Agile team management in a distributed workplace – 13 best practices

Agile development, and Scrum especially, was originally envisioned for teams that were physically co-located, meaning they worked together in the same space. The underlying principle was that face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective way to convey information within a development team. Therefore, early Agile teams were encouraged to work together in close proximity.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the work environment irreversibly. Most businesses now have a few or several distributed scrum teams, which is in fact a logical choice. Distributed teams can work on projects continuously. Hybrid work environments also allow companies to fill tech talent gaps by accessing talented individuals without requiring them to relocate.

However, managing distributed Agile teams is also marred with a number of challenges. In this article, we outline the most common issues that Agile team management can pose to a remote Scrum Master. We also share a number of Agile best practices we follow when managing distributed teams in Agile, so that you know what to expect from our potential cooperation.

Let’s take a quick look at the challenges of remote Scrum teams now.

Challenges of Agile team management in distributed or hybrid workplaces

Both workplace models became prominent in recent years, with the pandemic as the main cause of this situation. These models are necessary these days to attract a wider range of talent, accommodate different workstyles and adapt to unforeseen disruptions. Some businesses even promote remote work to eliminate some of the costs related to office space lease and maintenance. 

• A hybrid workplace: refers to a work environment that combines both in-person and remote work options for employees. Typically, this model offers individuals flexibility to to split their work time between working at a physical office and working remotely, often from their homes or other remote locations. It is a great option for teams which require a mix of collaborative and individual work. 
• A distributed workplace: aka a remote or virtual workplace, refers to a work setup in which employees are geographically dispersed and work from various locations, which are typically outside of a head office (if there is one). In such a workplace, employees rely on communication and collaboration technologies to work together, even though they may be in different time zones or regions.

Agile team management with distributed and hybrid scrum teams may be challenging due to the lack of face-to-face interactions, which are crucial in this project management methodology. Here are some of the most common challenges that Scrum Masters will have to face:

Time zone differences

This is by far the biggest challenge. When team members are spread across different time zones, scheduling meetings and Scrum ceremonies (like daily stand-ups, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives) become tricky. Such differences also make real-time collaboration more difficult, which may also slow-down the decision making. It also affects project aspects such as pair programming or code reviews, making them harder to coordinate and execute.

Communication barriers

Without face-to-face interactions, there is a greater likelihood of misunderstandings. Distance also has a significant impact on knowledge sharing and Relying on a number of communication tools can of course make virtual meetings possible, but at the same time, they are likely to create information silos, if different teams use different platforms to communicate nuances can be lost, leading to misunderstandings.

What’s more, onboarding new team members or sharing knowledge between team members can be slower and less efficient than in co-located teams. The same applies to mentoring or providing hands-on guidance. Virtually every aspect of Agile project management that typically involves face-to-face interaction will be impacted by the physical barriers that arise in distributed scrum teams.

Cultural differences

If your team members are dispersed across different geographies and time-zones, variances in work culture, holidays, work ethics, and even the way feedback is  received can impact team dynamics and productivity. It can also impact building trust among the team members as well as making sure the team remains productive without being micromanaged.

Security concerns

Last but not least: managing security risks. Distributed Agile teams most probably access the company's resources from various locations and devices, which may extend the attack surface, making your company assets more vulnerable to cybercrime.

The above list of challenges isn’t exhaustive, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the impact that shifting to remote has on Scrum work practices. Let’s now take a look at how some of these challenges can be countered in an effective way.

13 Agile best practices to better manage distributed and hybrid teams

Undoubtedly, distributed teams create more challenges for Agile team management than colocated ones. Nonetheless, There are a number of practices remote Scrum Masters can apply to foster inclusivity despite distances, ensure effective communication and provide the necessary infrastructure to successfully deliver subsequent projects. These are the practices we rely on in the project we deliver to our clients.

Review the status quo

To address the challenges of managing distributed teams, you should first figure out the actual situation you are about to deal with –  this is an important step towards establishing communication and collaboration methods that will actually work. This can be achieved through video conferences with the team and the product owner, where the team's culture, challenges, and strategies are discussed. This is a great starting point towards ensuring everyone is on the same page with regards to the status quo as well as the overall objective.

Instill a common vision

A unified vision that is understood by every team member is the foundation of Agile team management in hybrid workplaces. Everyone on the remote Scrum team should understand the goals and objectives of the project and work toward them. A shared understanding of the desired result fosters a sense of unity and purpose, making every team member feel they are contributing to a common goal, irrespective of their geographical location. Ensure the vision is worked out and everyone is familiar with it at all times (same applies to any potential changes to requirements you may encounter on the product development journey.

Leverage work agreements to strengthen team cohesion

Working agreements are important for distributed Agile teams as they offer guidelines with regards to desired behaviors and offer an accountability mechanism. These agreements should be defined by the team, captured, and made easily accessible. Defining the working agreement for remote teams should be done collaboratively, with the participation and input from every team member. This is the first step to instilling collaboration, which is certainly a challenging exercise when it comes to remote scrum teams.

Use effective communication tools to shift the office environment to online

Effective communication is vital for any team, especially when it’s geographically dispersed. In a Scrum setting, communication must be clear, concise, and transparent. Luckily, remote Scrum Masters have ample choice of project management solutions and advanced tools that enable remote communication through functionalities like video conferencing and instant messaging, file sharing and collaboration. They can be used to ensure team members stay connected and information between them flows smoothly. 

