This presentation discusses challenges with offshore software development teams and provides recommendations. It notes that cultural differences, time zone shifts, and invalid assumptions can create "bricks in the wall" for offshore teams. The presentation advocates treating offshore software developers like children that need guidance, and establishing four stages of team development: 1) Staffing the team, 2) Starting work shorelessly, 3) Speeding up the work through flow, and 4) Scaling the team while respecting individuals. Specific advice includes not outsourcing hiring, hiring people the leader likes, embracing new processes, and investing in communication infrastructure. The overall goal is to help make obvious challenges conscious and provide ideas for successful offshore collaboration.

1. Alexey Krivitsky @alexeykri
SCRUMguides krivitsky@scrumguides.com
metaphors, advices and ideas on
developing offshore software teams.
www.scrumoffshore.net

2. I am from Ukraine.
“Ukraine is a developing country”.

3. Ukraine
is a software developing country.

4. And I am very happy to be in Berlin
- A SYMBOLIC PLACE OF FREEDOM.

5. When we’re talking about offshoring
- THE WALL IS STILL THERE.

6. DISCLAIMER
THINGS IN THIS PRESENTATION MAY
APPEAR OBVIOUS TO YOU.
EVEN QUITE OBVIOUS.
STILL, I KEEP OBSERVING OFFSHORE
TEAMS AND PROJECTS THAT SUFFER
FROM OBVIOUS DISASTERS.
WITH OBVIOUS CAUSES.
SO ‘OBVIOUS’ DOESN’T NATURALY
MEAN ‘CONSIOUS’.
MY GOAL IS TO HELP MAKE OBVIOUS
THINGS CONSIOUS FOR ALL OF US.

7. THE BRICKS IN THE WALL ARE
¡ Cultural differences
¡ T ime zone shifts

8. THE BRICKS IN THE WALL ARE
¡ Cultural differences
¡ T ime zone shifts
¡ Invalid assumptions
e.g.: you can start with 50 people hired altogether
e.g.: offshore team will be implementing designs defined onshore
¡ Wrong expectations
e.g.: offshore teams will quickly outperform onshore
e.g.: process will not change

9. subcontracting TERMINOLOGY
client-customer rel.
distributed development
outsourcing all teams have
transfer of work equal level of
to an external contractor authority
offshoring
to another country team extension
employees of another
company are integrated
nearshoring into onshore team
to a neighboring country

10. Offshoring involves shifting work to
a foreign, distant organization in
order to reduce production costs.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Nearshoring

11. COST OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES
SHORT-TERM LONG-TERM
¡ cut expenses ¡ invest in growth
¡ do more with less staff ¡ do better with more skilled staff
¡ maximize savings ¡ minimize turnover
¡ build repeatable process ¡ teach, delegate and mentor
as turnover cannot be controlled as micro-management is too expensive

12. SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
ARE LIKE KIDS
¡ They don’t know how to express themselves.
¡ They don’t know how to take responsibility.
¡ They are willing to take all the risks.

13. KIDS AT WORK

14. DIFFERENT STRATEGIES
YOUR FRIENDS’ CHILDREN YOUR CHILDREN
¡ you want to make sure ¡ you want to make them
they do no harm grow into good people
¡ turnover not controllable ¡ zero turnover
¡ someone will take care of them ¡ you’re responsible for your kids
¡ don’t listen to you ¡ will support you
and don’t care when you’re retired

15. RESPONSIBILITY PROCESS
(responsibility is a process)
¡ Responsibility
¡ Quit
¡ Obligation
¡ Shame
¡ Justify
¡ Lay blame
¡ Denial
www.christopheravery.com/responsibility-process

16. DATING MODEL divorcing
or dying the same day
EVENTS
planning more kids
long long
owning a house
married
having the first kid
long
moving out married
just
married
STAGES
dating

17. DATING MODEL divorcing
or dying the same day
EVENTS
planning more kids
long long
owning a house
married
having the first kid
long
moving out married
just
married
STATES
dating

18. IMAGINE A COUPLE
dating
with 3 kids
just bough a house
never lived moving out
together

19. THE FOUR STAGES
of team development
1. 2.
STAFF IT UP START IT UP
4. 3.
SCALE IT UP SPEED IT UP

20. THE FOUR STAGES
of team development
build as your team start shoreless
1. 2.
STAFF IT UP START IT UP
4. 3.
SCALE IT UP SPEED IT UP
keep respecting individuals set up flow

21. APPENDIX
(the most valuable part)

22. 1.
build your
team STAFF IT UP

23. 1.
build your
team STAFF IT UP
advices
don’t outsource hiring
hire people you like
first hire a leader
disregard the age
hire as a group

24. start
shoreless
2.
START IT UP

25. start
shoreless
2.
START IT UP
leverage past experience advices
of newcomers
consider doing scrum
engage team in
solution design
do first sprints shoreless
embrace new process
warm up with weekly make a step back in
setup sprints attend trainings solution design
altogether
invest in dev. integrate your architect
infrastructure

26. all you
need is
3.
flow
SPEED IT UP

27. all you
need is
3.
flow
SPEED IT UP
distribute product
advices
ownership
run regular grooming
sessions invest in
communication
express equality and infrastructure
trust
organize ambassador
separate daily scrums program
from status calls
use skype group chats
build team pages and
portrait galleries
buy good webcams
shift solution design and use them
offshore

28. keep
4.
respecting
individuals
SCALE IT UP

29. keep
4.
respecting
individuals
SCALE IT UP
advices
build feature teams
stay with the same
offshore vendor – invest
in the team
grow area product owners
(analysts) offshore
visualize high-level
management with
kanbans

30. keep
4.
respecting
individuals
SCALE IT UP
advices
build feature teams
stay with the same
offshore vendor – invest
in the team
grow area product owners
(analysts) offshore
visualize high-level
management with
kanbans

31. this work is not finished.
and never will be. by design.
join www.scrumoffshore.net to help
collaborate and elaborate these ideas.
thank you!

32. Alexey Krivitsky @alexeykri
www.scrumoffshore.net