For the teams I’ve dealt with, the urge for a home space seems to be transitional. They really want that at the beginning, and eventually don’t care at all.

Regardless, I think the desire should be honored. Some teams just keep the old desks, and set up pairing stations in a new area. Some set up some sort of shared home areas, like shared desks or split pairing tables. Others have a separate workspace for non-pairing work, where all the seats are shared but people put more personal stuff. Others get filing cabinets and each team member takes a drawer or two for personal stuff.

As time goes on people will, especially in retrospectives, tease apart the various needs that all get bound up with “personal desk”. For example, a lot of teams end up with getting rid of desk phones and setting aside a small conference room or other isolated area for people to make calls from. Toys often end up migrating into the team spaces, and I’ve seen people do the same with photos. Eventually people stop spending much time at the old desks, and find better uses for the space. Like, say, a ping-pong table.

A useful and interesting post thank you.

Our company is currently adopting agile in a big way.

One of the things we’re noticing at the moment is that some of our developers, while enjoying the challenges and rewards of paired programming, are missing the ‘home space’ that they used to have. A desk with photos, a phone, toys etc. Have you experienced this, and do you have any advice on how to compensate appropriately?

@Michael: Yes, I think games are great as long as they’re away from the main work areas. Too close and they’re distracting, but as long as they’re in a lounge, lobby, or other area where hubbub is the norm, they promote proper breaks and better team bonding. Plus, they’re fun. :-)

@Jeremy: I know people are down on bottled water for environmental reasons right now, and where plumbing is available, that makes a lot of sense to me. But getting a drinking fountain in or near a team room can require running a cold water line, a waste water pipe, and power wiring. A lot of teams struggle just to get permission to move their desks, so plumbing’s not realistic in a lot of corporate environments. Naturally, if you have a solution that fits your office and team culture better, go for it!