Effective Communication: Fill & Download for Free

In my opinion, the most important rule is to make your distributed software development team feel comfortable and switch into the process efficiently, be aware of the main challenges they face, and know how to solve them.With my personal experience as a CTO in a company that has remote developers, I will highly recommend you to study these items:Set up the management processWhen you are managing a distributed software development team, there are many things to control. That’s why some details are always out of your attention. You can use special tools that allow you to plan the activities and to control the performance of each team member.You can use the following PM tools.BacklogThis is one of the most intuitive project management tools that cover all the needs of a developer. This is the best option for app and website developers. It can be used within smaller distributed software development teams that consist of around 10 persons.MondayThis is one of the most popular tools used to manage and control the work on the product on all its stages. This is one of the few project management tools that offer packages based on functionality and not on the users’ cap.JiraJira is a perfect tool for any size team. You can purchase a package based on the functionality your team needs. Kanban and Scrum methods are available, too.Focus on important metrics. Instead of checking how much each developer works, concentrate on the results and the behaviour. The main thing is to make each member of your team deliver tasks on time and compliant with the requirements. We at Relevant Software prefer this tool to manage software development projects.Set up effective communicationCommunication is a major pain for distributed companies, especially when part of the team is in the US, another in Easter Europe and another in Indonesia.Nowadays, you can use special tools to improve the communication within your team such as:Group chats and calls;Files sharing;Video recording and archiving.The most popular among them are:Zoom: the tool is easy-to-install and setup. It can be used for meetings, video webinars. Its file-sharing function allows your team members to work efficiently, and its cross-platform messaging function allows using the tool across different platforms.Slack can replace an ordinary mail with a smart solution. Arrange your conversations in dedicated spaces, select which of them shall be replied asap and which are less urgent, share channels with other team members.To make these tools work efficiently, you should specify clearly which communications means shall be used among the team members and during which hours the team members should be available.Don’t be afraid to distribute leadership tooNormally, the centre of the company is considered to be where the leadership is. For example, if a VP of a development team is located in Germany, and the team members are mostly from Ukraine, they might feel like being on the outskirts of the company and, hence, of the project.That’s why it is recommended to distribute the leadership. It is more efficient when the leaders are located in the same country as their team. For example, if the development team members are located in Europe, it is recommended to find a VP of engineering located there, too.Bytheway, we can provide our customers with VP of engineering, CTO, or a lead developer, as well as a whole team located in one office.Create clear roadmap and rolesCreate a clear roadmap for your project. Define both long- and short-time goals and specify milestones and deadlines clearly. Make sure each team member understands clearly where the company is heading and what is his/her role in it.Assign roles to each team member. Make sure they understand what you and other team members expect from them. Define their responsibilities. If a specialist needs to work on a new task, make sure he/she understands clearly what is requested and how to do the task.Support culture and personal connectionsDistributed employees usually do not feel such strong connections with the company like it is the case with in-house employees that’s why baking the company culture in everything is crucial.Many people still believe that the company’s culture is only in the mission and the main values of the company. However, this is not completely correct. The culture is also how the employees communicate, how they collaborate, how they get tasks done and how they report on their performance.Do not forget about such a crucial thing as creating safety. If you create a safe place for your employees to work in, they can afford themselves being open when they have difficulties with the task. It enables you to provide the needed assistance and to get the project done on time.To maintain the culture, do not forget about the following:Make sure you hire remote employees who are compliant with the company’s mission and main values;Ensure your remote employees know the core values of the company;Insist on keeping the company’s culture in all the activities connected with the company: meetings both online and offline, collaboration, task delivery and reporting on them, and so on.Team building activities, such as dinners, outdoor activities, offline meetups help to establish connections.Establishing and keeping personal connections is a great way to create and maintain the company’s culture. The most successful companies allocate budget for offline events: dinners, some outdoor activities, and meetings. Such events offer great opportunities to establish personal connections between the team members. It, in turn, allows them feeling themselves more like a team.I took information from my article How to Build a Successful Distributed Software Development Team, maybe you will find some more useful tips there.

Iron Man’s team would undoubtedly win. Both team were holding back in the movie which is why there was no clear victor but realistically, Captain America’s team would lose because of the overwhelming power of the opposite team.Captain America’s team won because despite holding back, they had way superior combined combat intellect than anybody else in the other team, they actually had a team formation and were communicating with each other. Captain America’s greatest plan was basically himself, he’s respected by every member of the Avengers so he knew that they would not hurt him.(Despite Vision drawing a line and giving a warning, he kept advancing.)It would be far fetched to say that team Cap weren’t holding back either, Cap looked pissed when Ant-Man threw a fire truck on War Machine.Anyways, let me explain as to why team Iron Man would win if they weren’t hold back. As much as an astute tactician Cap is, he can’t be prepared for everything.Wanda would be the only A factor in Cap’s team but someone could just take her out when she’s focusing on one opponent or when she is distracted. But that’s only based on the fact that i don’t know the limit of her powers, i’m not saying that she cannot win it for all because she definitely could.Her Glass canon is probably the only weakness she has, she has an average human physiology so her low defensive can be exploited. Stark could literally just use his repulsors to shoot and she’d be done.Giant-man moves really slow, a light shift in his weight could cause him to fall due to the fact that he’s really heavy. Spider-man, War Machine and Iron Man were able to defeat him with relative ease using that tactic.Winter Soldier would’ve been killed by Black Panther if it weren’t for Scarlet Witch & Captain America.Well, don’t mean to be rude but Hawkeye is just an archer. In a close confrontation, Black Widow can overwhelm him with his skills, he isn’t even a match for anybody else on Stark’s team. His arrows at best would only be effective against Black Widow or Spider-Man (who could easily dodge them if Black Panther can).The fact that Falcon wasn’t the first one who was taken out if beyond my understanding. He’s a flyer, so are Iron Man, War Machine & Vision. He would’ve been so done if they weren’t holding back. He may be able to dodge them momentarily considering his superior skills but they would eventually catch him.Captain America could take on many of them. He can defeat Black Panther, Black Widow and Spider-man individually but that’s about it.He won’t be able to hurt Vision that much (or maybe he could because vibranium is supposed to be vulnerable to vibranium). He’d had to get a lot of hits in to even pierce the arc reactor of Iron Man and War Machine.War Machine could just bomb Cap, Vision could just use the mind stone to blast him and Iron Man could use his repulsors. In this case, not even his will would help him.

