These are candid shots from this week’s Sprint review (full size image).
One of our team, Wendy, often works from home. We use webcams, skype, community document formats and remote access. She even has her own build bunny.
As you can see, we’ve developed the habit of giving Wendy a view of the action however absurd or precarious it looks.
Remoting does limit beneficial cross-talk among the pairs (osmotic communication) but word within the team is that pairing goes well. After some practice, we’re also getting the hang of the structured group conversations such as standup, sprint review and planning.
We have a strong, established bond with Wendy and the team is really pulling to make it work. She also comes into the office at least once a week which keeps us close. All and all, it’s about the easiest remote worker scenario I can think of.
The biggest downside is simply that we miss her.