The Agile Pocket Guide: A Quick Start to Making Your Business Agile Using Scrum and Beyond

Chapter 5

Everyone around the Campfire

Communication is key in the Agile Team. You will want to remove any barriers among team members so that everyone has open lines of communication. The word campfire is often used to suggest an open-office environment in which the team can operate so that communication and collaboration are at its most effective levels. This kind of work environment is very unlike that of a cube farm, especially because it does not encourage isolating its members.

You may have to do some heavy lifting to move your team to an open campfire atmosphere. You may find resistance from some very territorial members, and you will very likely find resistance from any who have been around for a long time. We are creatures of habit; but in this case, everyone must be involved, and you must foster the ownership of this initiative with your team. Begin the conversation with your team about how this may happen. Team members may have some great ideas about how to collocate as many parties as possible in one centralized area. Some may not want to move, and I've had more than my fair share of experiences with these types of individuals. Don't worry! They will find out that they've become major blocks to progress, or else they'll find themselves moving on to different positions or companies. W. Edwards Deming, a U.S. statistician and author who taught top management how to improve the quality of products said, that “learning is not compulsory, but neither is survival.” These ...