From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams: Collaborate to Deliver

by Johanna Rothman, Mark Kilby

Distributed agile teams have a terrible reputation. They don’t deliver “on time,” and too often, they don’t deliver what the customer needs. However, most agile teams, have at least one remote team member. And, agile approaches are here to stay. Don’t blindly apply agile practices designed for collocated teams. Instead, learn to use three mindset shifts and the agile and lean principles to create your successful distributed agile team. Use the tips and traps to help your team succeed. Leave the chaos of virtual teams behind. See how to help your distributed team succeed.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, Management

299 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2019

About the author

People know me as the “Pragmatic Manager.” I offer frank, practical advice for your challenging product development problems.

I help leaders and teams see their current reality. Because one size never fits all, we explore options for what and how to change. The results? Leaders and teams learn to collaborate and focus on outcomes that matter.

My clients and readers appreciate both my trademark practicality and humor. I've written 21 books, hundreds of articles, and thousands of blog posts. See all my writing and monthly newsletters at www.jrothman.com and www.createadaptablelife.com.

I write in all genres except for horror because I need my sleep, and horror gives me nightmares. My short fiction has appeared in Pulphouse Magazine, Fiction River, and Heart’s Kiss in addition to several other anthologies.

Reviews

[Johanna Rothman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark and I wrote this book so people would have guidance for their distributed agile teams. It's the result of years of practice, not theory. We hope you enjoy it.

[German Tebiev]

Отличная книга о работе с распределёнными командами без традиционных для такой темы песен о её восхитительности. В книге рассматриваются различные комбинации удалённых команд: костяк вместе, спутник отдельно; команда из нескольких удалённых групп; полностью удалённые друг от друга члены команды. Поднимается важная тема особенностей различных средств коммуникации: видеосвязи, текста и прочего.

[Jack Vinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff. TLDR: Distributed agile teams only work if they share working hours. And several other elements.

I keep thinking about this after writing and the way I have (incorrectly) interpretted "agile" work. Really, it is more about having a goal, trying ways of working together, and checking frequently how it is going.

Blog review: https://www.jackvinson.com/blog/2019/...

[Tiger Abrodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read this year along with the book "A Philosophy of Software Design".

If you want your remote to become more agile and build better software together, this is the book.

I love how it begins with the principles of being agile, and from there practices.

Focus on the principles first, and from others derive practices that'd fit your team's situation and way of working:

1. Establish acceptable hours of overlap.
2. Create transparency at all levels.
3. Create a culture of continuous improvement with experiments.
4. Practice pervasive communication at all levels.
5. Assume good intention.
6. Create a project rhythm.
7. Create a culture of resilience.
8. Default to collaborative work.

Before you adopt any tools or practices, understand your distributed team’s system of work. It is about being pragmatic and implementing things that work for you and your team.

Don't think adopting famous "agile" practices will suddenly make your team more agile.

In fact, by adopting practices blindly, you could cause more harm to the team than good.

Make sure to reflect often as a team. Analyze what work, and what didn't. What should you try next, stop doing and continue to do.

[Patrik Gustafsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hoped it was going to help me more, but unfortunately, it did not give much guidance on how to work, when there is little to no time overlap. Though there are some tips on how to mitigate the situation. The book's driving point is that teams should not have less than 4 hours overlap if they are going to have a fair chance. Though if you have some time overlap, this book has some good recommendations on how to work together.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timely book on distributed agile teams in a time when distributed is really the only way to do things when co-location (within 30 feet) is just not realistic any longer. There's lots of great ideas and techniques for helping teams assemble and collaborate when working not only remote but distributed.

There's a lot of fairly straight forward advice in the book but it is good to have it validated and reframed from someone elses persepctive.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read first third of book or so. Strong content. However, I’m not currently working with distributes teams, so I put it down. Should I find myself there again, definitely will look to this book for advice.