Comments on: Distributed Development http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2010/03/31/distributed-development/ Effective software development Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:01:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tobias Fors http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2010/03/31/distributed-development/comment-page-1/#comment-104544 Tobias Fors Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:57:56 +0000 http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/?p=378#comment-104544 The late Russell Ackoff used to repeat that the key to the performance (of any kind of system) lies in the interaction of its parts, not in the action of the parts taken separately. I was remembered about this when I read your blog post. Thanks for writing it. /Tobias The late Russell Ackoff used to repeat that the key to the performance (of any kind of system) lies in the interaction of its parts, not in the action of the parts taken separately. I was remembered about this when I read your blog post. Thanks for writing it. /Tobias

]]> By: Lisa Crispin http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2010/03/31/distributed-development/comment-page-1/#comment-104127 Lisa Crispin Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:12:15 +0000 http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/?p=378#comment-104127 I'd be skeptical of this team's success, not because they are distributed, but because the have a separate QA team in India. A separate QA team is a smell, the whole team should take responsibility for quality and testing, and QA folks need to be integrated into the rest of the team. I've actually met people from teams this distributed, in huge companies, and they have just as much success as a lot of co-located teams I know. It all comes down to how hard the team works to maximize face-to-face communication - even if it is face-to-face via video VOIP. Our small team has a key developer/manager in India, and we have been able to put things in place such as the Telecommuting Policy that Chris mentions, and technology such as our mobile telepresence device (see http://lisacrispin.com/wordpress/category/remote-team-members/). We are as productive as when our remote person was on site, plus other people can work remotely as needed without the team taking a productivity hit. Having feature teams is ideal, I think, and we are trying to component-ize our software so we could do this in the future. Also, it's important to have enough real face time so that everyone in all locations knows and trusts each other. I’d be skeptical of this team’s success, not because they are distributed, but because the have a separate QA team in India. A separate QA team is a smell, the whole team should take responsibility for quality and testing, and QA folks need to be integrated into the rest of the team.

I’ve actually met people from teams this distributed, in huge companies, and they have just as much success as a lot of co-located teams I know. It all comes down to how hard the team works to maximize face-to-face communication – even if it is face-to-face via video VOIP.

Our small team has a key developer/manager in India, and we have been able to put things in place such as the Telecommuting Policy that Chris mentions, and technology such as our mobile telepresence device (see http://lisacrispin.com/wordpress/category/remote-team-members/). We are as productive as when our remote person was on site, plus other people can work remotely as needed without the team taking a productivity hit.

Having feature teams is ideal, I think, and we are trying to component-ize our software so we could do this in the future. Also, it’s important to have enough real face time so that everyone in all locations knows and trusts each other.

]]> By: Chris McMahon http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/2010/03/31/distributed-development/comment-page-1/#comment-104126 Chris McMahon Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:00:28 +0000 http://blog.gdinwiddie.com/?p=378#comment-104126 You might enjoy this blog post from a few months ago: http://chrismcmahonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/telecommuting-policy.html You might enjoy this blog post from a few months ago: http://chrismcmahonsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/telecommuting-policy.html

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