当前位置：网站首页>How to manage distributed teams?

How to manage distributed teams?

2022-07-07 01:17:00 【Architecture Abstracts】

Now , Finding and hiring all the necessary talent to build your digital products is challenging . therefore , Many enterprises choose alternative solutions , And outsource some parts of its project . therefore , They can expand their expertise , Achieve greater flexibility , raise productivity , And reduce costs . In outsourcing mode , Distributed software development teams are worth considering . This model involves other regions 、 Countries or continents employ remote experts . It enables you to enter the world IT Talent pool . therefore , You can choose a reliable technology partner , Not subject to geographical restrictions . Distributed teams use a variety of tools and technologies to communicate 、 Plan and manage projects . This article will share insights used in managing the workflow of distributed software development teams 、 Valuable tips and efficient techniques .

What is the difference between distributed teams and remote workers ？

When outsourcing digital product development , Many people are confused about the differences between the various modes that enterprises can choose . that , What's the difference between building a distributed software development team and hiring remote experts ？ Let's clarify these terms to understand .

Remote team
Remote software development or virtual teams are a group of employees who are not in your office , But it is considered to be part of your internal team . They chat 、 Work communication through video calls and online meetings . in the majority of cases , You can still leave your core team in the office , Delegate specific tasks to remote workers . therefore , It is still your responsibility to manage and control the workflow . It means , You should make sure that your remote employees adapt to their culture . Besides , You must also have induction training , Control the professional development of experts , And deal with human resource management department , To keep your team members . meanwhile , For distributed teams , You will not need to be directly involved in all the above processes . contrary , The supplier who provides you with the team will assume all these responsibilities .

Distributed teams
Distributed development team is a typical outsourcing mode . It involves hiring several suppliers or independent contractors to work in different locations . Unlike virtual teams , Distributed teams are not centralized . Each of them may work on a specific aspect of the project . The project manager ensures good organization and control of the workflow . in addition , Distributed teams should use effective communication and collaboration tools , Let all stakeholders and team members be on the same starting line . In short , A distributed team works with two companies , Everyone does what he is best at . Startups are responsible for creativity 、 strategic 、 Capital and other business processes , The supplier is responsible for staffing 、 Keep and implement your ideas . Such role assignment is often quite helpful . Why? ？ Because the competition for the best talents is very fierce . So startups lack the ability to hire and retain suitable candidates .

What are the benefits of distributed development teams ？

Distributed mode can obtain a wider range of staffing opportunities , Take a flexible approach to the work process , And the agility of the team , This is very necessary today . The main advantage of building a distributed team for your software product development is here . Increase flexibility . The distributed mode itself is flexible in staffing and project management . Hired suppliers can increase the required expertise without customer involvement , Therefore, when expanding the scale of the project , You won't waste time and energy . Extensive talent pool . Fast growing IT Talent shortage is one of the key challenges facing enterprises today . And you can solve this problem through the distributed team model , This model provides access to the global talent pool . The agile way . Agile methods involve setting goals , And achieve your goals faster by making short but efficient sprints . Distributed teams often turn to this approach , Strive to better organize and adapt to changes in demand . Cost effectiveness . It's much cheaper to turn to an offshore supplier or build a distributed team than an internal solution . You can invest in more urgent business needs , Not a lot of labor expenditure . Productivity . Distributed teams organize sufficient communication flow through a variety of software and tools . It can also facilitate various processes , From project management to document maintenance . Effective project management . The distributed team mode enables customers not to waste time dealing with many management problems . Many are related to staffing 、 Team expansion 、 Risk management 、 Backlog updates and other related small requirements are implemented at the supplier .

The secret of distributed team management and black Technology

Our team works in many projects , To meet customer expectations and personal requirements . One of our main principles is to make customers feel that there is no difference between their internal team and the remote professionals we join in the project . especially , We have experience working in the distributed software development team mode . When dealing with such projects , We have developed specific tactics and project management techniques , And its effectiveness has been proved . I want to share some of the most valuable insights about managing distributed development teams .

Best experience
Our products are complex software for monitoring and managing cloud resources . In short , This is an effort to promote DevOps Work products , Provide them with a variety of indicators 、 System health check 、 Debugging functions, etc . We have been working on this project for more than two years .

The distributed team consists of three parts ：

The customer's internal team in the United States （ exceed 20 An expert , among 5 or 6 Keep in touch with us ）
Our team （10 Famous expert , Include 5 Of developers ）
Another team from Eastern Europe （7 Famous expert ）
Our team is responsible for the user interface and front-end development of the project . therefore , The overall distributed team is quite large , And the project is complex , And experience regular changes .

Challenges and solutions
Because the client's project is a start-up , The assignment of tasks causes special logistics problems , Directly affect the interaction of the team . This is likely to happen in the early stages of the project , At that time, the teams were not used to each other's methods , There are also specific communication problems . therefore , One of our key goals is to coordinate all plans and expectations with other teams , To avoid unnecessary work and trouble for other participants . To solve this challenge , Worth being like Swagger Prepare specifications in advance in such tools . It can make all team members distributed all over the country better understand each other's goals , So as to solve an organized workflow .

Communication process
In the initial development phase , There are some misunderstandings among the teams working on the project . However , We solved all these problems through high-quality communication and compromise . For the efficiency of workflow , Team members should do their best . Establishing good communication is the key to the success of distributed teams . We started using email and Discord, But these ways of communication have proved inconvenient , So we moved to Slack Shared workspace . We have created channels for the following purposes .

