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Ask HN: Distributed Teams - What are some daily challenges you encounter?

Hi, I have been working on an app that I envision would be useful for people working in distributed teams. It's my first foray into the startup world and I haven't focused much on customer development. It's a big mistake so I'm going to spend more time on this area. For those of you working with your team virtually, how do you communicate with each other? If it's through text, what kinds of things do you usually text to each other about? If it's through video chat, what kinds of things do you usually talk about and for how long does the meeting go on for, as well as, how many times per week do you have these video chat meetings. Working in a distributed environment generally means that you have a lot of freedom and that you don't need to commute just to do your work. What are the cons of working in such an environment other than loneliness? Do you find that communication breakdown is a large issue? Or maybe it's team cohesiveness? What would you like to see improved? Is there a glaring pain point that you would like to have solved? Sorry if these questions are too general or too broad, but your answers will help me ask better questions in the future. Also, if you would like to see the app I'm building. This link to my blog has some screenshots and a link to a short demo video: http://kokonautlabs.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/my-app/ And of course, I would love to talk to you one on one and to help you handle your business needs. You can provide me with your email address in the post, or you can email me at anton@kokotop.com Thanks!

Osiris 14y ago
The biggest problem for me is not understanding the code that the other developers are writing and them not understanding mine. Since we don't sit right next to each other, we rarely discuss quick little things that come up or "talk to the duck", so to speak. Lately we've been testing a beta video chat product called "Sqwiggle". It makes chatting with members of the team a ot easier, though it's still beta quality. I had made efforts to setup weekly "Show and Tell" sessions in an effort to get everyone on the team to show off what they've been working on, but Friday, it turns out, is a really bad day for that. In short, the problem is communication. You need to find tools to facilitate communication, such as forcing code reviews, using video chats, phone calls, etc. It may also be useful to pair two distributed people together to work on one project so the knowledge is shared (in my case, between two difference offices).
- antoniuschan99 14y ago
  Hey Osiris, thanks for giving me some of your insight. I would like to follow up to with some questions: Why are you not understanding the code other devs are writing (and vice versa)? Are you finding code reviews difficult in such an environment, or is it that the tools that are available aren't that great to use. With those quick little things. Are you finding that real time chat tools such as GChat or Campfire not properly facilitating that issue? A lot of people don't like the tap on the shoulder, but Sqwiggle kind of encourages that (I really like the idea it makes it much less lonely).
  - Osiris 14y ago
    Why are you not understanding the code other devs are writing Each of us is working on different areas of the code. We are not doing code reviews. When we end up needing something from someone else, we'll discuss the API, but not the guys of how the API is implemented, if that makes sense. Are you finding that real time chat tools such as GChat or Campfire not properly facilitating that issue? I really don't like text chat. It takes too long and is hard to discuss anything of worth. It's okay for a quick "hey get back to me as soon as you can". Sqwiggle is nice because it offers fast video chat (just click their picture and say hi) but also a persistent text chat area. We've also tried Hangout, which works okay but it's always on while Sqwiggle is not. Sqwiggle/Hangout (video chat) also gives a better sense of participation because I can see what's going on the other end. For example, I'll notice my co-worker chatting with someone else next to him and I can click on him and listen in, even if they're just joking around, it feels more like I'm there. Without the video chat, I have to rely on text chat or phone, which misses out on all those side-conversations.
    - antoniuschan99 14y ago
      Thanks for this :). You painted a wonderful picture for the reasons why anyone working away from their office might want to use an always on video service like sqwiggle.
elango 14y ago
Quality of Communication is what i see as a challenge. It is as simple as the quality of voice/video calls, Skype and Hangout handle well when ppl speak on the microphone, but when there are folks sitting behind the laptop or comp, the voice clarity is impacted drastically. I have to keep reminding ppl to come close to the microphone and talk, i do it once, twice, thrice, then i give up. From a person on the other side of the phone where all the action happens, i need to be focused and aware on getting close to the microphone and speaking, this impacts my natural posture(body language) while communicating.
- antoniuschan99 14y ago
  Thank you elango. It's worth noting that something this basic is still an issue to a lot of us.
michaelmior 13y ago
In terms of communication tools, we've tried several and settled on Skype. We can type back and forth most of the day and immediately jump on a phone call if the discussion gets hairy.
- antoniuschan99 13y ago
  Do you mean when the latency starts failing, the team migrates to audio for clarity? How often does this happen? And how often do you have these Skype conversations? Also, is this a one on one conversation that you're having?
  - michaelmior 13y ago
    Exactly. I'd say it happens less than five times daily. Usually just once or twice. Yes, these conversations are usually one-on-one. Although most of our team is located in one main office, so occasionally they'll be two or three people on one end of the call. For team meetings, we use Google Hangouts.

