How do you maintain a balance between deep work and collaboration in a remote-first world?

In this episode of the Distributed podcast, Host Jack Hannah sits down with Blake Irvin, Observability Engineering Lead at SumUp, for his insights into how developers and teams thrive remotely. Blake shares how SumUp approaches distributed work, the importance of clear communication, and why protecting focus time is critical. From balancing asynchronous and synchronous collaboration to using tools like Honeycomb, Incident.io, and Tuple, Blake offers a practical look at what makes remote teamwork successful.

Highlights:

Reducing friction - how to choose between synchronous and asynchronous communication
Why meaningful connections during work hours can transform team dynamics
Blake’s strategies to protect focus and unlock deeper, more meaningful work
How the right tools can create a culture of seamless collaboration even in distributed environments

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) – Kicking Things Off With Blake Irvin

(01:10) – The Role of Observability in Remote Engineering

(04:48) – What a Healthy Remote Work Culture Looks Like

(08:23) – Rethinking Urgency in Team Communication

(12:58) – Collaboration Tools That Make Remote Work Easier

(18:02) – Why Pairing is Essential for High-Performing Teams

(22:10) – Async vs. Sync: When to Use Each for Maximum Impact

(27:48) – How In-Person Connection Strengthens Remote Teams

(32:49) – Lessons from Scaling a Startup to Millions of Users

(37:04) – The Power of Experimentation in Teamwork

Referenced:

37signals blog post: Group Chat: The Best Way to Totally Stress Out Your Team

Paul Graham’s essay: Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule

Honeycomb.io for distributed tracing

Incident.io for collaborating on incident response

Tuple’s Pair Programming Guide

Where to connect further:

Connect with Blake Irvin on LinkedIn and GitHub

More about SumUp

Follow @tuple

Want to hear more? Check out distributed.fm

Connect with Jack Hannah

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