Distributed Agile: Tips and Best Practices for Global Teams
A distributed team enables you to draw from a much larger talent pool but can come with challenges, especially in an Agile environment. Use these tips to improve collaboration and efficiency while building psychological safety and rapport on your team.
With today’s modern technology, people can easily collaborate across the globe. Companies can focus on attracting the most talented and motivated people to their teams without worrying about their location. However, some challenges to operating a distributed team include dealing with different time zones, keeping a self-organizing team motivated, and finding the right tools for remote collaboration. In this roundup, you will learn some tips and best practices for increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your distributed agile teams.
Why You Need a Global Team
It would be best to employ skilled, motivated people to adapt efficiently to fast-paced industry changes and technological advancements. And those people may be in very different locations. Using a distributed team allows you to choose professionals from anywhere worldwide. A distributed agile team can help you develop products that appeal to customers in different countries. As your business expands beyond geographical borders and into the international market, your agile team can help you handle cultural and language barriers. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 has pushed millions of people worldwide to work from home, further demonstrating the benefits (and, in some cases, limitations) of remote work. The need for remote workers in your organization will likely continue to grow.
Best Practices for Global Teams
To help your distributed team achieve better collaboration and productivity, here are some tools and practices you can use: Use Overlapping Time Zones for Meetings, Use Quality Tools, Foster Transparency, Prioritize Communication, Encourage Regular Check-ins and Meetings, and Encourage Self-Organization. With these practices and tools in place, you and your team will be better equipped to deal with the challenges of working remotely and increase the effectiveness and productivity of your distributed agile team.
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