Working with Interruptions (for XP)

The nature of interruptions in the workplace, where they originate from, their purpose, how they relate to the work they interrupt and whether they have positive or negative consequences for work achievement

Description and Analysis

As Mackenzie and colleagues (2002) point out "XP plays down the myths of heroic coding efforts carried by taciturn headphone-coccooned programmers buzzing along on a constant intake of 'Jolt' Pepsi". XP specifically seeks to specifically build in and promote a work organisation that fosters on-going interaction amongst a small community of developers. From revolving pair programming (developers programme in pairs) to 'standing up' problems (asking for an impromptu group meeting) to having shared artefacts that are arranged, negotiated, distributed and so forth. Interruptions variously provide or solicit advice, assistance, supervision and so on. The work is arranged such that interruptions from colleagues within the workplace are promoted and seen as positive. This is facilitated by on-going close cooperation that means it should be possible to readily aquaint oneself or acquaint others with what is going on, what work is being carried out. The frequent interactions in turn serve to enhance cooperation and promote sharing of group knowledge and expertise. The environment and activity affords information as to when problems may arise. We have fieldwork examples where on-going discussions of problems amongst pairs specifically seem to encourage intervention by others, which is unremarkable in that such discussions may be marked out to those familiar in the setting and whether they can provide assistance may be gleaned from overheard talk. We may wish to draw a comparison to 'interruptions' that originate from without the workplace - phone calls from clients and so forth - and make the basic point that they can be considered more problematic simply because they cannot be negotiated in the same way (timed for when appropriate, directed to the 'correct' person). A final point to make about interruptions is that in this XP setting they are designed into the work more than in other settings encountered and, as shown in our fieldwork examples, this may prove problematic for some workers, used to working in a more solitary regime.

Comparison to other Methods

As described in the previous section XP specifically seeks to promote a development environment where frequent interruptions and communication is an on-going feature of the work. Of course this may occur in other development environments but not in such an organised manner. It is considered that these features of the work promote a sharing of knowledge and expertise amongst the staff, facilitating help, cross-checking, monitoring and so on. This is geared towards continual integration of code etc. and a common view of work thought to alleviate a 'silo' mentality and the problems of late integration modules programmed in isolation.

Links To Generic Pattern:

WorkWithInterruptions

http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/projects/pointer/patterns/workingWithInterruptions/workingWithInterruptions.html (legacy site)