The workplace of the future is going to be less centralized, more mobile, and more flexible than ever before. Work no longer revolves around the job and people are not tethered to a single location. More often than not, people are much more productive and happier when working from home.
The trend's going to be accelerated by rapid uptake of mobile technology, economic volatility, and the intensifying war for top Drupal talent.
Centered on the idea of working remotely, more businesses are adopting the distributed model as a practical way to attract and retain top talent in Drupal.
In this session you will learn first hand from someone who has both worked as a remote employee / contractor and now runs her own distributed Drupal Agency. Even though most of the Kanopi team is located in the Bay Area, they choose a distributed model. Come learn why this is favorable, fun and profitable.
1. Track name - Date - & anything else you
need to include that maybe relevant to
you presentation
RUNNING A DISTRIBUTED
DRUPAL SHOP
A N N E S T E F A N Y K
K A N O P I S T U D I O S | @ E S K I M O Y O G I
anne@kanopistudios.com
5. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
MOTIVATIONS
B E H I N D G O I N G D I S T R I B U T E D
• LOW OVERHEAD
• RICH TALENT POOL
• SCALABILITY
• HAPPIER, MORE PRODUCTIVE
TEAM
• FREEDOM
7. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
FREE AGENT NATION
34 MILLION AMERICANS WORK FROM HOME
• EXPECTED TO REACH 63 MILLION, OR 43% OF THE U.S. WORKFORCE BY
2016*
BYE, BYE, ORGANIZATIONAL GUY
•80% OF INDEPENDENT WORKERS ARE SATISFIED WITH THEIR
SITUATION, INCLUDING 58% WHO ARE HIGHLY SATISFIED**
NO LONGER IS IT ABOUT 9-5, IT’S ABOUT RESULTS
*US TELECOMMUTING FORECAST, 2009 TO 2016
**HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ARTICLE: THE RISE OF THE SUPER-TEMP
8. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
WHO IS A FREE
AGENT?
• INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNERS
• BRILLIANT AT WHAT THEY DO
• THEY DECIDE WHEN & HOW THEY
WORK
• ORGANIZED, PROACTIVE &
ACCOUNTABLE
• INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE AT
COMMUNICATION &
COLLABORATION
Original artwork by Mike Rohde
10. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
REMOTE ISN’T FOR
EVERYONE
• YOU MISS OUT ON BEING AROUND PEOPLE
• YOU MISS OUT ON DOING FUN STUFF LIKE PLAYING
PING-PONG OR HAVING LUNCH TOGETHER
• YOU LOSE A CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN WORK AND
THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
12. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
REMOTE ROCK
STARS:
• CONTRIBUTE TRUST EVERY DAY
• COMMUNICATE MORE THAN YOU
DID WITH YOUR FIRST GIRL/BOY
FRIEND
• FIND TIME FOR FOCUS
• DO ONE THING, DO IT REALLY WELL
• YOUR WORD IS EVERYTHING
• BE PROACTIVE
* 10 Secrets to Becoming a Great Remote Developer, Ryan Chartrand: http://bit.ly/1tyqvIH
Original artwork by Mike Rohde
13. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
LEARNING TO WORK
REMOTE
• BUILD A ROUTINE
•A CHANGE OF SCENERY
• DIFFERENT COMPUTING DEVICES
• WORKING ALONE IN A CROWD
• STAYING MOTIVATED
• DISTRACTIONS ARE UNDER YOUR CONTROL
14. Original artwork by Mike Rohde
• CABIN FEVER
• CHECK IN, CHECK OUT
• ERGONOMIC BASICS
• MIND THE GUT
BEWARE OF THE DRAGONS*
* Remote: Office Not Required, Jason Fried + David Heinemeier Hansson
16. “Remote teams live and die by their trust.
For remote teams, there are no walls, there are
no tribes, there are no executives on the 5th
floor, there’s no one watching over your
shoulder, and there’s no one babysitting you. It’s
simply individuals bound by trust with one
common goal.”
