9 min read • Guide 619 of 877
Working with Distributed Teams
Distributed teams face unique challenges that co-located teams never encounter—time zone gaps, async communication needs, and the absence of casual hallway conversations. GitScrum provides the async-first tools and visibility features that distributed development teams need to collaborate effectively without requiring everyone to be online simultaneously. The key is intentional practices around communication, documentation, and culture building.
Distributed Team Challenges
| Challenge | Impact | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Time zones | Sync delays | Overlap hours, async-first |
| Communication | Context lost | Document everything |
| Culture | Isolation | Intentional connection |
| Coordination | Handoff gaps | Clear processes |
| Trust | Visibility concerns | Outcomes over presence |
Time Zone Management
WORKING ACROSS TIME ZONES
OVERLAP WINDOWS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Example: US West + Europe + Asia │
│ │
│ US West (PST) Europe (CET) Asia (JST) │
│ 8 AM 5 PM 1 AM ✗ │
│ 10 AM 7 PM 3 AM ✗ │
│ 4 PM 1 AM ✗ 9 AM │
│ 6 PM 3 AM ✗ 11 AM │
│ │
│ Finding overlap: │
│ ├── US + Europe: 8-10 AM PST (5-7 PM CET) │
│ ├── US + Asia: 4-6 PM PST (9-11 AM JST) │
│ └── All three: Rotate meeting times │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
TIMEZONE-AWARE SCHEDULING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Principles: │
│ ├── Rotate inconvenient meeting times │
│ ├── Record all important meetings │
│ ├── Publish meeting times in multiple TZ │
│ ├── Respect local holidays │
│ └── Never schedule outside work hours │
│ │
│ Tools: │
│ ├── World Time Buddy for scheduling │
│ ├── Cal.com for self-scheduling │
│ └── Slack status showing local time │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
FOLLOW-THE-SUN:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Work continues around the clock: │
│ │
│ Asia starts work → Picks up from US │
│ ↓ │
│ Europe starts → Picks up from Asia │
│ ↓ │
│ US starts → Picks up from Europe │
│ │
│ Requires: │
│ ├── Clear handoff documentation │
│ ├── Well-defined work units │
│ ├── Status updates at end of day │
│ └── Overlap for questions │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Async-First Communication
ASYNC COMMUNICATION
ASYNC BY DEFAULT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Default to async because: │
│ ├── Works across all time zones │
│ ├── Creates documentation │
│ ├── Respects focus time │
│ └── Scales with team size │
│ │
│ Use sync for: │
│ ├── Complex problem-solving │
│ ├── Relationship building │
│ ├── Sensitive conversations │
│ └── Real-time collaboration when needed │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ASYNC MESSAGE QUALITY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Every async message should be complete: │
│ │
│ ✗ "Can we talk about the API?" │
│ (Requires sync to understand) │
│ │
│ ✓ "I'm designing the API for user export. │
│ Options: │
│ A: REST endpoint, simpler │
│ B: GraphQL, more flexible │
│ │
│ I recommend A because [reasons]. │
│ Need decision by Friday. │
│ Questions: [specific questions]" │
│ │
│ Include: context, options, recommendation, │
│ timeline, specific questions │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
VIDEO MESSAGES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ For complex topics, record video: │
│ ├── Loom, Vimeo Record, or similar │
│ ├── Share screen + camera │
│ ├── Keep under 5 minutes │
│ ├── Include chapters/timestamps │
│ └── Link in text for searchability │
│ │
│ Great for: │
│ ├── Code walkthroughs │
│ ├── Design reviews │
│ ├── Complex explanations │
│ └── Status updates │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Documentation
DOCUMENTATION FOR DISTRIBUTED TEAMS
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Decisions: │
│ ├── What was decided │
│ ├── Why (context and reasoning) │
│ ├── Who made the decision │
│ └── When to revisit │
│ │
│ Processes: │
│ ├── How to do common tasks │
│ ├── Who to contact for what │
│ ├── What the workflow is │
│ └── FAQs │
│ │
│ Context: │
│ ├── Project goals and history │
│ ├── Team structure and roles │
│ ├── Technical architecture │
│ └── Product roadmap │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MEETING DOCUMENTATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Every meeting should have: │
│ ├── Agenda shared before │
│ ├── Notes taken during │
│ ├── Recording available after │
│ ├── Action items with owners │
│ └── Summary shared in channel │
│ │
│ Those who couldn't attend can: │
│ ├── Watch recording async │
│ ├── Read summary │
│ ├── Comment on decisions │
│ └── Still be informed │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ One place for: │
│ ├── Tasks and projects: GitScrum │
│ ├── Code: GitHub/GitLab │
│ ├── Documentation: Notion/Confluence │
