Episode #53: Josh Ballanco

In this episode, Josh Ballanco of ELC Technologies, talks about working remotely from Ankara, Turkey, the trials and tribulations of sorting through remote work job postings, pairing, and yak shaving days. Show Notes Josh Ballanco (twitter / github) ELC Technologies 01:00 – Josh Ballanco Introduction & Backgroud [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Software engineer with ELC Technologies – a consulting group based out of Portland, OR Works out of Ankara, Turkey Currently working on SOA (service-oriented architecture) and libraries to support clients [/unordered_list] 02:48 – Why Ankara? 03:24 – Distribution of ELC Technologies [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Tech lead of 4-6 people All remote except for some dev ops guys in Portland [/unordered_list] 06:22 – Remote work job postings and securing a job 09:13 – Turkey [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Unique but similar to the U.S. Giant melting pot Youth-oriented Turkey is the place to be for startups [/unordered_list] 12:38 – Coordinating & leading a dispersed team [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Micromanagement Letting people know if they are available for pairing daily [/unordered_list] 14:50 – Pairing [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Flexibility Skype for voice Join.me Navigator/Driver setup Google+ Hangouts [/unordered_list] 18:16 – Yak Shaving Days [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Once per sprint Giant problem that gets a days worth of help from the entire team [/unordered_list] 19:32 – Communication outside of pairing [unordered_list style=”bullet”] HipChat Email = important but tricky Wiki [/unordered_list] 22:15 – Communication is key [unordered_list style=”bullet”] Non-verbal means of communication Humor is tremendously nonverbal Emoticons Shared context Patience [/unordered_list]