Lessons Learned from Managing a Distributed

Agile TeamDean Legatski

Sr. Director, Systems Development PGi

ABOUT ME• Leader in implementation of Agile

development for the Global IT group at PGi.• Also leading a longer term continuous

integration/continuous delivery strategy• Lead 5 development and test groups in 3

countries, 7 states and 11 cities.

ABOUT PGi

• PGi is the world's largest dedicated provider of collaboration software and services.

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THE HISTORY• Current systems have evolved over 15+ years• Significant technical debt• Inability to pivot with the market• Innovative culture with little patience for process• Great ideas with little execution• Poor relationship between IT and our business

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THE CHALLENGE

New Program Director

New CIO

• Overhaul our back office • Replace our billing system• Create an integrated ecosystem

of systems• Build a world-class delivery

framework to get it all done• Create speed, accuracy, and

agility in all of our business processes

3 things a new CIO should “never” do

BETS FOR THE FUTURE OF IT TEAMS• Remote teams and workers will continue to grow• Millennials will change the “office” paradigm – Less

focus on workspace ownership• Always on tools – Presence, chat, video, content

Why agile?• Rapid pace of learning• Focus on the work at hand• Discipline• It was a step in the right direction• Sustainable pace• Easier Sell• More fun!

WHY DISTRIBUTED AGILE?

• A-Players are not always co-located • Our customers (internal and

external) are distributed• An in-place global workforce• We are a global business• Capturing resources from

acquisitions

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COMPLICATIONS WITH DISTRIBUTED AGILE

• Time zones• Low resource

engagement • Lack of focus • Difficult to build

transparency• Challenges with

space & time

• Lack of visibility• Difficult to build

trust • Fear of change• Cultural

differences

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WHY SCRUM?• New team

• Limited resources

• Broad application

• Small teams

• Better resource engagement

• Focus on current work (Sprint)

• Transparency is built in

• Proven success

• Well documented framework

• Continuous learning

• Definition of done

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INTEGRATING THE HEART, HEAD, AND HANDS

HeartPhilosophy

HandsSkilled PeopleHead

Methodology

Success!

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HeartPhilosoph

y

HandsSkilled People

Head Methodology Success!

WITHOUT 360º COLLABORATION

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COLLABORATION ENABLES DISTRIBUTED AGILE

HeartPhilosophy

HandsSkilled PeopleHead

Methodology

Success!

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LESSON 1: EVERYONE HAS TO PLAY BY THE SAME RULES

• If 1 person is not co-located, then everyone has to “dial in”.•Use video cameras in order to increase engagement and reduce multi-tasking.

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DESKTOP VIDEO

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DESKTOP VIDEO “PLEASE STAND-UP!”

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LESSON 2: ARTIFACTS HAVE TO BE ACCESSIBLE

• Everything that is agreed to should be written and shared.• This covers whole life cycle of intake, planning, working, and retrospectives.

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SPRINT BOARD AND BACKLOG ACCESSIBLE

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DEMO RECORDINGS AND RETROSPECTIVES

STATUS

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INTAKE PROCESS

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LESSON 3: NEED A STRONG SM AND BA

• If the Scrum Master doesn’t see movement on a story, they need to be reaching out to see what is going on.• There is no way you can succeed if your stories are not well defined with explicit acceptance criteria.

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DETAILED DATA IN STORIES

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LESSON 4: STILL GOOD TO HAVE TOGETHERNESS

•When possible, it is beneficial to bring group together for kick-offs or major milestones.•Not only important for team, but for stakeholders as well.

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FACE TIME AND SOCIAL GRAZING

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LESSON 5: NO EASY WAY TO FIND GOOD HELP

• True if everyone together as well, but much harder if trying remotely.• Some luck with senior developers and recommendations.•More success if they had at least one other person working close to them.

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VIDEO INTERVIEWS

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CANDIDATE “PIT” SESSION

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CONCLUSION

Remote Agile is not impossible, but that does not make it easy. If you have skilled people, hopefully who have worked together before, you still can have an efficient Scrum Team. You still have all the same challenges that you would have with other Agile teams, but it expands your possible options!

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NEXT STEPS

Connect with me on LinkedIn

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Q&A……