dangletech

Changes in communication and collaboration technology help us access more labor markets than ever before. Now it is becoming more common to see engineers from all around the world working together to design and deliver new products.
 
While it can be beneficial, there are a few things to keep in mind when setting up a multi-city team.
 
Architecture
 
Make sure your product architecture is well-defined and well-documented. The analogy I keep visualizing is if you try and build a bridge from two shores without a plan, sometimes the bridge won’t meet in the middle!
Since the teams will not be co-located it is even more important that everyone understand the overall design.
Work allocation
Be sensible about allocating the work. Generally, it is better to have teams of people at each site have ownership of a component part than to have each team be comprised of people from multiple locations.
Maybe this seems like common sense, but it is common to see “off-shore” resources used whereby engineers are sprinkled among the teams. This might make sense for short-term staff augmentation, but for teams that are going to be together for a while, it does not.
 
Assign your engineers into teams where they can maximize collaboration and communication. Don’t challenge them with working out design details over the phone or e-mail. Assigning ownership of components to teams of co-located engineers helps them to feel a sense of ownership.
 
Process and Tools
 
Have a process; help the engineers understand how you want the product built and what the quality measurements will be. Define project meeting schedule and what data you will review.
 
Standardized development tools (configuration management, defect tracking, and design) can help in keeping alignment within the teams and set a standard “language” for how they talk about the stages of their development.
 
Communication
 
My final bit of advice is that there is no “MBWA” ( Management By Walking Around) in a multi-city development team. Leaders need to develop a communication strategy to get their messages out there!
 
Thomas L. Friedman is declaring “The World is Flat”! The next generation of engineers is growing up in the age of mass collaboration with the likes of YouTube and Wikipedia.
It’s exciting to think that engineering talent is starting to become more available to us regardless of our location. But in my mind, that does not mean we are descending into chaos. New technology plus some smart management helps us to make the most of our new world.