Managing Remote DevOps Teams: Best Practices

DevOps is a software development methodology that focuses on collaboration and integration between development and operations teams. It allows you to develop high-quality products, save time, and improve customer satisfaction.

According to recent statistics, 61% of organizations believe that DevOps allows them to produce deliverables with higher quality. Statistics also show that DevOps allows businesses to spend 60% less time on support cases and 33% more time on improving their infrastructure.

However, managing DevOps teams can be challenging, especially when they’re working remotely. That’s because they face unique challenges that can impact their efficiency and productivity.

That’s why we have come up with this guide that contains the best practices to manage remote DevOps teams to help them take their productivity to the next level.

Pitfalls to Avoid While Working with Remote DevOps Teams

Here are some common pitfalls that you need to avoid while working with remote DevOps teams.

• Poor Communication
• Ignoring Time-Zone Differences
• Team Micromanagement
• Inconsistent Feedback
• Not Using Management Tools

Best Practices to Manage Remote DevOps Teams

If you want to make your remote DevOps teams more productive, consider using the best practices listed below.

Have Solid Rules in Place

Establishing clear and solid rules and guidelines is essential for effective remote DevOps teams management. It promotes consistency, transparency, and accountability among team members to help you ensure that your projects run smoothly.

Here’s a list of tips to create rules and keep them effective.

• Define and Document Ground Rules: Create clear and comprehensive rules and guidelines for the project. Include information such as project goals, deadlines, communication channels, and employee responsibilities.
• Incorporate Company Culture and Values: Include information about the company's culture and values in the rules. It’ll help your teams align their work with your organization’s mission and promote a shared sense of purpose.
• Communicate the rules effectively: Communicate the rules to all team members clearly and encourage questions and feedback. Make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them and what their role is in the project.
• Regularly Review the Rules: Review the guidelines regularly to keep them relevant and up-to-date. Make necessary updates regularly to ensure that they continue to serve as an effective framework for the project.

Focus On Communication

Poor communication not only decreases the efficiency of your clients but can also cost you a whole lot of money. According to a survey, an organization with 100 employees loses around $420,000 annually due to poor communication.

Therefore, it’s critically important to focus on communication to help your teams collaborate with each other effectively. The following are some tips that you can follow for this purpose.

• Use Right Communication Tools: Choose communication tools, such as Zoom and Slack, that are easy to use and support different modes of communication, such as instant messaging, video conferencing, and email. Make sure that all team members have access to these tools and know how to use them effectively.
• Encourage Regular Communication: To help your teams communicate regularly and frequently, consider setting up regular check-ins, such as daily or weekly meetings. It’ll allow you to discuss important issues and concerns and keep everyone updated on the project’s progress.
• Foster a Culture of Open Communication: Encourage your team members during meetings to speak up and share their thoughts and feedback. Appreciate new ideas to make everyone feel heard and valued.
• Be Clear and Concise: Keep communication clear and concise, especially in written form. Use simple language and avoid technical jargon or complex terminologies that may be misunderstood.

Schedule Communication

Keep in mind that poor timing of communication can lead to WFH burnout, lower productivity and increased errors. For instance, if you try to communicate critical information to an employee when they are already preoccupied with their tasks, they’ll most likely miss out on important details or even forget about it entirely.

Therefore, it’s important to schedule communication so that only the relevant team members are involved in the discussion at the right time.

One way to schedule communication effectively is to use a shared calendar system, such as Google Calendar. It’ll allow your team members to easily see when meetings or updates are scheduled and plan their work around them.

You can also utilize the power of on-call management. It’s a process of assigning and scheduling employees to be available at specific times to respond to critical incidents or emergencies.

You can use an on-call management system to make this process easy. It’ll allow you to define on-call schedules and escalation policies to make sure that the right employee(s) are notified about incidents as soon as they happen to address them in real time.

Consider Time Zone Differences

Time-zone differences can create challenges for scheduling meetings, managing project timelines, and even providing feedback timely.

