Experiments in mob programming - ALI-2019
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A case study of running a full time mob programming team in a large multinational company. Why we did it, how we did it, the things we learned, and how it transformed the team
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Experiments in mob programming - ALI-2019
- 2. What is Mob Programming? “All the brilliant people working on the same thing, at the same time, in the same space, and on the same computer” - Woody Zuill @gordonmcmahon
- 6. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hipster_Professional_%28Unsplash%29.jpg Not just to be a cool hipster @gordonmcmahon
- 7. Challenges faced • A new team • A new technology stack • A new architectural paradigm • Need to rapidly share knowledge @gordonmcmahon
- 12. Why on earth would I want to do that? • Less efficient • People sitting around doing nothing • How do you get anything done? • That sounds hard/intense @gordonmcmahon
- 14. @gordonmcmahon
- 17. @gordonmcmahon
- 18. @gordonmcmahon
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- 22. Early session dynamics • Active leading • Hand picked team • Established standards/expectations • Strictly TDD • Trunk-based development • Automate everything • Ensure we are learning all the time @gordonmcmahon
- 23. What activities worked well in the mob? @gordonmcmahon
- 27. Mob Size & Keyboard time • 6 team members • 5 minutes keyboard time @gordonmcmahon
- 28. • Mobbing is hard work and mentally taxing • Sustainable pace: – Defined mobbing hours: • 9:30 – 12:00 • 13:30 – 16:30 • Discipline • Expectations Mob Rules @gordonmcmahon
- 29. @gordonmcmahon
- 30. Be mindful of introverts in the mob @gordonmcmahon
- 31. Optimised for Resiliency • Observations: – Our delivery pace didn’t vary significantly when people were not in the mob – Support issues could be picked up by anyone – Less dependent on “specialist” knowledge as everyone had a good enough understanding – We had very few meetings or ceremonies @gordonmcmahon
- 32. Optimised for Resiliency • Holidays • Sickness • Conferences • Knowledge silos • Ad-hoc demand • Meetings @gordonmcmahon
- 34. @gordonmcmahon
- 35. Optimised for Consistency • Coding style • Own language • Default approach to work • Standard patterns for testing @gordonmcmahon
- 36. Optimised for Learning • Graduate Apprentice • Code Clan Graduate • Seasoned Software Developers @gordonmcmahon
- 37. Maximising The Good, Minimising The Bad • Observations: – The good habits of the team were adopted as standard practice – Any bad habits were killed of immediately – The energy/engagement levels were constantly high @gordonmcmahon
- 38. @gordonmcmahon
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- 42. The Team Mind • Observations: – Don’t hold the whole system in your head – Distributed knowledge store – “just in time” information – Parallel research @gordonmcmahon
- 43. Handling ad-hoc Demand • Disruptive • We handle this by: – 1 pair drift off to triage – Investigate and choose from options: • The pair handle it • The mob park current task and handle it • Or goes on the backlog @gordonmcmahon
- 44. Feedback in the mob • Observations: – Stand-up meetings were pointless – Retrospectives felt very far apart – Team felt empowered to deal with any problems that happened without checking for permission @gordonmcmahon
- 45. The micro-retrospective • An Option • End of each day • 5-10 minutes long • Short on structure & formatting • Generates issues for more in-depth investigation • Signals the end of the day @gordonmcmahon
- 46. Corporate Environment: Compensation & EOY • A reality of corporate life • Measuring mob contributions? • Team based compensation? • External contributions to the Firm & broader culture? • Talk to the team and understand what motivates them @gordonmcmahon
- 48. Communications - meetings • Invite them to the mob • Never go alone @gordonmcmahon
- 49. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Walter_Lippmann_1914.jpg “When all think alike, then no one is thinking” - Walter Lippmann @gordonmcmahon
- 50. Fighting Groupthink • The agitator • The challenger • The devil’s advocate • Our “Ambassador programme” experiment @gordonmcmahon
- 51. Recruiting into the mob • Completely delegated to the team • I held a veto – But was never in danger of using it • Encourages open and frank discussions around succession planning & roles @gordonmcmahon