│ ├── Decisions: ADRs in repo │
│ └── Quick comms: Slack │
│ │
│ Avoid: │
│ ├── Information in emails │
│ ├── Decisions in DMs │
│ ├── Docs scattered across tools │
│ └── Tribal knowledge │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Team Building
BUILDING DISTRIBUTED TEAM CULTURE
INTENTIONAL CONNECTION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Regular touchpoints: │
│ ├── Virtual coffee chats (random pairing) │
│ ├── Non-work Slack channels (#random, #pets) │
│ ├── Camera-on for meetings │
│ ├── "How are you really?" check-ins │
│ └── Celebrate wins and milestones │
│ │
│ Team rituals: │
│ ├── Weekly show-and-tell │
│ ├── Monthly virtual social │
│ ├── Quarterly all-hands │
│ └── Annual in-person gathering │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
IN-PERSON MEETUPS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Worth the investment for: │
│ ├── Onboarding new team members │
│ ├── Quarterly or annual planning │
│ ├── Team building │
│ └── Complex collaborative work │
│ │
│ Structure meetups: │
│ ├── Mix work and social │
│ ├── Plan activities, don't wing it │
│ ├── Leave unstructured time too │
│ └── Include everyone (don't exclude remote) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
BUDDY SYSTEM:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Pair people across locations: │
│ ├── New hire + experienced buddy │
│ ├── Cross-timezone pairs │
│ ├── Weekly 1:1 for connection │
│ └── Safe space for questions │
│ │
│ Benefits: │
│ ├── Faster onboarding │
│ ├── Cross-pollination of knowledge │
│ ├── Personal connections │
│ └── Reduced isolation │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Work Coordination
COORDINATING DISTRIBUTED WORK
CLEAR OWNERSHIP:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Every piece of work should have: │
│ ├── Single owner (accountable person) │
│ ├── Clear scope and requirements │
│ ├── Definition of done │
│ └── Deadline or sprint commitment │
│ │
│ Avoids: │
│ ├── "I thought you were doing that" │
│ ├── Work falling through cracks │
│ └── Duplicate effort │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
HANDOFF PROTOCOLS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ End of day handoff: │
│ ├── Update task status │
│ ├── Document blockers │
│ ├── Note decisions made │
│ ├── Leave clear next steps │
│ └── Tag people who need to know │
│ │
│ Template: │
│ "EOD update for [task]: │
│ Done: [what was completed] │
│ Blocked: [any blockers] │
│ Next: [what's remaining] │
│ Needs: [what I need from others]" │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
SPRINT PLANNING FOR DISTRIBUTED:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Consider: │
│ ├── Dependencies across time zones │
│ ├── Pair work that needs sync │
│ ├── Buffer for communication delays │
│ └── Async-friendly task breakdown │
│ │
│ Avoid: │
│ ├── Tight dependencies across zones │
│ ├── Requiring multiple people sync │
│ └── Last-minute coordination needs │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Trust and Visibility
BUILDING TRUST IN DISTRIBUTED TEAMS
OUTCOMES OVER PRESENCE:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Measure: │
│ ├── Work delivered │
│ ├── Goals achieved │
│ ├── Quality of output │
│ └── Collaboration effectiveness │
│ │
│ Not: │
│ ├── Hours online │
│ ├── Messages sent │
│ ├── Camera always on │
│ └── Instant response times │
│ │
│ Trust = Results + Communication + Reliability │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Share proactively: │
│ ├── What you're working on │
│ ├── Progress and blockers │
│ ├── When you're available │
│ ├── When you're not available │
│ └── Decisions and reasoning │
│ │
│ Default to public channels │
│ Minimize DMs for work topics │
│ Overcommunicate rather than under │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
MANAGER PRACTICES:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Regular 1:1s (weekly, same time): │
│ ├── Camera on, full attention │
│ ├── Not just status updates │
│ ├── Career and growth discussions │
│ └── Check on wellbeing │
│ │
│ Lead by example: │
│ ├── Work async when possible │
│ ├── Document decisions │
│ ├── Respect time zones │
│ └── Be available during overlap │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Best Practices
- Async by default — sync only when needed
- Document everything — decisions, context, processes
- Create overlap windows — for necessary sync work
- Build culture intentionally — it doesn't happen alone
- Measure outcomes — not presence or activity
- Clear ownership — every task has an owner
- Handoff protocols — for cross-timezone work
- Invest in in-person time periodically
Anti-Patterns
✗ Requiring real-time availability
✗ Information in DMs and emails only
✗ No overlap hours established
✗ Skipping documentation
✗ Measuring online status
✗ All meetings, no async