In this post I will outline some of the benefits I have witnessed of Pairing. Pairing is not limited to just programming and can be applied to creation of any artefact or task, for example an email, a presentation, a document, a course, etc. The challenge with pairing is always trying to get on the same wavelength as your collaborator.
Common benefits
- Output
The quality of the product produced, in terms of subjective and objective measures have been better.
Benefits for the person
- Fun
It's more fun, more social. When you are used to it. - Focus
There are less distractions from outsiders from the task at hand. - Work-life balance
Work more set hours in conjuction with your team mates and less overtime. - Feedback
Constant stream of feedback from different sources. We are less likely to stray from the problem or to over deliver. - Rapid up skilling
Knowledge transfer is super fast. Learn by doing. - Professional Freedom/Mobility
Since others have learned from you, you can move to newer more interesting work because your excellent performance hasn't locked you into your current project.
Benefits for the organisation
- Cost Neutral in short term
Work is completed faster than if each individual worked on separate tasks. Almost twice as fast. - Quality cost savings in longer term
Bugs avoided. A lower defect rate is injected into product. - Morale
Once a critical mass of pro pairing people is achieved, we have better morale and a happier workforce. - Knowledge Transfer
People learn by doing with the experts. Beats courses, books, conferences, videos for effective learning. - Better "Bus-Factor"
More people know how to do more of the tasks in a team. - Natural enforcement of attendance policy
There is a peer to peer commitment to work common hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment