The Async-First Playbook: Remote Collaboration Techniques for Agile Software Teams

Reimagining Agile for Distributed and Remote Teams Distributed work is now inevitable, but conventional agile approaches are too "synchronous" for today's remote teams. Meetings, ceremonies, and rituals can become unsustainable when teams are scattered across the globe. The result: burnout, constant interruptions, a lack of deep work, poor work-life balance, greater frustration, and workplaces with poor diversity. In The Async-First Playbook, Thoughtworks Principal Product Manager Sumeet Gayathri Moghe provides tools and techniques to embed remote-native, asynchronous practices into traditional agile methods, making remote work more efficient, inclusive, thoughtful, and fun. Drawing on extensive experience leading distributed teams, Moghe addresses the "nuts and bolts" of specific practices and the crucial "softer" elements such as culture, mindset, and leadership. Short, practical chapters show how to adapt traditional agile techniques such as sprints and pair programming for the realities of today's distributed environments. Whatever your project, you'll learn how to create asynchronous environments that promote success, improve the workplace experience, and deliver better results. Discover why asynchronous collaboration is crucial to your project's success Learn the tools, skills, and protocols you need to get right in order to go "async-first" Map current agile techniques to async-first versions that better reflect today's realities Become a more supportive and effective leader of async-first teams Anticipate, navigate, and mitigate the pitfalls of async-first distributed work Bring it all together--walk through your async-first transition Access valuable resources, examples, and hands-on templates at the companion website "This playbook will empower you to lead and build differently. All that you need is an open mind and a belief that the status quo isn't worthy of defining the future." --From the Foreword by Darren Murph Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Foreword Foreword Preface Acknowledgments About the Author Part I: Adapting to the New Normal Chapter 1 There’s Got to Be a Better Way to Work Work Deserves a New Look Complex Problems Need Smarter Collaboration The Promise of Flexibility Escaping the Shallows A More Inclusive Workplace Defaulting to Action Improved Knowledge Sharing and Communication A Better Work Environment for All of Us Chapter 2 Foster a Mindset for Change Four Simple Ideas Focus on Value Make a Ulysses Pact Appreciate the Balance Visualize Change on a Spectrum Go Far, Go Together Ready for the First Steps Part II: Prepare to go Async-First Chapter 3 The Tools You Need With Tools, Less Is More Tools Are Everything; Tools Are Nothing Chapter 4 The Biggest Async-First Superpower Writing Is a Practice; Documentation a Product Why Meetings Are the Last Resort, Not the First Option The Benefits of Writing What About the Agile Manifesto? How Do We Write Better? How Much More Effective Is Face-to-Face Communication? The Manifesto Deserves the Benefit of Doubt To Work Async-First, We Must Write Chapter 5 Three More Async-First Superpowers What an Async-First Superhero Looks Like Block Distractions Read and Comprehend Work Independently Personal Productivity Leads to Team Productivity Chapter 6 Calm Things Down with Collaboration Protocols Work Execution vs. Workflow Revisit Your Workflow Statuses and Transitions Make Email and IM Secondary Communication Tools Streamline Your Decision-Making Process Identify Channels and Their Response Times Fundamentals, Fundamentals, Fundamentals Part III: The Practitioner’s Guide Chapter 7 Meetings as the Last Resort Just. Too Many. Meetings The ConveRel Quadrants When You Meet, Make It Count Account for Costs of Frequent Cross–Time Zone Meetings Stay Human Async-First, with Small Shifts Chapter 8 The Value of Being Face to Face From URL to IRL The Time-Zone Question Face-to-Face Collaboration Isn’t Free The True Value of Being in Person Camaraderie Has Dollar Value Rethink the Onsite-Offsite Be Conscious About Building Relationships So Much for Meetings Chapter 9 Micro-Moves to Shift Left Small Shifts, Easy Wins Personal Shifts: Broadcast Your Commitment Team Shifts: Accelerate Leftward Build Async-First Behavioral Cues Chapter 10 Write a Team Handbook Distributed Teams Need a Single Source of Truth By Default, Start with Your Team What Goes into a Handbook? Tools You Can Use Start Small, Own Collectively, Be Iterative Go Deep with Your Documentation Triggers Aim for a Shared Reality Chapter 11 Tame the “Instant” in Instant Messaging Make Messaging Productive If It’s Urgent, Use a Suitable Medium Choose Intuitive Names for Channels and Rooms Show Your Status, Respect Others’ Statuses Limit the Number of Messages Get to the Point Target Your Conversations React, Don’t Respond Use