In my opinion, the most important rule is to make your distributed software development team feel comfortable and switch into the process efficiently, be aware of the main challenges they face, and know how to solve them.With my personal experience as a CTO in a company that has remote developers, I will highly recommend you to study these items:Set up effective communicationCommunication is a major pain for distributed companies, especially when part of the team is in the US, another in Easter Europe and another in Indonesia.Nowadays, you can use special tools to improve the communication within your team such as:Group chats and calls;Files sharing;Video recording and archiving.The most popular among them are:Zoom: the tool is easy-to-install and setup. It can be used for meetings, video webinars. Its file-sharing function allows your team members to work efficiently, and its cross-platform messaging function allows using the tool across different platforms.Slack can replace an ordinary mail with a smart solution. Arrange your conversations in dedicated spaces, select which of them shall be replied asap and which are less urgent, share channels with other team members.To make these tools work efficiently, you should specify clearly which communications means shall be used among the team members and during which hours the team members should be available.Create clear roadmap and rolesCreate a clear roadmap for your project. Define both long- and short-time goals and specify milestones and deadlines clearly. Make sure each team member understands clearly where the company is heading and what is his/her role in it.Assign roles to each team member. Make sure they understand what you and other team members expect from them. Define their responsibilities. If a specialist needs to work on a new task, make sure he/she understands clearly what is requested and how to do the task.Set up the management processWhen you are managing a distributed software development team, there are many things to control. That’s why some details are always out of your attention. You can use special tools that allow you to plan the activities and to control the performance of each team member.You can use the following PM tools.BacklogThis is one of the most intuitive project management tools that cover all the needs of a developer. This is the best option for app and website developers. It can be used within smaller distributed software development teams that consist of around 10 persons.WrikeThis cloud-based software can be used for project planning, collaboration, and reporting. It can be integrated with third-parties’ services, such as Dropbox. For teams consisting of up to five members, the tool is free.MondayThis is one of the most popular tools used to manage and control the work on the product on all its stages. This is one of the few project management tools that offer packages based on functionality and not on the users’ cap.JiraJira is a perfect tool for any size team. You can purchase a package based on the functionality your team needs. Kanban and Scrum methods are available, too.Focus on important metrics. Instead of checking how much each developer works, concentrate on the results and the behaviour. The main thing is to make each member of your team deliver tasks on time and compliant with the requirements. We at Relevant Software prefer this tool to manage software development projects.Don’t be afraid to distribute leadership tooNormally, the centre of the company is considered to be where the leadership is. For example, if a VP of a development team is located in Germany, and the team members are mostly from Ukraine, they might feel like being on the outskirts of the company and, hence, of the project.That’s why it is recommended to distribute the leadership. It is more efficient when the leaders are located in the same country as their team. For example, if the development team members are located in Europe, it is recommended to find a VP of engineering located there, too.Bytheway, we can provide our customers with VP of engineering, CTO, or a lead developer, as well as a whole team located in one office.Support culture and personal connectionsDistributed employees usually do not feel such strong connections with the company like it is the case with in-house employees that’s why baking the company culture in everything is crucial.Many people still believe that the company’s culture is only in the mission and the main values of the company. However, this is not completely correct. The culture is also how the employees communicate, how they collaborate, how they get tasks done and how they report on their performance.Do not forget about such a crucial thing as creating safety. If you create a safe place for your employees to work in, they can afford themselves being open when they have difficulties with the task. It enables you to provide the needed assistance and to get the project done on time.To maintain the culture, do not forget about the following:Make sure you hire remote employees who are compliant with the company’s mission and main values;Ensure your remote employees know the core values of the company;Insist on keeping the company’s culture in all the activities connected with the company: meetings both online and offline, collaboration, task delivery and reporting on them, and so on.Team building activities, such as dinners, outdoor activities, offline meetups help to establish connections.Establishing and keeping personal connections is a great way to create and maintain the company’s culture. The most successful companies allocate budget for offline events: dinners, some outdoor activities, and meetings. Such events offer great opportunities to establish personal connections between the team members. It, in turn, allows them feeling themselves more like a team.I took information from my blog, maybe you will find something else useful there.