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I enjoyed reading the Socialtext response to Assembla’s piece on why distributed teams are great.
When it comes to distributed teams, I’m more in the ‘suck’ camp, than the ‘rule’ camp.
From my perspective as a developer, and a manager of development teams, I think that the biggest problem with distributed teams is idea decay.
Once somebody has a thought in their brains, most of us need to get it into another brain quickly to validate it. The quickest known route, even in our super connected “universe 2.0″ is:
brain>mouth>ear>brain.
Instead, if you have something like:
brain>fingers>keyboard>XMPP>monitor>eyes>brain
there are too many connection points. People seem to somehow sense that they are more inhibited, and they don’t end up sharing as much. Or good ideas seem to never make it across the wire.
This is a challenge for people who are making software – but it’s also more of a challenge for people who are developing business systems. As good as the latest collaborative tools may be, they still aren’t close to co-location for maximizing the innovative process.
When you’re trying to figure out the best way to solve a business problem, it’s probably worth bearing this in mind. (like lots of nerds, I automatically try to solve problems with technology. Sadly, sometimes – low-tech is better : )
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1 Comment
Oscar T Grouch
Chinese whispers
The problem with having an idea is getting that idea out of your brain and into the brains of other people. Even if you achieve this thought transfer, how do you know they have the same idea and not an altered one? Brain sharing is not an option, so we use our bodies to convey the idea, voice(including tone), hand/arm movements and facial expressions or a pencil and paper or a keyboard. The skill of the person with their chosen tool (such as me with this keyboard) determines whether the actual message received was the one sent. We call people proficient with a chosen communication media, Artists. In the end, the more tools or steps required to convey the original idea (hence the more translations) the more likely the original idea will be altered in the audiences minds. Just like this comment – I saw it differently in my head.
13 Oct 2007 06:10 pm
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