Geeks Who Lead Podcast Engineering Team Cohesion at Scale with Han Yuan, SVP of Engineering @ Upwork
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May 24, 2019 
Han Yuan, SVP of Engineering at Upwork and former leader at Netflix and eBay, explores the intricacies of managing a distributed engineering organization. He shares unique insights on hiring engineers via Upwork's platform, emphasizing the importance of trial engagements for long-term fit. Han discusses best practices for communication across time zones and the significance of autonomy within teams. He also highlights strategies to foster social cohesion in remote settings, including in-person meetups and engaging company-wide events.
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Hiring From Your Own Marketplace
- Upwork hires two-thirds of its engineering team from its own platform and can quickly 'burst' talent onto projects as needed.
- Han Yuan described using the marketplace to scale resources up and down on complex projects without long-term commitments.
Use Short Trials To Vet Freelancers
- Vet freelancers with video interviews, written homework, and provisional 4–6 week trial engagements before long-term offers.
- Use short trials to rapidly assess written communication and fit while minimizing hiring risk.
Progressive Access Enables Safe Collaboration
- Upwork enforces layered security and progressive access so new contributors get limited initial privileges.
- This enables safer collaboration with transient contributors while scaling access as trust grows.