Ways of working 🦞
If you’re trying to work on something together, being physically together makes a profound difference to how you build relationships and solve problems. This is particularly true if you’re trying to do things in a new way, or improve collaboration and communication on a problem that cuts across organisational boundaries.
The first step is often the hardest: finding the space, and giving / gaining permission for teams to work there.
I enjoyed this evocative post from Andrew Travers, where he sets out what the “quiet buzz” on a delivery floor feels like.
An older story but a crunchier one is the turnaround of Healthcare.gov in late 2013. Mikey Dickerson describes using simple problems with simple solutions: one of which was simply bringing people together in the same room to coordinate.
For a longer take on the story read Code Red from Time (PDF), or watch Mikey at Velocity NY 2014.
There is no substitute for being in the same room. But, for more mature teams with established ways of working and a baseline of good communication, this guide from 18F on best practices for distributed teams is a great place to start. |
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