Dealing with Distributed Teams

Almost every "Scrum" course I have attended suggests that in software development distributed teams are bad.  They discuss the problems that can arise by not having the product owner "always available" or the issues around not having a stand up meeting where everyone is actually standing up, looking at each other.

I agree with most of this.  There is definitely a benefit to being able to see someones face when they are providing their status updates.  I also agree that it is necessary for the product owner to be always available.  Where I am less inclined to agree is with the fact that all of these individuals need to be in the same physical location.  This was probably true a few years ago when the level of connectivity between individuals was much less than it is today.  There are several technologies available today that can help bring a team together at least to the point where they can effectively work together.

One solution that immediately comes to mind is the use of Skype or a similar technology.  The best scenario would be using something similar to their "Group calling" feature where all the team members can see each other when providing their status updates.  The Scrum Master would then be responsible for updating the board (whether this is an actual board or virtual).

The company I work for has a product used in education for helping with distance learning.  The product has audio, video, an interactive whiteboard and an application sharing feature.  All of these capabilities help my team to stay connected and help to bridge the distance between us.  There still needs to be the opportunity for the entire team to meet in person to firm up those relationships.  This helps take the team that extra step towards working well together.

The product owner needs to be always available and in my situation this is done using our own IM client.  I have found that most of the questions coming from the team can be addressed quickly using this mechanism.  If voice and/or video is needed, this can quickly be accommodated as well.  Where possible it is helpful if the product owner can be available, in person, during "sprint planning" to allow them the benefit of in-depth discussion with the team.  This is often a critical time when the team will engage the product owner repeatedly to gain clarity around the tasks being generated.  Once the sprint officially begins, the product owner still needs to be available however the frequency of request from the team will be reduced.

Distributed teams do pose a challenge for an agile scrum environment and this is amplified when those teams span multiple countries (especially when the time zone difference is extreme).  The closer the teams are, the easier things get.  I believe technology makes things easier however it doesn't solve all the problems a team may encounter.

--Ken