1.
Ranganathan Balashanmugam
Scaling Distributed
Teams Around The Globe

2.
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scaling-worldwide-distributed-teams/
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3.
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4.
Scaling Distributed
Teams Around The Globe
By Applying Learnings From
Distributed Systems
Ranganathan Balashanmugam

5.
G'day mate, I’m Craig

6.
“Its funny”

7.
*Continuously improve through continuous feedback.
Improve at macro and micro levels

8.
Hi, I am Ranganathan
Balashanmugam

9.
Hi, I am Ranganathan
Balashanmugam
Ran-ga-na-WHAT???

10.
Hi, I am Ranganathan
Balashanmugam
People butcher
my name

11.
‘Ranganathan Balashanmugam’
makes for strong passwords

12.
‘Ranganathan$Balashanmugam’
makes for strong passwords

13.
Call me R A N G A

14.
My journey so far has been interesting.
Head of India,
Aconex
Named as one of
the top10 CTOs
in India by CEO
Insights Mag
Software engineer for ~12 years
Work with remote teams for 15 years
2016 Nov 2018
Founder and CTO,
EverestEngineering
Dec 2019

15.
If you could all stand up and….

16.
“A distributed system is a
collection of autonomous computing elements
that appears to its users as a single coherent system.”
- Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms
Book by Andrew S. Tanenbaum

17.
“A distributed system is a
collection of autonomous computing elements
that appears to its users as a single coherent system.”
- Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms
Book by Andrew S. Tanenbaum
teams
team

18.
Characteristics of distributed systems
They operate concurrently
They fail independently
They do not share a global clock

19.
Characteristics of distributed systems
teams
They operate concurrently
They fail independently
They do not share a global clock

20.
<— Image source: https://www.holacracy.org/

21.
“Fundamentals”

22.
Why do you want to go distributed?

23.
Why do you want to go distributed?
It’s cheap
Hiring limits Remote potential markets
Outsource dirty work

24.
Where to go?

25.
Where do you want to go?
Same city, same country, other country (limited by
timezones)
Availability of developers (competitive hiring)
Language
Agency vs own teams
Cost of developers
Trusted network for advice
Ease of travel
23 million developers

26.
Where to go?
Number of software developers in the world
Content source: https://www.daxx.com/blog/development-trends/number-software-developers-world

27.
Number of software
developers in the Europe
Content source: https://www.daxx.com/blog/development-trends/number-software-developers-world

28.
People who speak English
Content source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_world#/media/File:Anglospeak.png

29.
We vs They
Us

30.
Hiring, firing, retaining
“Don’t hire the best.”

31.
Hiring, firing, retaining
“Don’t hire the best. Hire the
right fit.”

32.
Hiring, firing, retaining

33.
Hiring, firing, retaining
“Coach, Grow, Give Autonomy”

34.
Virtual Distance
“It is a sense of psychological distance from others that
affects collaboration performance”
The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski

35.
Virtual Distance = Physical Distance
+ Operational Distance
+ Affinity Distance
Content source:https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/HICSS.2006.484 Karen Sobel Lojeski
“It is a sense of psychological distance from others that
affects collaboration performance”

36.
Virtual Distance = Physical Distance
+ Operational Distance
+ Affinity Distance
Geography, time zones, and
organizational affiliation.
The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski

37.
Virtual Distance = Physical Distance
+ Operational Distance
+ Affinity Distance
The “noise” in the system.
The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski

38.
Virtual Distance = Physical Distance
+ Operational Distance
+ Affinity Distance
The barriers to form deep,
meaningful relationships.
The term Virtual Distance is coined by Karen Sobel Lojeski

39.
How might we reduce this virtual distance?

40.
7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams
Communication is the foundation.
Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision
making.
Choose right tools - software and hardware.
Plan for collaboration and concentration time.
Local first.
Find the local leader.
Promote open online chit-chats.

41.
7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams
Communication is the foundation.
Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision
making.
Choose right tools - software and hardware.
Plan for collaboration and concentration time.
Local first.
Find the local leader.
Promote open online chit-chats.
*Continuously improve through continuous feedback.

42.
Communication is the foundation
Handwriting images source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PSM_V34_D861_Espy_letter.png, https://
surgeryattiffanys.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/doctors-handwriting.jpg, https://www.quora.com/Why-do-doctors-write-
prescriptions-in-an-illegible-manner, https://www.bankslane-jun.stockport.sch.uk/assets/Uploads/Handwriting-Policy-and-
Guidelines4.pdf

43.
Communication is the foundation
My current thoughts.This talk is boring and I feel like sleeping. I feel full
after the lunch. The conference has good lunch. Do I have any notifications
on slack? If I am reading this, I am smiling.
Handwriting images source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/PSM_V34_D861_Espy_letter.png, https://
surgeryattiffanys.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/doctors-handwriting.jpg, https://www.quora.com/Why-do-doctors-write-
prescriptions-in-an-illegible-manner, https://www.bankslane-jun.stockport.sch.uk/assets/Uploads/Handwriting-Policy-and-
Guidelines4.pdf

44.
Communication is the foundation

45.
Communication is the foundation

46.
Communication is the foundation

47.
Communication is the foundation

48.
Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision making.

49.
Choose right tools - hardware and software
Activity time

50.
Choose right tools - hardware and software

51.
Choose right tools - hardware and software

52.
Plan for collaboration and concentration time

53.
Local first
Story and image source: https://worksthatwork.com/2/a-hole-in-the-darkness

54.
Find the local leader

55.
Promote open online chit-chats

56.
Promote open online chit-chats

57.
*Continuously improve through continuous feedback.
Improve at macro and micro levels

58.
Summary
Understand why?
Set We vs Us.
Where do you want to go?
Hiring, firing, retention
Virtual distance = physical + operational + affinity distance.
How do we reduce virtual distance?

59.
7 key takeaways for scaling distributed teams
Communication is the foundation.
Model your framework - roles, responsibilities, decision
making.
Choose right tools - software and hardware.
Plan for collaboration and concentration time.
Local first.
Find the local leader.
Promote open online chit-chats.
*Continuously improve through continuous feedback.

60.
Questions?
“It depends” is his
standard answer
https://medium.com/@ran_than
https://twitter.com/ran_than
https://in.linkedin.com/in/ranganathanb

61.
Watch the video with slide
synchronization on InfoQ.com!
https://www.infoq.com/presentations/
scaling-worldwide-distributed-teams/