The Remotiest Workflow

Justine Arreche & Lisa Passing

What do we even mean by that?

Our remote processes through timezones
& beyond

SPOILER ALERT

Remote workflows are best practices
for all types of teams*

*So everyone can learn something

#dzy

But first let us introduce ourselves

Justine

The Designer ™

→

Lisa

The Developer ™

←

and we build ...

Travis CI

Travis Fun Facts ©

💻 Builders in 9 countries

🌍 Representing 14 home countries

🔈 Speaking 10 native languages

⏰ Working remotely across 9* timezones

* sometimes 19

This is Travis now

Let's rewind to 2015

Justine went to Australia

The problem was that we didn't have
our remote infrastructure in place yet

Still,

we had to make it work

Identify the problems and

Remote Communication

We identified the problems we encountered

  • No timezone overlap
  • Non-transparent design workflow

Then we took a look at our communication tools to see why they didn't work

  • Slack
  • GitHub

We needed async
feedback loops

  • Layervault
  • Pixelapse
  • Invision

We needed async
feedback loops

  • Layervault
  • Pixelapse
  • Invision

We needed async
feedback loops

  • Layervault
  • Pixelapse
  • Invision

We needed async
feedback loops

  • Layervault
  • Pixelapse
  • Invision

We solved our workflow problems

Then Justine moved to Ohio

So we checked our tools and workflows again

But the groundwork for sharing
and collaborating was already there

Now with more overlap!

  • Slack
  • GitHub
  • Invision
  • Video chats

Bonus round

Ohio Office Hours

OOH

syncing up working hours for more overlap

OOH

syncing meal times to lunch/dinner together

Pro Tips TM

  • Write down everything!important
  • Be clear about communication expectations
  • Store information in easy to find places
  • It's a team effort, communicate that

Ask yourself

  • Do you have to be online/ in the office for people to ask you things?
  • Do miss information that other people seem to 'just know'?

So, done, right?

Not quite.

Cultural Differences

We ran into issues that rooted in

  • our cultural upbringing
  • different native languages

Culture

Culture is a broad term

Distinguish between culture and personality

Here are some things we noticed that
might seem obvious but can prevent misunderstanding

enthusiastic Americans

vs

reserved Germans

vs

American politeness

vs

German directness

vs

frequent feedback

vs

feedback only if necessary

vs

Language

English is our company language

but not everyone is a native English speaker.

Native speakers speak faster and
have a broad vocabulary

Non-native speakers might need
longer to take in input and
may misunderstand or misuse words

This can have great impact on
real time feedback channels
like instant messaging or video chat

Give people time to think of feedback

Watch your own usage of words and be
understanding of strange phrasing

Pro Tips TM

  • be aware of cultural differences
  • be aware of specific ways of communication entailed by native languages

Ask yourself

  • Do you provide feedback channels for different communication types?
  • Have you asked managers/ coworkers how they would like to receive feedback?

So, done, right?

Not quite.

Designers & Developer

Establishing a good working relationship between designers and developers still seems to be an issue

This worked for us

  • Have base understanding/ work ethic
  • Have a culture of learning and teaching

Base understanding

Everyone strives to do a good job

Trust that the other has reasons for their decisions

Have respect for the other's work

Establish open an honest line of communication

Culture of learning and teaching

We're experts in our fields and juniors in others

If you don't understand something, ask

If you get asked a something, take time to answer it

Explain without judgement and without using jargon words

We can't know everything
but we can learn a lot

"Always assume no knowledge
and infinite intelligence"

~ Unknown

Teach a topic in depth if wanted, but don't force learning

Designers don't have to learn to code

Developers don't have to learn to design

#hottakes

As long as we are able to communicate what is needed

We are the most productive when
we do what we want to do and
learn what we want to learn

Pro Tips TM

  • Respect for fields of work that
    are not your own
  • Learn and exercise empathy
  • Keep an open mind

Ask yourself

  • Are you honest to yourself about your work attitude?
  • How much value do you credit work from other departments?
  • Do you have space to grow and learn?

Recap time!

  • Remote Communication
  • Cultural Differences
  • Designers & Developers

This talk is based on our specific experiences.

You probably have different opinions
on some aspects but that's ok.

We're all different and awesome.

Think about remote work and how it can improve your team

So, done, right?

DONE

Thank you!

Enjoy Hybrid Conf and Berlin