Remote work changes how we use Azure DevOps. Here are best practices for distributed teams.
Async Collaboration
- Work item discussions: Keep context in tickets, not chat
- PR comments: Thorough reviews since you can’t tap shoulders
- Wiki updates: Document decisions for async consumption
Visibility Improvements
- Create dashboards for team visibility
- Use status badges in README files
- Set up email/Teams notifications for important events
Sprint Ceremonies
Adapt ceremonies for remote:
- Daily standup: Camera on, time-boxed to 15 min
- Sprint planning: Pre-groom, use Azure Boards Extension for Teams
- Retrospectives: Use Azure DevOps Retrospectives extension
Pipeline Reliability
With everyone remote, CI/CD reliability is critical:
- Self-hosted agents fallback if Microsoft-hosted have issues
- Cache dependencies aggressively
- Parallel jobs for faster feedback
- Clear failure notifications
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