BT

Facilitating the Spread of Knowledge and Innovation in Professional Software Development

Write for InfoQ

Topics

Choose your language

InfoQ Homepage News Interviewing for Agile Teams Podcast

Interviewing for Agile Teams Podcast

Team dynamics can dramatically affect team performance, so staffing teams well is a critical success factor.  Rob Myers, an Extreme Programming coach, has recorded a podcast "Interviewing Techniques for Staffing Lean-Agile Teams."

Thinking and communication skills are at least as important as technical ability - it's important to assess how they learn.  Myers' approach involves paired programming (whether the team uses paired programming or not). He feels that it provides a good simulated environment within which to assess the candidate’s confidence, technical competence, and communication skills. 

It's important to remember that interviewing is a two-sided experience. Myers also mentions a technique called "Extreme Interviewing" which is like his paired programming approach taken to a massive level. In addition to the chance to interview lots of people all at once, Extreme Interviewing also gives interviewees a taste of the “bull pen” phenomenon – working in a noisy room – that usually takes place in small Agile teams. 

Rate this Article

Adoption
Style

BT