I recently stumbled upon a good post that Mike Cohn wrote a a while back on his blog about the problems that often arise from textual communication.
It is especially meaningful how he relates this, from a software development perspective, to requirements documentation and the impact it can have in that respect, as well as the day-to-day e-mail traffic that goes into and out of… mostly into… my Inbox.
I often find myself among the minority of developers who, instead of firing off an e-mail, opts to pick up the phone, or stop over for some face time with my fellow business users, business analysts or project managers. Perhaps that is the weakness of IT: brilliant (usually) at analytical and technical skills, but lackluster in social interaction skills…
Think back on the past week. How often have you opted to write an e-mail to a co-worker instead of pick up the phone or walked 10, 20, (or, god forbid, 50) feet to the person’s desk? Worse yet, how often have you been part of a conversation that took place entirely via e-mail. You know, the kind where a dozen (or more) people are included in the e-mail chain — 18 of which could care less about the discussion?
(I know I’ve brought that issue up once before…)
It is at times like these where I stand up, blow the virtual whistle (loudly) and suggest (strongly) that we schedule some face-time to hash out this discussion in person (or at least via conference call).
Now, think about what agile methodologies and practices propose to combat this issue…
Daily scrum meetings?
On-site / Nearby customers?