Our team's internal channel
One is used with the background and API Channel for team communication
Extra channels , For group chat with managers .
Slack Is a very useful tool , It can help distributed teams put everything in one place , Solve problems quickly , And keep in touch in all channels . Besides , We use Jira Effective project management . It also helps us save time by reducing additional calls and meetings . Besides , We don't waste time on unnecessary bureaucracy , But directly label those who are engaged in specific work , Without the participation of decision makers and hierarchy . Besides , We adjusted the specific robot in the chat . They are triggered at the end of the working day , Arouse cross team communication . therefore , The problem was immediately discussed in the channel , This reduces the need for regular, time-consuming meetings . Last , The person in charge of the product provides us with all necessary information and clarifies the problem points , Including background related requirements and updates .

Meetings and telephone
Before the beta release of the product , We have meetings every day , Raise questions , Get clarification of needs , And share our problems that hinder the development process . The main goal of such a meeting is to address challenges as soon as they arise , And immediately report the development progress . meanwhile , This is also the date we agreed to release 、 The sprint plan 、 Milestones, etc . Besides , Every two or three days , We will conduct a sprint Review . This is necessary , Because the scope of work is constantly changing . In such a meeting , We correct and update the sprint plan in real time . Last , We have regular synchronous meetings with other teams . We discuss our common problems at these meetings , To ensure that everyone is on the same starting line .

Internal communication process
As for our internal communication , We keep in touch , And have meetings every day . Two of them are voice or video phones , Others are chatting , This can save a lot of time . Besides , In order to discuss some small problems , When necessary, we will send text messages or call each other . Our team members discuss all technical decisions at weekly technical meetings 、 library 、 Methods, etc. . Usually , We nailed relevant questions in the chat , Then everyone will talk about their progress 、 Achievements and failures . This enables us to keep up with the latest events related to fast-growing projects . We will also design a two-week sprint plan , Nailed to the channel , Indicate the deadline and the team member responsible for the task . The review of the sprint plan will be carried out every twoorthree days . Besides , Developers discuss workflow challenges , Build a refactoring plan , And discuss the basic issues in the retrospective meeting . If necessary , You can also hold meetings to discuss new features 、 Requirements and task decomposition meeting .

Here are some other practices we apply , To improve communication in our team ：

stay Github Set actions with labels on , To speed up the review
Make personal calls to discuss urgent and critical tasks
Inform other team members of our absence or schedule changes during the chat
Present the current achievements in the middle stage of the project , To reduce misunderstandings about the scope of work
Clearly express our expectations for the sprint stage
Give reasons for the implemented changes that have not been agreed

Team management
In order to maintain the efficiency and participation of team members , We organize plans for their development . Every employee has a meeting with the team leader and manager every three months 1-2-1 Conference . We discuss their interest in the current task and their desire to develop in the project . It is also worthwhile to provide each new team member with a mentor who is responsible for their effective induction . The mentor should explain the business logic to the newcomer 、 project 、 Team and internal processes . This coaching process may last as long as two months . It can help new members feel more confident and understand the specific situation of the project .

record video
Last , Using video to convey information to dispersed team members is valuable . We often use this method to explain the specific content of the project to new employees . The project manager recorded a video , Describe how the knowledge base application works . We store videos of conversations with key teams and discussions about new features in a private YouTube channel , The base with all links is Confluence in . We choose YouTube Because it has convenient labels , You can quickly search . This method is applicable to any task . for example , You can make a video for future projects , Demonstrate the function of design layout . then , The person who will make the layout can see how these functions work , See some interaction scenes , And get the description of the button .

in addition , This method is also convenient for retrospective meetings . It can help track how a particular function changes , What implementation ideas have been considered . Some of them may not be used MVP, But it is helpful to connect with the next development stage .

Here are some key reasons for recording such videos ：

It can store any data , Whether the person receiving these data is still working in the company .
It helps answer questions that usually arise at the beginning , And lead to more detailed questions , Help new team members feel immersed .
The Q & a session can ask more questions in real time after watching a specific video .

How to make the work of distributed development team beneficial , Not under pressure

Managing a distributed development team requires a complete 、 Meticulous method . At first glance , Such a model may seem quite complex and challenging . However , Through appropriate organization 、 Effective project management and powerful tools and technologies , The distributed team model provides many opportunities and benefits for modern enterprises . With experienced technical partners and correct management methods , Turning to the distributed team model will probably help you achieve your business goals painlessly and effectively .

  
   
    
     
      
       
         Strong open source a small program ！
        2021-11-07
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         Strongly recommend a perfect logistics （WMS） Management project （ The attached code ）
        2021-10-23
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         Recommend a  Spring Boot + MyBatis + Vue  Music website 
        2021-10-19
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         Share a family financial management system （ Source code attached ）
        2021-09-20
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         Recommend an Internet enterprise level open source payment system 
        2021-09-04
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         Recommend a set of open source general background management system （ Source code attached ）
        2021-08-21
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         An immortal private work software , You can't hang it ！
        2021-07-31
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         be based on  SpringBoot  Imitation watercress platform 【 The source code to share 】
        2021-07-18
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
       
         kill  Wordpress！ This open source station artifact is a bit of a sling ！
        2021-06-18
       
       
      
    
    
     
      
        From a friend  20  A real project , Quick collar ！
       2021-06-12