Re: Any advice on remote pairing?

milton...

i lean in massimo's direction on this.

pairing is one of those things that surprises noobs. it doesn't *sound*
like a skill, but it is one, and you have to learn it. there *are* natural
pairs, but a natural skill here is relatively uncommon.

if you're already skilled, then pairing remotely is no big deal: mildly
annoying, not quite as awesome as pairing face-to-face, but still viable.
if you're *not* already a skilled pair, what's likely to happen is that
you'll block on pairing.

i've paired with many noob teams over many years. by way of analogy, let me
tell you about their "pairing stations". they tend to be, well, laptops in
cubicles with tables that have the only fat part in a corner, suitable for
a single individual. they tend to use 4-point fonts. and the second person
is sitting 3 feet away because of the corner. and -- with the best will in
the world -- you know what that usually results in? "Never again! Pairing
is bad. Agile is bad. XP is bad."

a remoting environment can do the same thing.

now don't get me wrong, pairing remotely is fine when you know what you're
doing.

consider a counter-proposal: bring them together for a couple of months,
face to face, with serious pairing stations. they can find their
"pair-legs" together. they can learn what slight changes of voice mean.
they can learn all the ways pairing can go wrong in addition to the ways
that it rocks. *then* we go to remoting. i can almost guarantee you better
results.

cheers,
geepaw