Distributed teams can have big benefits for both employers and employees, but there are many challenges. Being successful requires changes to work practices, communication, and style — and not just from the remote people. Everyone will experience changes. To better support your team, it helps to be prepared. In this talk, we will look at the challenges and rewards of working in a distributed team setting based on several years of experience growing large distributed engineering teams.

1. A clear-eyed look at
DISTRIBUTED TEAMS
HELLO
my name is
María Gutiérrez
VP Engineering @ FreeAgent
@mariagutierrez

2. A clear-eyed look at
DISTRIBUTED TEAMS
HELLO
my name is
María Gutiérrez
VP Engineering @ FreeAgent
@mariagutierrez

4. “How did I freelance for 10 yrs
without @freeagent?
Bookkeeping a breeze, auto
invoice chasing and my support
email answered in 32 minutes”
@tomcopy

6. Committed to build a
DIVERSE, HIGH PERFORMING,
AND HAPPY TEAM

11. 1/3
engineers
WFH

14. 2000

15. 2000 2001

16. 2000 2001 2004

17. 2000 2001 2004 2008

18. 2000 2001 2004 2008 2011

19. ~180 engineers
worldwide
~80 in my team
DC, Portland,Boulder, All overthe US, Scotland,India, Australia,Brazil
I was working
from my house
in Scotland
for ~5years
Travelling to DC
or other offices
once a quarter

20. 2000 2001 2004 2008 2011 2016

21. MIKAELA
NOGLE DEJLIGE GADE
ODENSE
DENMARK
DEAR MIKAELA,
THE WEATHER IS FAB AND
WE ARE HAVING AN AMAZING
TIME ON HOLIDAY.
CAN’T WAIT TO SHOW YOU
ALL THE PHOTOS!
LOVE, MARIA
BARCELONA
10 JUNE 92

22. Show your
COMMITMENT

23. CRITICAL MASS
Avoid snowflakes

24. Break through
GLASS CEILINGS

28. Treat on-site and remote
FAIRLY NOT
EQUALLY

31. @mariagutierrez
Communicate
INTENTIONALLY

32. Patrick Lencioni, “Five dysfunctions of a team”

34. COLLABORATE
daily to build trust

36. being visible
being honest and open
being responsive
delivering
being consistent

37. SHOW YOUR WORK

42. ETIQUETTE
Permission to play values

43. WATCH THE WORK
not the worker

44. DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Budget, law, expectations

48. Strengthens your company
COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIES

53. Angela
Senior Software
Engineer
Staffordshire
1 month

54. Thomas
Head of
Infrastructure
Cambridge
6.5 years

55. Anup
Mobile Team Lead
Sutton
4 years

56. Eva
Software
Engineer
Edinburgh
1.5 years

57. “I rarely think about looking for a
job at another company”
“I see myself still working at
FreeAgent in two years time”
“My manager genuinely cares
about my wellbeing”

60. BE INTENTIONAL
srsly!

61. THANKS!
@mariagutierrez
I’ve got Winston stickers,
come and say “Hi!”
Illustrations by the amazing FreeAgent designers