– RYAN CHARTRAND,
10 SECRETS TO BECOMING A GREAT REMOTE
DEVELOPER
18. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
HOW TO
COLLABORATE
REMOTELY
• RE-THINK MEETINGS
• THE WORK IS WHAT MATTERS
• THOU SHALL OVERLAP
• THE VIRTUAL WATER COOLER
• ALL OUT IN THE OPEN
• GOVERNANCE
• SEEING IS BELIEVING
19. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
DISTRIBUTED
CHALLENGES
• TIMEZONES
• LIMITED NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION
• PRIORITIZATION
• MEASURING ENGAGEMENT
• CULTURE
• HEALTHCARE AND BENEFITS
• TAXES
Original artwork by Mike Rohde
20. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
INVEST IN THE BEST
C O M M U N I C A T I O N T O O L S A V A I L A B L E
• MEETINGS & SCREEN SHARING:
GOOGLE HANGOUTS, SKYPE, JOIN.ME
• GROUP CHAT & WATER COOLER:
HIPCHAT, IRC, SKYPE, YAMMER
• FILE SHARING & EDITING:
GOOGLE DRIVE, DROPBOX, GITHUB
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
TEAMWORK, BASECAMP, PIVOTAL TRACKER
21. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
WORKING WITH CLIENTS
YOU'VE NEVER MET FACE TO
FACE
• LET THE PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS KNOW UP FRONT
• PROVIDE REFERENCES BEFORE THE CLIENT EVEN
ASKS
• BE VERY AVAILABLE
• SHOW THEM WORK OFTEN
• GET THE CLIENT INVOLVED
23. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
OUR VALUES
• FREEDOM & SANITY #FREEDOM FRIDAY
• COLLABORATIVE ENTREPRENEURS
• DO WHAT YOU DO BEST
• UNBASHFUL CURIOSITY
• NO DRAMA OR ASSHOLES
• A GOOD DAYS WORK
• SILLINESS ENCOURAGED!
]
24.
25. WHAT DID YOU THINK?
E V A L U A T E T H I S S E S S I O N :
https://austin2014.drupal.org/session/running-distributed-drupal-shop
Thank you!
26. S E C O N D T I T L E S P A C E
RESOURCES
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home
http://www.fastcompany.com/33851/free-agent-nation
http://mashable.com/2011/10/07/distributed-agency-model
https://medium.com/p/cd2f6658cae3
http://www.agencypost.com/from-virtual-agency-to-distributed-creative
http://www.agencypost.com/from-virtual-agency-to-distributed-creative/#sthash.ZsLq9w3O.dpuf
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smartwork/201104/8-tips-effective-virtual-teams
http://x-team.com/2014/05/10-secrets-to-becoming-a-great-remote-developer
http://drupalize.me/blog/201312/things-i-learned-managing-my-first-project
http://hbr.org/product/the-rise-of-the-supertemp/an/R1205B-PDF-ENG
http://www.amazon.com/Remote-Office-Required-Jason-Fried/dp/0804137501#
http://www.danpink.com/books/free-agent-nation
http://37signals.com/remote
http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2013/02/why-we-still-believe-in-working-remotely
http://yonder.io/
Editor's Notes
- FT, permanent jobs with large org are quite possibly an artifact of a particular moment in economic history--about 60 or 70 years ago.
- now people are earning more than they did in their previous positions while escaping 80-hour weeks, endless internal meetings, and corporate politics.
- achieving a gratifying work/life balance.
Talented people: we can choose what + with whom to work.
Remote workers are inherently self-motivated by their passion for creating outstanding work
video
Contribute trust every day: instil confidence and keep things moving.
Communication: NOT“Hello” every day. It’s about:
- step away from your desk, you let your team know.
- realize you’re not going to hit a deadline, you let your team know.
- have free time, you let your team know you’re there to help.
- learn about some awesome new framework
- When you see your team falling behind or bad code getting committed, you let your team know.
Find time for Focus:
- ppl on different timezones, ppl coming on all throughout the day, so you can get distracted as each team member wakes up.
- cut out 3-hour blocks of time each day to do nothing but focus on the must-finish tasks of the day.
Secret 3: Find your hedgehog
- And so the idea is to do one thing, do it really well, and you will succeed in life, in your career, and in avoiding getting eaten by a fox.
Secret 9: Your word is everything
You will instantly lose trust with your team the first time you say you’re going to do something and you don’t do it.
Secret 10: Be proactive
Proactive means bringing in new ideas around workflow to the team.
Proactive means always keeping progress moving forward.
Proactive means that you are truly ready to be on a remote team because you don’t need someone to babysit you.
Re-think meetings: 1-3 person team meet 2-3x week | 4-6 person team meet daily
Work: not “what did you do today?” now “Show me what you did today.”
Overlap: Need a chunk of time where you overlap
Water Cooler: stories, cultural sharing, sports, regular funny things like goats and such
- Team Mgt: Plan 1-on-1, harder to see de-motivation,
Accountable: managers and workers, always
All out: documents, tickets, periodic updates on your progress, even
- Seeing: plan in-person team get-togethers once or twice a year
- extra mile to ensure that he’s staying available, providing updates and meeting deadlines
- periodic updates on your progress — even if you haven’t completed a task.
Thou Shall Overlap
Communication guidelines which medium
Response time requirements,
Criteria for prioritizing issues
Motivation: proactively detect any lack of engagement