Management is difficult even under the best of circumstances and managing globally-distributed teams is even more so. With the global COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it forced on all of us, management is nothing like the best of circumstances.

With the pandemic, suddenly everyone is a remotee – even people who have no experience in working remotely, and no desire to work in such an environment.

In this talk, I’ll explore how the lessons learned from navigating a globally-distributed open source community can come into play when managing a suddenly disturbed team. I’ll examine how taking a cue from open source communities can help managers handle this new landscape with flexibility, clemency, and above all, empathy.