Friday, August 18, 2006 10:03 PM
by
mitchl
Disciplines Working Together - What a Novel Concept
I was reading Mini Microsoft for the second time tonight (I've really never read it) when I came across a post titled Dev vs Test vs PM. This snipped from the post got me thinking - why would I want to work together with someone when I get rewarded for being a rock star?
Well, I have to admit I lopped off how that paragraph ends. I believe there are some great team-building activities spreading through Microsoft, like Feature Crews, that have Dev, Test, and PM working together to create something great vs blaming each other when the should-be-expected unexpected problems arise.
It's like this is a new idea to some people. Believe it or not, teams inside of Microsoft do practice XP and work together in a shared space. A prime example of this is the CodePlex team (http://www.CodePlex.com).
Check out an interview with the team here. See how they work - heaven forbid they "throw something over the wall" for others to grasp. They actually work together to achieve a common goal. Weird for some, I know.