternetatalltimes.
TeamOverlap
Everyoneworksfrom12-4PMEST.
Meetingshappenatthistime.

14. REMOTE
AGILE PRACTICES

15. Talent
Geographically
distributed
Process
Agile & iterative
Teams
Self-organized
Economics
Optimized
Today:

16. Co-located Teams
Same company
Same office space
Waterfall Process
Command and control
Ad-hoc, heroics
Then:

17. Challenges

18. Challenge: Communication

21. Communication
Timezones
1:1
Team Rituals
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Tools

22. Communication
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch
Work Lunch Work
Work Lunch Work
Work
Timezones
1:1
Team Rituals
Tools

23. Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
1:1
11:1
Tools

25. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

26. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

27. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

28. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

29. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

30. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Async Standups
Weekly Sync Meeting
Team Retrospective
Design Huddle
Team Backlog Grooming
Triad Sync

31. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools

32. Articulated
Purpose
Can’tassume
everyoneusestools
thesameway
RegularCheck-
Ins
Encourageopen
dialogueonteam
health
Flexibility
Whenthingsare
broken,encourage
peopletofixthem
BuildinFun
Slackchannelsfor
watercoolerand
interestchats
CommunicationTools

33. INSIGHT
Collaboration tools are
social places.

34. Product Principles
Fun
PersonalUniversal Easy Visual and
Tactile
Familiar
CollaborativeSuccinct Direct Flexible

36. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Fully Remote Meetings

37. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Making chat better for remote

38. The actual work!
Making decisions
Referencing past work/decisions
Learnings
Urgent!
Hashing things out
Personal relationships
SYNCHRONOUS ASYNCHRONOUS

39. 1:1
Team Rituals
Communication
Timezones
Tools
Writing Skills

40. Challenge: Sustainability

41. Revise Agile –
Reinforce Agile

42. Find the Right
Team Structure

43. Encourage a
Collaborative
Culture

44. Foster Personal
Connections

45. The whole is greater than the
sum of its parts.
Aristotle

46. Trust.

47. Define the
Standards of
¨Done¨

48. SHIPPING A FEATURE
QA Kickoff – evaluate risks
Identify bugs during experiment phase
Translations for all supported Trello languages
70% unit test coverage
A happy path smoke test should be written
Any experiment related artifacts should be removed
Design Review and issues should be addressed
QA Demo to make sure all risks have been addressed

49. Getting S**t Done With Trello

59. Trello Company Level

60. Employee Onboarding

63. Company Overview

65. Town Hall

67. Knowledge Sharing

69. Some Takeaways

70. Working from
home is not
“remote work”

71. Get the right
tools.

72. Make time for
face time!

73. Check In With
Your Team

74. You are not
alone!

76. trello.com/teams

78. Thank you!
JORDAN MIRCHEV | HMM | TRELLO | @JORDANMIRCHEV