Thanks for the comments. I agree that some of the issues are less likely with people who are relatively self aware and highly skilled communicators. For example, it is sometimes difficult to realize we are being affected by body language or other extraneous factors like hair style, clothing, smell, accent or whatever. /If/ we know we are affected we can possibly control our reaction to these factors (at least there is the possibility of it). I don’t know of anything in XP that lessens the possibility of these types of subconscious reactions. If anything, like flow interruptions in a busy team room, it might be more likely to happen than less with a collocated team. Even if that’s true (and there’s no way to know for sure) I’m not claiming that the potential problems of collocated teams outweight the benefits, at least in general. I prefer collocated teams, but I also acknowledge the benefits of distributed teams in certain contexts.

For example, misinterpreted body language is always possible, but less likely than misinterpretations caused by the absence of body language. Besides, a misunderstanding is easily and quickly resolved between two people who are physically together.

Less time to think about the message. What prevents a person from saying, “That’s an interesting point. Let me have some time to think it over.”

Synchronous / interruptions. With XP the team is working in pairs and sitting in the same general area. Individual team members are dedicated to the project full time. They are always available, except perhaps when visiting the toilet. The common time for a discussion is, by definition of XP, “now” and the common place is, by definition of XP, “here”. XP is the cure for, not the cause of interrupted discussions.

Expensive / 7000+ users. No one in his right mind would attempt to run an agile project with 7000+ team members. It would take a year to do a daily stand-up. Agile methods in general (including XP) are not scaled by adding more and more people to the team. They are scaled by decomposing a large initiative into several smaller projects, each of which is then staffed with a small team.

Foreign language / customs, etc. I worked on a distributed project a few years ago that included team members in China, Canada, and the US. It was not unlike the situation Steve Wampler describes in his comment. We worked “together” by using IM, whiteboarding tools, and the like. The Chinese team members’ English skills were quite good for text communication. At the end of the project we all got together in NY for a celebration. The Chinese team members’ spoken English was absolutely unintelligible. So I can sympathize with your comment that face-to-face communication can be problematic when you have a multi-cultural, multi-lingual team. But this is not a problem inherent in XP or any other methodology. When you compose a team in this way, it is a reality you must deal with somehow. If you fail to deal with it, is it really a failing of the methodology?

I agree (mostly) with your conclusions. In the risk project we’re using Skype and VNC to do pair programming. between the Austin and Dallas sites. It’s quite effective. In fact, it may be better than actually setting next to each other because it’s easier to see and to switch who’s programming vs. who’s watching. Distance pair programming may actually be better because it encourages both programmers to stay focused (at least I think it does). At the beginning of each iteration though, I’ve found we have to get together in the same room. Those meeting have more to do with keeping the relationships fresh than actually getting anything done, although we do that too. I guess I would also say, that from a relationship point of view, that I would always prefer to be in the same area/office … as long as the members of the team are compatable. I have one guy on my team that turning out to be somewhat of a problem. Luckly he’s a contractor, so I’ll likely let him go when the project is over. That alone will improve the team’s dynamics. By the way, I now have a bunch of Skype addresses based on which machine I’m currently using. Just do a search on swampler and you should find all three of them. Give me a ring sometime when you’re free.