in 99 words

Sitting together fuels team communication. This has impressive results, cutting time-to-market by two thirds in one field study^*. It enables simultaneous phases, eliminates waste, and allows team members to contribute insights to others' conversations.

To sit together, create an open workspace. This takes longer than you expect. Organize your workspace around pairing stations, locating people according to conversations they should overhear. Provide plenty of whiteboard space. Make sure there's room for personal effects and a place for private conversations.

Open workspaces are hard for some to accept. Get team members' permission before switching, or they may rebel.

^*Teasley, Stephanie, Lisa Covi, M. S. Krishnan, Judith Olson. 2002. "Rapid Software Development Through Team Collocation." IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 28(7):671-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2002.1019481

as haiku

mulch builds the soil;
herbs bring bees, bulbs repel grass:
come autumn, apples

Behind the Scenes

Time-Lapse Author

Inside the Book

• Sit Together
• Accommodating Poor Communication
• A Better Way
• Exploiting Great Communication
• Secrets of Sitting Together
• Making Room
• Designing Your Workspace
• Sample Workspaces
  • A small workspace
• Adopting an Open Workspace
• Questions
  • How can I concentrate with all that background noise?
  • When one person is interrupted, the whole team stops what they're doing to listen. What can we do to prevent people from being distracted so easily?
  • What if I need privacy for phone calls?
• Results
• Contraindications
• Alternatives
• Further Reading