Comments on: The Perfect Size For An Agile Team – 1 Person – It’s Crazy! http://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/ For the betterment of the software craft... Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:57:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Aaronhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3459 Aaron Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:20:21 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3459 I have to agree with Korny in some parts. I've worked on a single developer team and had most of the benefits you mentioned, however it was very hard to get all the goodness of agile into the team. It was me (dev) and business rep and a tester. Things like velocity and retros were not rewarding enough so we canned them. It might sound drastic in the agile terms, but for such a small team it was more overhead than anything. And of course in the end I had to do the mammoth handover to an unlucky developer, a guy who hadn't seen any of the code before and wouldn't be able to ask me any questions because I wasn't around anymore. Had we multiplied the number of devs by 2 for a while it would have worked out much better in the long run for the product owners. A drawback of a single developer I guess, that developer isn't around for the life of the software anyway... I have to agree with Korny in some parts.

I’ve worked on a single developer team and had most of the benefits you mentioned, however it was very hard to get all the goodness of agile into the team. It was me (dev) and business rep and a tester. Things like velocity and retros were not rewarding enough so we canned them. It might sound drastic in the agile terms, but for such a small team it was more overhead than anything.

And of course in the end I had to do the mammoth handover to an unlucky developer, a guy who hadn’t seen any of the code before and wouldn’t be able to ask me any questions because I wasn’t around anymore. Had we multiplied the number of devs by 2 for a while it would have worked out much better in the long run for the product owners.

A drawback of a single developer I guess, that developer isn’t around for the life of the software anyway…

]]> By: Alan Skorkinhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3448 Alan Skorkin Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:53:24 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3448 I have met the occasional developer who was quite bad, but I have tended to think of those as the exception rather than the rule (an outlier if you like). But you do make a very valid point by bringing pairing into the equation, it is hard to talk about individual productivity in a pairing environment. I have met the occasional developer who was quite bad, but I have tended to think of those as the exception rather than the rule (an outlier if you like). But you do make a very valid point by bringing pairing into the equation, it is hard to talk about individual productivity in a pairing environment.

]]> By: Alan Skorkinhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3447 Alan Skorkin Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:47:52 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3447 Yeah I do see where you're coming from, I am always of two minds regarding the whole business representative thing. Is the business representative to be considered a fully fledged member of the team or is s/he the main stakeholder instead, there are points to be made either way and it is different from project to project. For this reason I neatly avoid that issue by not mentioning it :). And you're quite correct people tend to need other people to truly be agile which is one of the points I make in the post (in my own roundabout way :)). Yeah I do see where you’re coming from, I am always of two minds regarding the whole business representative thing. Is the business representative to be considered a fully fledged member of the team or is s/he the main stakeholder instead, there are points to be made either way and it is different from project to project. For this reason I neatly avoid that issue by not mentioning it :). And you’re quite correct people tend to need other people to truly be agile which is one of the points I make in the post (in my own roundabout way :)).

]]> By: Alan Skorkinhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3446 Alan Skorkin Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:44:41 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3446 Without doubt, that one is by far the biggest sticking point and most business are not willing to bear the risk (which is fair enough). Without doubt, that one is by far the biggest sticking point and most business are not willing to bear the risk (which is fair enough).

]]> By: Kornyhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3443 Korny Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:28:14 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3443 Oh, and with regard to being "10 times more productive than the average" - I think you've never been exposed to average developers. We have some mediocre folks, but there is a vast rump of terrible developers that bring the average way, way down. And even the mediocre folks tend to get pulled up to an acceptable standard by pairing. The average developer gets things wrong, all the time. They don't write decent (or any!) tests. They misunderstand requirements. They write overly-complex code, and then spend days trying to diagnose what is going wrong with the wrong tools, or just by trial-and-error. It's not hard to be 10 times as productive as someone like that. Oh, and with regard to being “10 times more productive than the average” – I think you’ve never been exposed to average developers. We have some mediocre folks, but there is a vast rump of terrible developers that bring the average way, way down. And even the mediocre folks tend to get pulled up to an acceptable standard by pairing.
The average developer gets things wrong, all the time. They don’t write decent (or any!) tests. They misunderstand requirements. They write overly-complex code, and then spend days trying to diagnose what is going wrong with the wrong tools, or just by trial-and-error. It’s not hard to be 10 times as productive as someone like that.

]]> By: Kornyhttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3442 Korny Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:13:27 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3442 So, this one-person team - does it include a business representative? :) Agile is all about communication - and it's awfully hard to find opportunities to communicate, when there's only one of you. Some people may be able to stop, look at their own work (and ways of working), say "but is this really working?", and embrace continuing change - but most people tend to do this much better when there is someone else to bounce ideas off. I do think a one-person team can be awesomely productive and powerful - I've been on such teams :) but I doubt they will be agile, and they'll miss out on a lot of the benefits of agility. An agile team is greater than the sum of it's parts, a 1 person team is exactly equal to the sum of it's parts! So, this one-person team – does it include a business representative? :)
Agile is all about communication – and it’s awfully hard to find opportunities to communicate, when there’s only one of you. Some people may be able to stop, look at their own work (and ways of working), say “but is this really working?”, and embrace continuing change – but most people tend to do this much better when there is someone else to bounce ideas off.
I do think a one-person team can be awesomely productive and powerful – I’ve been on such teams :) but I doubt they will be agile, and they’ll miss out on a lot of the benefits of agility.
An agile team is greater than the sum of it’s parts, a 1 person team is exactly equal to the sum of it’s parts!

]]> By: Greg Sieranskihttp://www.skorks.com/2010/01/the-perfect-size-for-an-agile-team-1-person-its-crazy/comment-page-1/#comment-3441 Greg Sieranski Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:54:52 +0000 http://www.skorks.com/?p=1268#comment-3441 I know a guy who knows a guy who knew a guy that could do the work of 50 men! Very thought provoking article. I really believe the one man agile team would work if only there was a way to prevent the whole bus or leaving the country thing. I know a guy who knows a guy who knew a guy that could do the work of 50 men! Very thought provoking article. I really believe the one man agile team would work if only there was a way to prevent the whole bus or leaving the country thing.

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