How does radical collocation help a team succeed?

ABSTRACT

Companies are experimenting with putting teams into warrooms, hoping for some productivity enhancement. We conducted a field study of six such teams, tracking their activity, attitudes, use of technology and productivity. Teams in these warrooms showed a doubling of productivity. Why? Among other things, teams had easy access to each other for both coordination of their work and for learning, and the work artifacts they posted on the walls remained visible to all. These results imply that if we are to truly support remote teams, we should provide constant awareness and easy transitions in and out of spontaneous meetings.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software development

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Productivity

  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Management, Measurement, Performance, Theory

Keywords:
collocation, metrics, productivity, rapid software development, team rooms, warrooms