Example: Let's say you have a team member based in New York and another team member in Tokyo. New York is 13 hours behind Tokyo, which means when it's 9 AM in New York, it's already 10 PM in Tokyo. If the New York-based team member wants to schedule a meeting at 10 AM, it would be too late for the Tokyo-based team member.

To avoid such situations, it's important to establish clear guidelines for scheduling meetings, deadlines, and other important communication. This might include establishing "core" hours where all team members must be available for communication or scheduling regular check-ins with team members in different time zones.

However, it's important to be flexible and accommodating when it comes to scheduling. For instance, if a team member in a different time zone needs to attend a meeting outside of their normal work hours, consider adjusting the meeting time or offering alternative options (like communication through email).

It’ll allow all team members to collaborate effectively and contribute to the success of the project.

Track Performance

Tracking performance is essential to ensure that your remote DevOps teams are meeting their goals and completing tasks on time. Here are some tips on how to track performance effectively.

• Set clear goals and expectations for each team member.
• Use analytics tools like TaskCall Analytics to monitor performance metrics to track progress and identify areas for improvement.
• Provide coaching to help team members improve their performance.
• Celebrate successes and acknowledge achievements to boost team morale and motivation.
• Regularly review and adjust your performance tracking system to ensure it remains effective and relevant.

Remember, tracking performance is not about micromanaging your team or making them feel under constant surveillance. It’s about providing support and guidance to help them deliver high-quality work that meets the needs of your organization.

Provide Regular Feedback

As a manager, it's your responsibility to ensure your team members are on track and continuously improving, and the most effective way to achieve that is to provide regular feedback.

However, it’s important to note that giving feedback is not just about correcting mistakes, it's also about recognizing and appreciating good work.

Here’s a list of tips that will help you offer effective feedback to your remote teams.

• Be Specific: Keep your feedback specific to a particular issue or task. It shouldn’t be about the person as it’ll demotivate them.
• Be Timely: Waiting too long to give feedback can result in misunderstandings and missed opportunities for improvement. So, address issues as soon as possible.
• Use Simple Language: Make sure your team members can easily understand everything in your feedback.
• Orient feedback Towards a Specific Goal: Always have a specific goal in mind when giving feedback to help your team members understand why they need to make changes.
• Incorporate Customer Reviews: If your company also runs a product for end-users, make sure that you also add their queries and complaints to your feedback. You can use TaskCall Live Call Routing to easily collect and manage customer queries and complaints.

Providing regular feedback is not just about managing your team, it's also about building a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.

Ensure Security

While technology has made remote work easier, it has also brought new security risks. Falling victim to a cyberattack can lead to devastating consequences, including financial loss, reputational damage, loss of intellectual property, and legal implications.

It can also result in significant downtime, disrupting business operations, and causing a loss of productivity for your remote teams.

Here are some tips to keep your teams and systems safe.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

All of your remote team members should use a private and secure internet connection to access your company resources. Additionally, you should also ask them to use a VPN service for mobiles and computers they use to add another security layer.

It’ll provide them with a secure and encrypted connection to access your company's network to protect sensitive information from hackers and unauthorized access.

Use Security Tools

There are various security tools that can be used to monitor and protect your company's systems and data. Some of these tools include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and anti-virus software. By implementing these tools, you can detect and prevent any unauthorized access or attacks.

Have an Incident Response Plan

An incident response plan is a set of procedures that outlines how to respond to a security incident. It should include steps to take in the event of a breach, such as containing the breach, identifying the cause, and remedying the issue.

Conduct Regular Security Audits

Conducting regular security audits can help you identify potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your systems. It’ll allow you to stay ahead of potential threats and ensure that your systems remain secure.

Final Words

Managing remote DevOps teams can be a challenging task, but with the right strategies and tools, it is possible to build a successful and productive team.

Open communication and collaboration are key components of effective remote team management, and it's essential to invest in the right tools to achieve that.

We hope that this guide has provided you with valuable insights and tips to manage your remote DevOps team effectively.