Levent Gurses has an article, 10 Mistakes in Transitioning to Agile, in the Dec 2006 Dr. Dobbs Journal. He writes about the most common mistakes that companies make when transitioning from “legacy development methodologies†to agile ones. In this series of short articles for the winter holidays, we’re looking at each of the ten mistakes he identified. Enjoy the light reading, and don’t think too much about work.
Mistake 7: Overdo the Team-Room Concept
If everyone is forced to sit in the same room too early, then some people will be underutilized. At the start of a project, not everyone can start working – there is some up-front planning that has to happen before getting started.
Our Addition
This up-front organizational work should not get out of hand (which would violate agile principals), but it should not be dismissed either. The first time a team takes an agile approach will require some thought about how to organize things. Restructuring the classical architecture/design/implementation/test cycle into an agile one is not easy for people the first time they do it. Let that initial planning happen first, then focus on collaboration and collocation.
