Ian D. Stewart wrote: > It has been my personal experience that alot of the design > breakthroughs happen as a direct result of informal conversations in > the hallways, around the watercooler, in the smoking area, etc. This > sort of dynamic interaction just isn't possible in a telecommute > situation.
Don't confuse your personal experience with what's possible; I've been involved with a couple long term projects where I've met few or none of the other team members face to face and I find the same kind of interactions taking place on the phone (VoIP really helps), instant messaging, and even e-mail. I believe the key is lots of interaction, not proximity. The most likely reason for negative telecommuting experiences is poor communication skills; unfortunately this is quite common. > Restricting the job search to the local market also helps to avoid > the conflicts that invariably arise when working with folks from very > different cultural mindsets. In New York City? Have you ever been here? Peopling your team with programmers who look like you, sound like you, and write code like you may feel good, but it's not the way to create the best team. -gh -- __________________________________________________________ Garrison Hoffman (718) 210-3445 Codefix Consulting, Inc. http://codefix.net/
