Developing Software Remotely and Asynchronously - SEI 2021

Remote is here to stay. Increasingly, more companies realize it's the future of work. But with it, many best practices break down. Communicating and working synchronously is tricky when your team is distributed across the globe. Chit-chat is hard, pair programming is harder, mob programming is impossible. So, how exactly do you collaborate effectively? How do you raise the quality bar as a team? How do you share knowledge, and keep others in the loop? Are there established approaches from which we can draw inspiration?

Transcript

1. Developing software remotely and asynchronously
2. @goncalossilva j.mp/remote-async-dev-sei
3. Inspiration
4. Colocated & synchronous is tradition Remote & asynchronous is modern
5. Colocated & synchronous is traditionmodern Remote & asynchronous is moderntradition
6. Remote & asynchronous is tradition
13. Trust and control Explicit information Detailed record keeping Independence (read: trust) Tacit knowledge
14. Trust and control Annual written reports, letters and journals Cadence documented
15. Colocated & synchronous is relatively modern
19. Modern technology was born in this era
20. Modern technology was born in this era, and yet!
21. Linux Powers 96.5% of servers from top 1M domains Powers 92% of the public cloud Powers 70% of smartphones
22. Linux 30 years old 25M+ lines of code 15K+ individual contributors, 1.5K+ corporate contributors 1.5K+ active maintainers
23. Automattic Founded 2005 Behind Wordpress, Akismet and Gravatar 1250+ employees Valued at $3B in 2019
24. ...and more Doist (2007) Buffer (2010) InVision (2011) Zapier (2011) GitLab (2014) Most companies (2020~2021)
25. Contemporary remote work Good tools Strong tendency
26. Buffer’s State of Remote Work 2021 98% said yes to “would you like to work remotely, at least some of the time, for the rest of your career?” 97% said yes to “would you recommend remote work to others?” Benefits: flexible schedule, work from anywhere, no commute Struggles: ability to unplug(!), collaboration/communication, loneliness
27. Learnings
28. Learn from ancient history Learn from modern history Learn from existing data
29. Learn from ancient history
30. Learn from ancient history Documentation-first
32. Learn from ancient history Documentation-first Strong culture
34. Learn from ancient history Documentation-first Strong culture Explicit values
35. Learn from ancient history Documentation-first Strong culture Explicit values Transparency
36. Learn from modern history
37. Learn from modern history Serendipitous moments
39. Learn from modern history Serendipitous moments Human interaction
41. Learn from modern history Serendipitous moments Human interaction Unlearn: interruptions, too many meetings, etc
42. Learn from existing data
43. Learn from existing data Balance
45. Application
46. Transparency Documentation Writing well Deep focus Autonomy Peer reviews Pair programming
47. Transparency
48. Transparency Transparency builds other’s intuitions Transparency allows others to make better decisions
49. Documentation
50. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc
51. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc Documents as drafts to improve
52. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc Documents as drafts to improve Collaborative documents are very powerful
53. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc Documents as drafts to improve Collaborative documents are very powerful Use RFCs
54. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc Documents as drafts to improve Collaborative documents are very powerful Use RFCs Use READMEs
55. Documentation Document plans, practices, expectations, culture, technical, product, etc Documents as drafts to improve Collaborative documents are very powerful Use RFCs Use READMEs Consider a Wiki/Handbook
56. Writing well
57. Writing well Hard
58. Writing well Hard 😉
59. Writing well Hard Very impactful
60. Writing well Hard Very impactful Write clear, concise, easy-to-read text https://blog.doist.com/writing-tips/
61. Writing well Hard Very impactful Write clear, concise, easy-to-read text https://blog.doist.com/writing-tips/ Ask peers for feedback
62. Writing well Hard Very impactful Write clear, concise, easy-to-read text https://blog.doist.com/writing-tips/ Ask peers for feedback LanguageTool, Grammarly
63. Writing well Write clear, concise, easy-to-read text https://blog.doist.com/writing-tips/ Ask peers for feedback LanguageTool, Grammarly Read Your favorite authors On Writing Well by William Zinsser (style) The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (structure)
64. ✓ Transparency ✓ Documentation ✓ Writing well Deep focus Autonomy Peer reviews Pair programming
65. Deep focus
66. Deep focus Facilitated by remote/async, very impactful
67. Deep focus Facilitated by remote/async, very impactful Every day
68. Deep focus Facilitated by remote/async, very impactful Every day Leverage natural interruptions
69. Autonomy
70. Autonomy Requires alignment
71. Autonomy Requires alignment Empower, don’t micro-manage
72. ✓ Transparency ✓ Documentation ✓ Writing well ✓ Deep focus ✓ Autonomy Peer reviews Pair programming
73. Peer reviews
74. Peer reviews Knowledge and ownership sharing
75. Peer reviews Knowledge and ownership sharing Code, configuration changes, plans, documents, etc
76. Pair programming
77. Pair programming Meeting with screen share
78. Pair programming Meeting with screen share Schedule in advance, have an agenda and a time cap
79. Pair programming Meeting with screen share Schedule in advance, have an agenda and a time cap
80. ✓ Transparency ✓ Documentation ✓ Writing well ✓ Deep focus ✓ Autonomy ✓ Peer reviews ✓ Pair programming
81. @goncalossilva j.mp/remote-async-dev-sei