Threads: One per Topic Slow Things Down, and Don’t Argue on Chat Make Your IM Guidelines Visible Messaging: Just Not Instant Chapter 12 Standup Meetings: An Easy Shift Left Distributed Standups Can Be Painful Use the Project Management Tool’s Features Automate the Ritual Keep It Relevant Make Peace with Lag Standups = Conveyance/Strong Relationships Chapter 13 Take Charge of Your Development Cycles Sprint Ceremonies Can Hinder Async Work Approach 1: Embrace Continuous Flow Approach 2: Use “Shape Up” Cycles The Key to Asynchrony Is a Strong Process Chapter 14 Run Meaningful Retrospectives Infrequent Retros Lead to Poor Team Health View Retrospectives as a Process and Not an Event Collect Inputs in Safety Voting Synchronously vs. Asynchronously Setting Up the Retrospective Environment Retros as a Process, Not an Event Scrum for the 2020s Chapter 15 Kickoffs and Desk Checks: Reduce Ritualized Interruptions How to Maintain Quality with Fewer Meetings? Approach 1: Go Async with Kickoffs and Desk Checks Approach 2: Keep the Sync Practices and Plan for Them Make Your Feedback Loops “Remote Native” Chapter 16 Questions to Reimagine Your Tech Huddles The What and the Why How Much Autonomy Exists in Your Teams? How Necessary Is the “Sync Up”? What If You Defaulted to Action? If You Must Huddle, How Do You Make the Meeting Effective? Oh, and About the Regular, Scheduled Huddles... Not a Zero-Sum Game Chapter 17 Pair Programming: The Elephant in the Room A Polarizing Topic Let’s Start with Why Design for Flexibility Use the Right Tools Encourage Personal Discipline Mix Pairing and Solo Work If It’s Fun for You, Pair by All Means Chapter 18 Audit Trails from the Flow of Your Work The “Just Ask” Pattern Breaks Down Meeting Notes Business Decision Records Architectural Decision Records Commit Messages Pull Requests Trails as the Most Frequent Form of Documentation Chapter 19 Communicate Tech and Functional Design An Agile Approach to Design Idea Papers Feature Breakdown Documents Technical Design Documents Simplify Communication Complexity Chapter 20 Two Stable Pieces of Handbook Documentation Being Agile About Documentation Your Ways of Working Codebase README Files Documenting Code? Think Twice Good Documents Reduce Guesswork Chapter 21 Craft an Efficient Onboarding Process Write Once, Run Many Times Preserve the Dumb Questions Budget with an FAQ Build an Onboarding Checklist Focus on Automation and Reusability Find the New Hire a Buddy Foster Strong Relationships Onboarding Efficiency = Team Efficiency Part IV: Async-First Leadership Chapter 22 The Async Leadership Mindset The Tyranny of “The Way” How Can You Get the Most Out of Yourself? How Can You Be an Example, Not a Bottleneck? How Can You Avoid Busywork? How Can You Champion Inclusion? How Can You Make Your Team Resilient? Make Time for the Essential Stuff Chapter 23 Manage Your People with Care Corrections in the Right Direction Manage Your Own Workload Meet People One-on-One Practice Radical Candor Be the Bridge Between Your Team and Your Company’s Culture Chapter 24 Set Up Your Team for Success Design for Success Manage Team Cognitive Load Through Team Topologies Revisit Your Team’s Internal Structure Reduce Pressure, Create Calm Consciously Build a Team Culture Align on a Common Purpose Your Virtual Workplace Needs Configuring Chapter 25 Farm Tacit Knowledge in Your Company Beyond Handbooks: Into Communities Create Porous Walls Facilitate Flows While You Manage Stocks From Team Knowledge to Company Knowledge Part V: Navigate the Pitfalls Chapter 26 The Great Hybrid Kerfuffle People’s Preferences Are Heading Remote Hybrid Organization, Not Hybrid Employees Avoid a Move Backward Avoid New Costs for All Stakeholders Embrace Science, Not Superstition Don’t Create a Perception of Asymmetry Treat Everyone as “Remote” Choice and Autonomy Are the Key Words Chapter 27 The Async Island Unpacking Organizational Inertia Forces for and Against Change Async Work Is a New Sport Help Your System Get Better Protect and Extend the Island While Being a Guerilla, Don’t Forget Advocacy Chapter 28 Toxicity in the Virtual Workplace Toxicity Builds: One Benign Step at a Time Celebrating the Hard Worker Digital Presenteeism Talking to the Document Not Investing in Meaningful Synchrony As a Leader, Stay Vigilant Part VI: Bring it all Together Chapter 29 The Async-First Starter Kit Five Stages of Sensible Defaults Stage 1: Align on Goals Stage 2: Tabulate Baseline Data Stage 3: Agree on the Fundamentals Stage 4: Clean Up Your Calendars Stage 5: Build the 30-Day Program and Beyond A Team Shift, Owned by the Team Chapter 30 A Brave New World of Work Another World of Work Is Possible Flexibility as a Desire and a Right A Skills Economy Digital Nomadism The Four-Day Workweek Gen Z and Their Sensibilities A Shift for Autonomy It’s Time to Sign Off Endnotes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Blank Page