Christina Lucey @christinaluce YAMMER When Yammer established a new product group in 2013 with ten people in three different offices around the world, the team resolved not only to address potential communication problems, but to actively experiment with exciting ideas. With lessons from the bleeding edge, Christina Lucey, senior product lead, will detail what’s worked well, what hasn’t caught on and what they’ve learned about implementing new processes among far-flung offices.

1. Experiments in
Connecting Offices
Eight Time Zones Apart
Christina Lucey, Yammer
@christinaluce

2. About me

3. In the beginning...
Yammer. 350 employees.
All engineering work in San Francisco.
2-10 people 2-10 weeks

4. In the beginning...
+ Royal Engineering.

5. In the beginning...
+ Yammer North.

6. Big changes
At first, we struggled.

7. Big changes
We couldn’t ignore the problem.

8. The basics
“Hockey puck”

9. The basics
“Skype room”
x 2

10. Problems
Waiting until scheduled meetings slowed us
down.

11. Problems
Waiting until scheduled meetings slowed us
down.

12. Problems
Yammer is bad for lengthy discussions.

13. Problems
We didn’t feel like a team.

14. Experiments
Reduce formality.
Go faster.
Convey complex ideas.

15. Reduce formality
Meet in the hallway.

16. Photo bomb!
Reduce formality

17. Reduce formality
It's ok to call in from anywhere.

18. Go faster
Allow “face to face” conversations.

19. Go faster
Skype “war room”.

20. Go faster
Sqwiggle.

21. Convey complexity
Actually work instead of just talk about it.

22. Balsamiq to whiteboard.
Convey complexity

23. What’s next
Virality!
Try more things.

24. @christinaluce
Christina Lucey - Yammer
Thank you
I’d love to hear about your experiences!