Agile in co-located and distributed teams
The global Covid pandemic has changed the way we work forever. Within the IT sector, remote work was not new, but the current situation makes it the go-to way of work for most of the companies related to IT. These companies are more likely to use Agile methodologies in one or another, to get their job done. I remember the conversations in early 2020 around the question, Can Agile be applied in remote teams? Can Agile be applied at a massive scale, through the company remotely? The answer is a big fat yes.
Agile methodologies can be implemented for both, co-located and distributed teams. Work is more effective when teams are collocated and thus co-location is recommended. However, it is not mandatory to be co-located, and definitely, with the communication software we have nowadays is possible to do all the agile ceremonies and keep agile remote work.
Co-located Teams: In Scrum, it is preferable to have co-located teams. If co-located, preferred modes of communication include face-to-face interactions, Decision Rooms or War Rooms, Scrum boards, wall displays, shared tables, and so on.
Distributed Teams: Although co-located teams are preferred, at times the Scrum Team may be distributed due to outsourcing, offshoring, different physical locations, work-from-home options, global pandemic we have never thought about, etc. Some tools that could be used for effective collaboration with distributed teams include video conferencing, instant messaging, chats, social media, shared screens, and software tools which simulate the functionality of Scrum boards, wall displays, and so on.
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