Osiris 14y ago

The biggest problem for me is not understanding the code that the other developers are writing and them not understanding mine. Since we don't sit right next to each other, we rarely discuss quick little things that come up or "talk to the duck", so to speak. Lately we've been testing a beta video chat product called "Sqwiggle". It makes chatting with members of the team a ot easier, though it's still beta quality. I had made efforts to setup weekly "Show and Tell" sessions in an effort to get everyone on the team to show off what they've been working on, but Friday, it turns out, is a really bad day for that. In short, the problem is communication. You need to find tools to facilitate communication, such as forcing code reviews, using video chats, phone calls, etc. It may also be useful to pair two distributed people together to work on one project so the knowledge is shared (in my case, between two difference offices).

antoniuschan99 14y ago
Hey Osiris, thanks for giving me some of your insight. I would like to follow up to with some questions: Why are you not understanding the code other devs are writing (and vice versa)? Are you finding code reviews difficult in such an environment, or is it that the tools that are available aren't that great to use. With those quick little things. Are you finding that real time chat tools such as GChat or Campfire not properly facilitating that issue? A lot of people don't like the tap on the shoulder, but Sqwiggle kind of encourages that (I really like the idea it makes it much less lonely).
- Osiris 14y ago
  Why are you not understanding the code other devs are writing Each of us is working on different areas of the code. We are not doing code reviews. When we end up needing something from someone else, we'll discuss the API, but not the guys of how the API is implemented, if that makes sense. Are you finding that real time chat tools such as GChat or Campfire not properly facilitating that issue? I really don't like text chat. It takes too long and is hard to discuss anything of worth. It's okay for a quick "hey get back to me as soon as you can". Sqwiggle is nice because it offers fast video chat (just click their picture and say hi) but also a persistent text chat area. We've also tried Hangout, which works okay but it's always on while Sqwiggle is not. Sqwiggle/Hangout (video chat) also gives a better sense of participation because I can see what's going on the other end. For example, I'll notice my co-worker chatting with someone else next to him and I can click on him and listen in, even if they're just joking around, it feels more like I'm there. Without the video chat, I have to rely on text chat or phone, which misses out on all those side-conversations.
  - antoniuschan99 14y ago
    Thanks for this :). You painted a wonderful picture for the reasons why anyone working away from their office might want to use an always on video service like sqwiggle.

elango 14y ago

Quality of Communication is what i see as a challenge. It is as simple as the quality of voice/video calls, Skype and Hangout handle well when ppl speak on the microphone, but when there are folks sitting behind the laptop or comp, the voice clarity is impacted drastically. I have to keep reminding ppl to come close to the microphone and talk, i do it once, twice, thrice, then i give up. From a person on the other side of the phone where all the action happens, i need to be focused and aware on getting close to the microphone and speaking, this impacts my natural posture(body language) while communicating.

antoniuschan99 14y ago
Thank you elango. It's worth noting that something this basic is still an issue to a lot of us.

michaelmior 13y ago

In terms of communication tools, we've tried several and settled on Skype. We can type back and forth most of the day and immediately jump on a phone call if the discussion gets hairy.

antoniuschan99 13y ago
Do you mean when the latency starts failing, the team migrates to audio for clarity? How often does this happen? And how often do you have these Skype conversations? Also, is this a one on one conversation that you're having?
- michaelmior 13y ago
  Exactly. I'd say it happens less than five times daily. Usually just once or twice. Yes, these conversations are usually one-on-one. Although most of our team is located in one main office, so occasionally they'll be two or three people on one end of the call. For team meetings, we use Google Hangouts.