From the Agile Transformation Trenches: The new team rooms

When Borland moved into its new building in Austin in October 2008, we were able to design our R&D space from scratch. This was a fantastic opportunity to implement a better agile environment than we had at the time.

In the new space, we created a large room for each team. Each team member has a desk and filing cabinet on wheels, and each team room has numerous portable dividers that have a whiteboard on one side and fabric on the other. With these movable items, each team can configure its space as it sees fit.

We went as wireless as possible: team members get software-based telephones, and the wireless networking equipment is good enough to allow the team members to use wireless networking only. Unfortunately, power can't be wireless yet, so the rooms are equipped with outlets spaced every few feet on the walls and in the floor.

Some other useful features include a ceiling projector and installed screen in each room, and a wireless conference telephone.

In this photo (click on image for larger version), you can see one of the teams holding its daily scrum meeting. The TeamFocus team board is being projected. On this day, one of the team members had to work from home, so the team used the wireless conference phone; the two team members on the right are passing the phone from one to the next. This particular team room also has a really nice view of the hills of west Austin, I should add.

In addition to the team rooms, we have ample conference rooms and several small rooms that we call 'R&D huddle rooms'--that can't be booked in Outlook and shouldn't be used by anyone outside R&D--so that individuals can have some privacy or smaller groups can meet on an ad-hoc basis without bothering others in the team rooms.

In our old building, team members were scattered among cubicles and shared offices, though we tried to locate members of each team together. After I saw the plans for the new buildings, I was really concerned that people would hate the team rooms, mostly due to the relative lack of privacy. After a few months in the new building, however, I'm happy to report that things are going pretty well. From the people I've talked to, collaboration among team members has indeed improved significantly, and the team members are adjusting to the new intimacy with their fellow team members.

Since our products are integrated, communication among teams is also important for us. Since the team members now spend most of their time in their own team room, we've had to make a more conscious effort than before to foster communication among teams.

Below are some other photos of the team rooms. As you can see, the different teams have chosen to arrange them in various way (Again, click on each photo to see a larger version).