Remote work became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in 2020, but for many who never returned to the office it’s become an established and much-cherished way of working. Here we look at how this highly-collaborative approach to digital transformation can work within a distributed team in 2025.

Remote work 

There are those who argue that DevOps specialists need to be present in the office on a full-time basis, due to the nature of the role which requires high levels of collaboration and communication to provide innovative solutions.

But if we look at the statistics on remote work we can see that around 28% of employees worldwide worked remotely in 2023 with the technology industry having the largest share of people working remotely at 67.8%.

From April of this year, all employers in the UK were required to offer their employees flexible working arrangements if they ask for it. Remote work offers benefits for employees but it also has its drawbacks.

Its benefits include:

• A flexible schedule and the ability to live anywhere
• A better work/life balance
• A flexible work location
• Less time spent commuting
• Financial benefits
• The ability to focus better

Its drawbacks include:

• Communication difficulties
• Collaboration struggles
• Potentially, there is no designated workspace
• Loneliness
• Maintaining a work/life balance

For employers, remote work also offers opportunities – broadening their talent pool, increasing productivity, reducing costs and increasing employee wellbeing – and challenges – concerns about employee welfare, worries about maintaining effective collaboration, and fears about the lack of structure.

Other issues facing employers involve resolving the problems around supporting distributed workers, effective training, and IT infrastructure issues to ensure effective and efficient collaboration and maintain organisational culture. Perhaps that’s why there’s been a push-back against remote work in the last couple of years – some tech companies, like Apple, Meta and Google now require their employees to attend the office for a minimum of three days a week, despite resistance from some employees who’d prefer to continue distributed working.

Building and managing distributed DevOps teams effectively

How, then, can employers build and manage a distributed DevOps team effectively? Let’s look at what’s needed to succeed in a remote-first or hybrid environment.

Tools – a range of tools are already available for distributed teams. These include:
Communication tools – Slack, Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams
Sharing tools – Google Drive, Dropbox 
Collaboration tools – GitHub, IdeaBoardz
Task Management tools – Trello 
Project Management tools – Atlassian (Jira), Asana 
Automation tools – Jenkins, Ansible, Docker

Security should be a concern for everyone involved in DevOps so equip each team member with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that they can access information securely. Firewalls and anti-virus software should also be provided to protect systems. And regular security audits should be completed for maximum peace of mind.

Putting the right tools in place for your distributed teams will enable them to operate effectively, communicate efficiently and keep tasks on track.

Strategies

All top-tier DevOps teams thrive on communication but clear guidelines should be set to establish when it’s appropriate to communicate, help avoid misunderstandings and foster accountability among team members. Consider things such as expected response times to emails and messages and what channels are preferred for different types of communication, and ensure that regular meetings are scheduled for a team to guarantee best collaboration practice.

Training and development are vital to professional development and ensure that teams’ performance remains high. Providing training programmes and workshops, as well as enabling them to access up-to-date learning materials so they can keep up with best practices, new technology and industry trends enables team members to improve their abilities and enhance organisations’ reputations.

Ensure your teams understand the importance of transparency to build trust and collaboration and avoid misunderstandings. Encourage them to share code and update other team members on their progress. Take frequent, short, meetings to emphasise team goals, foster a sense of cohesion and reinforce open communication. Ask your team members to share feedback and enhance visibility by using project management tools.

Celebrating both teams’ and individuals’ achievements and acknowledging a job well done is vital when DevOps are working remotely. It helps combat a sense of isolation and can boost motivation and morale, strengthening team bonds.

Skills

We discussed the essential skills that DevOps need in our previous blog (Building Resilient Teams: The Skills Every DevOps Professional Will Need in 2025 [LINK]) and they remain vital for those team members working remotely. But what other skills should they possess to ensure that they are a happy and productive member of the team?

Distributed teams will have a combination of soft skills – the most important of which is the ability to work both independently and as part of a cohesive team, simultaneously. It’s vital that they’re comfortable in their own company to avoid feeling isolated which can impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

The ability to take constructive feedback is also important, as is being open to new ideas and continuous improvement. DevOps should be interested in learning more about their chosen career, and seek to improve their skills, through reflection on their own competencies. An open mindset is as crucial as a sense of proactivity.

It can be difficult to build a distributed DevOps team but allowing team members a degree of autonomy and, most importantly, trusting them to get the job done effectively can produce the results organisations need to achieve their objectives in 2025.

If you’re looking for the next move in your DevOps career, or are searching for DevOps talent get in touch with 83zero.