Running agile across two countries and multiple time zones isn't just a challenge—it's a strategic advantage when done right. At Cipher Projects, we've built a distributed model that connects our development teams in Vietnam with our leadership and clients in Australia. Here is how we make agile work in a distributed environment without sacrificing speed, accountability, or quality.

Agile With Real Constraints

Distributed teams face real friction. Time zones. Cultural gaps. No whiteboards. No corridor conversations. We see these not as blockers but as design constraints. Our system accounts for them at every level.

Key Challenges We Face

  • Time zone difference: Vietnam and Australia are just a few hours apart, but even that matters when scheduling sprint reviews and standups.
  • Lack of face-to-face interaction: No daily in-person sync means we lean hard on tools and video calls.
  • Cultural alignment: Directness, deadlines, and decision-making styles differ. We train for it.
  • Maintaining agile momentum: Remote work creates drop-off. We counteract with clarity, cadence, and coaching.

Our Playbook

1. Aligned Kickoffs and Shared Goals

Every new engagement begins with a structured kickoff. Clients, PMs, and developers all join one session. We define the goal, scope, and timelines, together. We also identify what "done" looks like for each epic from the beginning.

2. Overlapping Core Hours

We set 2–3 overlapping hours per day between teams in Vietnam and Australia. All standups, retros, and reviews happen within this block. It keeps velocity up without overloading calendars.

3. Clear Written Communication

No wall of chat messages. We write everything down—tickets, blockers, retros, and decisions. Every feature has a JIRA ticket. Every sprint has documented goals and demo videos. Our tools act as the shared source of truth.

4. Weekly Demos and Delivery

Each sprint ends with a live demo and a report. The client sees progress weekly, not monthly. This lets us spot problems early and continuously adapt.

5. Embedded Product Thinking

Clients aren't outside the loop. They're in the standups, invited to retros, and get tagged in async updates. Product owners aren't just stakeholders—they're participants.

6. Build the Right Roles

We don't just hire developers. We hire project managers who know agile. Team leads who can run scrums. Clients work with bilingual PMs who bridge Vietnam and Australia.

7. Tools Are Table Stakes

  • Slack and Zoom for daily syncs
  • JIRA for all backlog tracking
  • Loom for async explainer videos
  • Notion for documentation

Every developer gets onboarded into this system. No exceptions.

What We Learned

  • Cultural alignment needs training and onboarding
  • Velocity suffers if sprint goals aren't precise
  • Async isn't optional—it's a requirement
  • Agile fails fast without mutual accountability

Final Thought

Agile doesn't break when your team is remote. It breaks when the rules are vague, and accountability is missing. Distributed teams can outperform co-located ones—if you build systems that make trust, clarity, and iteration non-negotiable.

We don't just follow agile. We reshape it to match our global structure.

Cipher Projects runs on distributed agile. And it works.