In Agile software development methodology the communication between team members is critical. Two of the twelve principles deal with directly with this issue:
- Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Despite the importance of this, time and time again we see teams that are spread out across floors and even buildings trying to work in an Agile fashion. Every foot two people are separated decreases the likelihood that they communicate directly or overhear something that they can provide input on. In physics, there is such a thing as an inverse-square law where a quantity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source. Newton’s law of universal gravitation is example of an inverse-square law. I don’t believe anyone has associated this law with verbal communication but I’m convinced this is the case.
communication : 1 / (distance x distance)
This isn’t to say that remote teams can’t work. In fact, I’m actually a proponent of remote workers but I think because they are not in the building or across the street special arrangements are made like an open Skype call with the remote office. People might worry about being seen as lazy if they Skype someone across the room but across the country, that’s fine.
The take away of this is to put people working with each other as close together as possible. If you need to move peoples’ desks, do it. The temporary disruption is worth the gained communication over the length of the project.
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