
You know pair programming? Mob programming is similar to pair programming with the entire team.
What is Mob Programming?
Mob programming is a practice where your complete team comes together to implement a small user story or feature. This can be done in one room with one computer or remotely
Why use it?
Mob Programming helps you to share information about how a problem is solved in your source code or how a specific part of the implementation is realized with the whole team. It is also an option to easily onboard new team members or discuss working methods with the help of a concrete example. As the whole team takes part in decisions, everybody can voice their opinions on the spot. The idea and intention of a solution is automatically spread across the team.
How to do it?
Like Pair Programming, Remote Mob Programming also has a dedicated role for the person doing the actual coding, it is called ‘typist’. The typist writes the program code while sharing the screen for all others (e.g. with video conferencing tool). All participants watch the shared source code and collaborate on solving the problem. They discuss the best solution and tell the typist what to do.
Tips
- All team members turn on their video and audio.
- To ensure all participants stay concentrated and active, the typist role should switch frequently (every 8-10 minutes).
- Keep the team small! If there are six or more participants, they often are inactive. Try to keep everyone involved.
- The concept of mob programming can also be used to write documentation or tests.