Suppose you have a software development team of five folks challenged with delivering five features. That team working as a mob–focusing on only one feature at a time–can actually deliver all five features faster than those same five folks trying to “divide & conquer” the features.
So what does a mob look like?
And why might working this way actually speed things up? If you’re not a technical person, watching a development team code during a mob programming session might not help you understand either the mechanics or the reasons behind its success.
Join us to see an effective mob session in action, first-hand.
If you are a technical person, you might still want to consider this session, which will allow you to experience mob programming without the distraction of a coding problem–it’s easy for some of us get too deeply mired in problem solving. My mob composing workshop might also open your eyes to the possibility of using mob programming outside the software world.
Plus, you haven’t really mobbed until you’ve composed music in a small group.
What does a mob feel like?
Without experiencing mob programming firsthand, you’d likely think that it’s is a chaotic and dangerous practice based on the name alone. Done well, it is not: Your teams can keep their mob sessions focused, enjoyable, and productive by employing a few simple rules. They’ll play together like a well-seasoned orchestra.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll mob to collaboratively compose a short tune. Even if you know little about music, you’ll feel how mob programming can reduce your anxiety and help you contribute to the team in short order. You’ll learn mob programming by doing, through a series of “mob pomodoros,” each introducing new mob tips and composing wisdom. You’ll experience first-hand the value proposition of mob programming. Finally, you’ll also help contribute to thoughts about why mob programming can speed us up.
You can prepare for the session by following the instructions at http://github.com/jlangr/geektone to download and install the software that we’ll use. Specifically, you’ll need Node.js installed (to run the app locally) and a web browser other than Internet Explorer (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge should all work).
