This tutorial focuses on the detailed specifics that will make distributed agile meetings effective. We will demonstrate several key agile meetings, run in a distributed fashion, so teams can immediately improve their projects. To do so, I will highlight specific tools available in the market place to facilitate each of these different kinds of discussions (retrospectives, planning meetings, stand ups). I’ll demonstrate the processes to enable more effective communication between remote locations and describe the key roles required on a project to encourage the best exchange of information.

When Marriott began to build its brand management intranet, the tech vendor ran into several problems that jeapardized the whole program. The introduction of Agile began a long recovery process: When should you be be covert/overt with Agile practices? How do you convince stakeholders a daily concall is more efficient than a weekly concall? Why would you pay for the tech vendor’s Agile training? How do you structure Firm Fixed pricing to be Agile?

This is the story of how applying Agile techniques, first covertly, then out in the open, slowly steered the ship on course.

Tim and Tim discuss tools and techniques and observations for remotely pair-programming. Various remote desktop-sharing applications and services are discussed, dissed, and recommended along with pointers and practices for logistics. Learn the downside of distant partners. How do you have a flash architecture meeting? How do you collaborate with the team? When do you take breaks? Is it really just like being there, without the smells?

Participants will discuss the use of virtual worlds with agile teams. Examples will be interjected from an agile project at State Farm where a virtual world was used to collaborate with team members in multiple locations. The session will end with a brief demo.

The discussion will include:
1. Necessary qualities for collaboration to occur 2. Obstacles to achieving this on a distributed agile team 3. Using a virtual world on an agile project 4. Best practices for leveraging a virtual world 5. State Farm’s use of virtual world environments with agile teams