Introduction to Agile with Distributed Teams

Many organizations find it very difficult to track the teams when teams are located at distant places. Many of us believe that if the employees are in face to face communication, they are in the physical presence of the office premises those employees are only productive.

But, in some scenarios, the companies have to hire the teams who are working in distant places. Having distant teams have their own challenges like how to track them, have their full-time productivity, coordinating across different time zones, collaboration among different development cultures, and building the rapport when everyone is not in the same office.

These are some problems, but not the ones that can not be solved. Some of us will think of the solution as Agile Methodology, but agile methodology believes in the policy to have the employees in the face to face communication, which contradicts with the distributed teams. So the question emerges, how to stick to Agile Standards when applying to the distributed teams. The Agile Methodology and the Distributed teams can complement each other. Let’s see how.

In this article, we will find how Agile with Distributed Teams work and can complement each other.

Agile Software Development

Agile is the ability to make and react to change. It is a method for managing, and eventually prevailing in, a questionable and tempestuous condition.

The creators of the Agile Manifesto picked “Agile” as the name for this entire thought since that word spoke to the adaptiveness and reaction to change which was so imperative to their methodology.

Agile Software Development contains different ways to deal with software development under which necessities and arrangements advance through the collaborative effort of self-sorting out and cross-utilitarian groups and their customers/end users. It advocates versatile planning, evolutionary advancement, early conveyance, and constant improvement, and it empowers quick and adaptable reactions to change.

Agile is a mindset educated by the qualities contained in the Agile Manifesto and the 12 Principles behind the Agile Manifesto. Those qualities and standards give direction on the most proficient method to make and react to change and how to manage vulnerability.

At the point when you face vulnerability, try something that you think may work, get criticism, and adjust accordingly.

Remember the qualities and standards when you do this. Let your context guide which systems, practices, and strategies you use to work together with your group and convey value to your clients.

Agile Methodology

Agile Methodology is training that advances constant emphasis on improvement and testing all through the product advancement lifecycle of the task. Both improvement and testing exercises are simultaneous. The agile methodology comprises four core values. These are as follows:

• Individual and group co-operations over procedures and tools

• Working software over far-reaching documentation

• Client joint effort over contract negotiation

• Reacting to change over after a plan

There are certain Agile Methodologies. Let’s discuss them one by one.

• Scrum: Scrum is a lightweight agile management framework with wide relevance for managing and controlling iterative and steady activities of various kinds. It focuses explicitly on the most proficient method to manage tasks inside a group based development environment. It consists of three roles and responsibilities. They are as follows:

1. Scrum Master: He is responsible for setting up the sprint meeting with a team and removing the challenges that the team faces.
2. Product Owner: He creates the product backlog, prioritizes that backlog and is responsible for the delivery of the functionality.
3. Scrum Team: Team has to manage their own work and organize the work in such a way in order to complete the sprint.

• Extreme Programming: Extraordinary Programming procedure is useful when there are continually changing requests or necessities from the clients or when they don’t know about the usefulness of the framework. It advocates frequent releases of the item in short advancement cycles, which innately improves the efficiency of the framework and furthermore presents a checkpoint where any client prerequisites can be handily actualized. The XP creates programming keeping the client in the objective.

• Dynamic Software Development Method: DSDM is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) way to deal with programming improvement and gives an Agile Software Development System. The significant part of DSDM is that the clients are required to be included effectively, and the groups are enabled to decide. Visiting conveyance of items turns into dynamic concentration with DSDM.
• Feature Driven Development: This strategy is centered around “structuring and assembling” highlights. In contrast to other Agile Methodologies, FDD depicts unmistakable and short periods of work that must be cultivated independently per include. It incorporates area walkthrough, structure examination, elevates to construct, code review and plan.
• Lean Software Development: Lean Software Development depends on the standard “Just in Time Production”. It targets speeding up programming improvement and diminishing expenses.
• Kanban: Kanban initially rose up out of Japanese word that implies, a card containing all the data should have been done on the item at each phase along its way to completion. This system or strategy is very received in the software testing method, particularly in agile testing.

Distributed Team in Agile

A Distributed Team is a team that is located in distant places. These kinds of teams are not in physical proximity, they totally work digitally and rely on digital technologies for the final delivery of the project.

While applying the Agile Methodology in an appropriated group, it is critical to set up the group so that to accomplish the most extreme impact. All references state that the ideal size of an Agile group is 3 to 9 individuals. A bigger group may influence the communication quality, as even in a face to face meeting, an individual has a specific constraint of what they can recollect simultaneously.

Additionally, in a Distributed Team, you will face the issues of time zones and the individuals very own timetables. Hence, Distributed Team size should be limited to encourage communication properly.

Distributed Agile Team Structure

While doing the structuring of the distributed team, you will face certain issues. There are certain ways that will help you in structuring the Distributed Team in Agile. These are as follows:

• Building a Rapport: It is essential that you build a good rapport across the team. Having a personal connection will boost their productivity. When the team is sitting far away it is very essential that you know each and every person and they know you very well. Stronger the Relationship, the better they will perform.

• Setting Clear and Achievable: Project objectives are indistinguishable to some other goal, target, aspiration or want – they should be SMART; Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-confined. The way of life of a compelling group makes a protected space to sincerely and all things considered, examine and concur objectives. A Distributed Team Structure frequently makes the genuineness required to set extraordinary objectives simpler to accomplish.

• Trust in Team: Great group culture, SMART objectives, and extraordinary devices are on the whole critical to a compelling Distributed Agile Team – yet the individuals in the team are the genuine differentiator. We work with our customers to get the correct blend of aptitudes and characters in every area – so we can escape the way and trust the team to deliver.

Conclusion

In an organization with a distributed team,  all groups need to adjust and figure out how to share work between workplaces, impart viably, and grow a steady culture across geologies. The best groups don’t simply cause the remote office to comply with the central command ‘ culture since they comprehend that each office can take in something from the others. They look to discover and share effective practices over all areas. They additionally grasp “we” instead of a “us versus them” culture.