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Pattern: Remote Teams

If teams must be distributed, whether across a city or a continent, build in regular in person retreats/work sessions as well as robust channels for close and free-flowing communication

Remote Teams

A company is solving complex and relatively difficult business problems, and many team members are working remotely from one another.

In This Context

In many organizations remote team members may rarely, or even never, meet face to face. That works as long as the problems being solved by those teams are reasonably well-defined and not very complex. In the complex world of cloud native,however, problems are often messy and difficult, and require a more open-ended and collaborative approach.Without a strong aim for collaborative co-creation, the team’s ability to generate innovative solutions is typically limited to the creative abilities of individual team members working separately.

Therefore

Put programs in place to connect remote teams and bring them together in every way possible, both physically and virtually.In the complex world of cloud native, problems are often messy and difficult, andrequire a more open-ended and collaborative approach. Working well this way requires in-person relationships, honest feedback, and close communication. If teams must be scattered, then regular face-to-face meeting times and other ways to connect the individual members need to be prioritized in order for them to be an effective cloud native workforce.

Consequently

Teams see each other regularly in person and in between stay engaged via multiple channels and practices that promote fluent communication. Ideas are created, validated, and implemented in groups instead of coming from individuals.