Popular examples of such tools include Slack and Microsoft Teams. Project management tools like Jira, Asana or Trello can be used to track progress, assign tasks, and maintain transparency. Just make sure you pick the tools that work for your team and meet as many needs as possible – avoid using too many tools as that may hamper productivity.

Ensure transparency

Transparency is one of the six principles of Scrum and it’s crucial for effectively managing distributed teams. It’s oriented at ensuring that all team members have access to information on project progress, updates, and changes. Maintaining transparency is critical to keep everyone informed and able to promptly respond to any issues that arise as the project unfolds. For instance, utilizing Jira or a Kanban board on Trello to track task progress in real-time helps to keep everyone involved to stay up-to-date on the status of the project.

Tsedal Neeley PhD points out that honest and transparent communication isn’t always easy to achieve, and it may be even more challenging with Agile remote teams. One way to maximize transparency is to seek anonymous feedback from team members – they may find it easier to submit their comments anonymously and such insights can be used to improve your remote processes even further.

Schedule regular meetings

Regular meetings, such as backlog refinement sessions or technical debt assessment)  and Scrum ceremonies like daily stand-ups, sprint planning, review, and retrospectives, are of great importance to distributed Agile teams – no less than for colocated ones. It is crucial to schedule these meetings at a time that accommodates everyone, taking into account the differences in time zones. By all means, ensure they happen regularly!

Gartner also talks about the importance of maintaining momentum when managing Agile remote teams, highlighting that inclusivity is essential for fostering engagement and a sense of responsibility among the team members, especially when they connect virtually. Take a look at some of the tweaks you can make to ensure nobody feels left out.

Promote cultural sensitivity

Cultural sensitivity becomes even more when managing distributed teams in Agile. As a remote Scrum Master, you will play an instrumental role in fostering an environment that promotes understanding and respect for diverse cultural practices, observed holidays and work styles. If your team operates across locations as diverse as the United States, Poland and India, make sure everyone is mindful of the various national holidays and cultural habits practised in those countries.

Establish clear roles and responsibilities

When managing distributed teams, establishing clear roles and responsibilities is crucial, especially in a Scrum environment. Without absolute clarity, team members may be confused and end up doubling workloads or waste time on inessential tasks. No matter if it’s a developer, a Product Owner or a Scrum Master, ensure each team member has a well-defined role and understands exactly what is expected from them.

Set expectations for response times

Remote Agile teams with members in different time zones and distinct geographic locations should establish agreed-upon response times to ensure continuous progress while considering individual schedules. For instance, if you decide to offshore software development to Poland and you’re based in the US, agreeing on a 24-hour response time to accommodate the significant time difference will be beneficial for the performance of your dev teams.

Enable autonomous decision making

Empowering remote scrum teams to autonomously make decisions, without seeking approval in non-critical matters is a fundamental principle of the Agile methodology. Make sure your team has sufficient autonomy in making these decisions – it’s essential for productivity and efficiency.

Invest in collaborative infrastructure

Building strong relationships among team members is essential for fostering collaboration and enhancing team cohesion. This means that team building activities play an important role in Agile team management as well, so don’t hesitate to encourage people to connect virtually during coffee breaks and make pair programming a regular practice.

Shared environments play an important role in fostering collaboration among distributed scrum teams. GitHub, a widely-used tool for code collaboration, allows developers to collaborate on projects, share code repositories, and track changes made by other team members. You could also use Visual Studio Code with Live Share extension, or a general collaboration tool that allows sharing and collaboration on code snippets, such as Slack.

Also, keep in mind that a Gallup study (Clifton’s Strengths Finder assessment we implement in our workplace) found that the presence of close work friendships can significantly increase employee satisfaction by over 30%, so don’t underestimate the power of casual, virtual interactions among your team members!

Continuously improve

Continuous improvement comes with regular retrospectives – they help to learn and improve processes during each sprint. This approach is critical for enhancing the effectiveness of distributed Scrum teams: it provides space to reflect on previous work, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes that lead to greater efficiency and productivity.

Use overlapping work hours

Finding a time slot where all team members' can join meetings. If you work across timezones that are so dispersed this is impossible, you may want to record crucial meetings so that everyone can refer to them to stay updated, or find two different time slots when you can schedule meetings and fill everyone in. Otherwise, you won’t be able to work efficiently and it will be difficult for you to solve problems.

Agile team management at RST

Scrum remote teams are certainly more challenging to manage due to the lack of face-to-face interactions and disruptions to processes that were originally envisioned to work for colocated teams. Nonetheless, the abundance of various project management software, videoconferencing tools and collaboration mechanisms can make Agile for distributed teams work to your advantage.

RST has been present on the market for over 20 years, managing Agile teams in a variety of projects. With the shift to remote, we’ve adapted the Agile best practices to work for our remote scrum teams. If you’re interested in outsourcing your software development project to us, you can be sure we’ll do whatever is necessary to make the collaboration efficient, pleasant and successful.

Our specialists are available for flexible hire and, apart from product workshops, SaaS, web and mobile development services, they contribute unique domain expertise in matters related to:

• location-based service development,
• building custom videoconferencing and media streaming software,
• mobility apps,
• ‍logistics solutions,
• ‍e-commerce systems,
• and many more.

If you have any questins about our work practices, or would like to ask about our potential cooperation, contact us directy and we'll get back to you in 24 hours.