In this episode, Rob Park, an independent software consultant and Agile coach talks about all aspects of remote pair programming, different ways distributed teams choose to communicate, and the art of participating in daily standups.
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Show Notes:
Twitter: @robpark
00:30 – Rob Park introduction & history
- Independent software consultant & Agile coach
- Teams trying to hang on to good talent
- Based in Colorado
02:22 – Remote pairing
- Extreme programming background
- Finding the right setup
- Great way to get ideas
- Fun to work that way
06:20 – Pairing etiquette
-
Visual cues
-
Asking permission
07:51 – Communication is everything
- You can tell the health of an Agile team by the buzz in the room
- The keyboard is not the bottleneck
09:13 – Ways teams choose to communicate
- Open chat rooms and IRC channels
- Open Skype room
- Chatrooms will die if people do not participate
- IM tools
- Email in some rare instances
11:24 – Standups via phone
- Freedom to be wherever you want to be
- Headsets required even when co-located
- Enforce contact
13:44 – Kanbanpad
- Whiteboards
- Webcams set up on all the whiteboards
18:22 – Standing up while doing standups
- Easy to lose focus in front of a screen
20:40 – Joining a distributed team in the future
- Going stir-crazy in the house
- Pairing in public
23:05 – Problems getting synced during a pairing session
- Promiscuous pairing
- Timezone issues
- Be flexible and patient
26:56 – Encouraging pairing
30:55 – Tips and tricks
- Enabling remote workers
- Privilege to work at home