Patti Chan @pattichan INTRIDEA Being part of a kickass team is one of the great benefits of distributed work. But it’s hard to keep track of things like what everyone else is working on and who’s out on vacation, let alone tackle how you can get more done together. In this talk, Patti Chan will share insights from Intridea, a 50-person, 5-year-old, 100% distributed company that uses a number of third-party apps–but has also built its own internal communications tools. She’ll explore: What’s best left to third-party products? How do you know you’ve hit a wall with third-party apps and need to build your own? How do you think about developing tools if you’re not a dev shop? How do you ensure internal buy-in for new tools?

1. WHERE IS EVERYONE?
TOOLS YOU CAN BUY…
TOOLS YOU CAN BUILD…
FOR A CONNECTED TEAM! 🌎
From + @pattichan

2. WE ARE 100%
DISTRIBUTED,
BABY
WE MAKE PRODUCTS
FOR OTHER PEOPLE
(AND OCCASIONALLY OURSELVES)
3
20
6
1
2
44
🌎
"
☽
$
👥
⌂
continents
cities
timezones
HQ
co-working spaces
home offices
10
1
☕
💦
coffeehouses
tattoo parlor

3. LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR
RELATIONSHIP WITH TOOLS,
SHALL WE?
⚒

4. (THIS IS OURS)

5. WHY -*
HOW DO I CHOOSE??

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?
• Debate solutions
• Disseminate information
• Cultivate culture aka “fun stuff”
• Collaborate between teams
• Collaborate between individuals
• Keep records aka “boring stuff”
• Search existing conversations
• Share your screen
⚠

7. BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY
NEED TO DO?
• Future: debate, discuss, plan
• Past: records, context
• Present day - NOW:
1. Disseminate [a lot of] information
2. Talk in real-time

8. 1. WHEN YOU HAVE LOTS OF
INFORMATION…
FORMATTING! BOLDS! ITALICS! BULLETS! SEARCH!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/synergymedia/5846191227

9. 2. WHEN YOU JUST NEED TO TALK
STABLE! NO-FRICTION! STICKS AROUND!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tamarcheka/4520461675

10. DON’T WORRY. WE’VE BEEN DOING
THIS A WHILE.
THIRD PARTY TOOLS ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY RAD

11. BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY
NEED TO DO?
1. Disseminate [a lot of]
information
2. Talk in real-time

12. WHAT DO YOU MEAN
ONLY TWO TOOLS?!

13. “TOOL UTOPIA”
CAN YOU SEE IT?
1. FRANKENCAT
Likes data and long sentences.
2. FRANKENBUBBLE
Likes all the chats.

14. SO WHEN DO YOU NEED TO BUILD?
MEANWHILE, AT INTRIDEA…

15. WAIT! DON’T ADD TO THE MESS -
USE WHAT YOU GOT
IT STARTED AS A SPREADSHEET…

16. WHEN WE MADE THE JUMP
VERSION 1.0 AND VERSION 2.0

17. BRINGING TOOLS TOGETHER
TODAY: VERSION 3.0 “HOUSTON”

18. HOUSTON FOR EVERYONE
MISSION CONTROL FOR YOUR DISTRIBUTED TEAM

19. OPEN SOURCED, FOR YOU!
UTOPIA = TOOLS WORKING TOGETHER
YEP, THAT MEANS US WORKING TOGETHER

20. THANK YOU!
JOIN US!
INTRIDEA.GITHUB.
IO/HOUSTON/
!
@PATTICHAN!
@INTRIDEA
!
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