Comments on: Attempting to Achieve the Ideal Agile Workspace

By: Steven Shaffer

Steven Shaffer — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:04:12 +0000

Totally, stupendously, ridiculously awesome workspace.

Steve

By: ADSystems

ADSystems — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:42:55 +0000

[...] nesta discussão, Derek Neighbors postou um vídeo de que examina a composição do workspace no Integrum. No vídeo Derek recomenda várias coisas adicionais sobre um workspace [...]

By: Derek Neighbors

Derek Neighbors — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:26:44 +0000

Yeah he was pretty sly about it.

By: Derek Neighbors

Derek Neighbors — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:26:19 +0000

awh,

Agree on large number of people working on a Saturday. I think in last three years there has been someone working on a weekend maybe 5 times total. This was a rare case where some other team had bailed on development a week before release. We were doing the company a solid by stepping in and finishing up for a team so they could make their release. Not something we would normally do.

We accumulated the defects because that project had poor acceptance criteria and struggled with done is done. The project is nearly 2 years old and is now finally under our full set of practices. The defects there were the last left to be defect free… WOOT!

On the size of the space… We are also a co-working facility so much of the space is set a side for that purpose. We generally put 1 pair on each project, but sometimes have 2 pairs per project. We would have loved more windows. We had the pairs more spread out, but they wanted to be closer to each other even willing to trade off some noise distraction. Damn self-organizers! Co-workers are in center so don’t need the whiteboards.

Loved the feedback.

By: awh

awh — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:30:37 +0000

Thanks, Derek. I watched it twice. You have a great workspace. Here are my nitpicks:

As others have already mentioned, the number of people there on a Saturday is a little shocking.

You’re “constrained for space” for a burndown chart? It’s hard to see how. The rest of the video shows a pretty nice warehouse-sized workspace. You can hang a pirate flag, but not a burndown chart?

Defect burndown: That’s great, once you’re in that situation, but how did you accumulate so many defects in the first place?

I’m really impressed by the size of the open workspace. However, I would think you’d only need enough space per project or sub-project for 5 or 6 pairs, maximum, to avoid distraction. I’d try to make one workspace per project or sub-project, with no more than 10-12 people each. However, I’m not sure how you could divide your space without cutting out some of the natural light, which is also important. If anything, it looks like you could do with more windows.

Also, the amount of whiteboard space is great, but I think people in the center of the room are too far away from them. I like to have a big whiteboard right behind me when pairing. Maybe rolling whiteboards between project teams? (Just a thought; I’ve never tried it.)

Overall, it looks like a great place to work.

By: Megan Leney

Megan Leney — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:05:02 +0000

Great video–thanks for sharing. I like the natural light and all the whiteboards. Must be a sweet place to work!

Megan

By: Josh Knowles

Josh Knowles — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:03:26 +0000

Thanks for sharing!

By: Beau Frusetta

Beau Frusetta — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:28:20 +0000

I like how mini-B gave you the finger while taking a drink from his coffee! LOL

Good stuff! You guys definitely have the best development ideas…

By: Steve Swedler

Steve Swedler — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:34:36 +0000

MiniB throws a subliminal middle finger at you at the end. Or maybe not so subliminal.

By: Mike Cohn

Mike Cohn — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:39:06 +0000

Derek–
Awesome video. I loved being able to see your workspace. Of course, since this was shot on a Saturday and there were so many people in the office, I’m tempted to add a remark about “Sustainable Pace.”

I loved your two additions to my list. Integrum looks like a great place to work.