In 2017 over a two month period I hosted a Online Mob Programming Survey with the aim to get a wider community perspective on Mob Programming.
At the time I was working on a Mob Programming book and wanted to see if others had similar opinions and experiences with mobbing. It would help in me focussing my content and share deeper insights into the practice of mobbing.
My reasoning was as follows: there are groups of teams all over the world independently experimenting with Mob Programming. If there were patterns found amongst these independent groups it may help us find common themes that could further be investigated.
I had 82 responses to the survey. I’ve made the percentage responses public, which you can see here:
Q) My exposure to Mob Programming is…
- 82.6%: I actively participate in Mob Programming (at least once a month)
- 15.2%: I’ve dabbled with Mob Programming but don’t do it currently
- 2.2%: I’ve heard about it before but haven’t actually done it yet
Q) I would best describe myself as a.
- 37.8%: Introvert
- 28%: Extrovert
- 22%: Neither Introvert or Extrovert
- 8.5%: Strong Introvert
- 3.7%: Strong Extrovert
Using this explanation of what an introvert is
Q) If you were to pick one personality trait that has the biggest impact in being effective in a mob it would be?
- 56.5%: Openness to experience
- 17.4%: Agreeableness
- 13%: Conscientiestiousness
- 2.2%: Emotional Stability
- 0%: Degree of extroversion
How more info on what each of these traits mean read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits
Q) If you were to pick one personality trait that has the least impact in being effective in a mob it would be?
- 67.4%: Degree of extroversion
- 13%: Conscientiestiousness
- 10.9%: Emotional Stability
- 8.7%: Agreeableness
- 0%: Openness to experience
For more info on what each of these traits mean read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits
Q) What would best describe your role at your organisation?
- 72%: Developer / Coder
- 12.2%: Team Lead / Manager
- 4.9%: QA / Tester
- 1.2%: Business Analyst
- 9.8%: Other
Q) I see value in Mob Programming
- 100%: Yes
- 0%: No
Q) How many people are in your team
- 18.3%: 10 or more
- 15.9%: 5
- 14.6%: 8
- 12.2%: 4
- 9.8%: 6
- 8.5%: 3
- 8.5%: 7
- 4.9%: N/A
- 3.7%: 9
- 1.2%: 2
- 0%: 1
- 2.4%: other
Q) What is your team composition
Q) What process methodology would best describe how your team works
- 56.1%: Kanban
- 25.6%: Scrum
- 1.2%: Don’t know
- 0%: Waterfall
- 17.1%: Other
Q) When I work, I’m most often working…
- 51.2%: in a mob
- 32.9%: in a pair
- 15.9%: on my own
Q) How long have you been Mob Programming?
- 24.4%: 1-2 years
- 20.7%: 6 months to a year
- 19.5%: 2-4 years
- 18.3%: 3-6 months
- 12.2%: less than 3 months
- 4.9%: 5 years+
Q) How often do you mob?
- 51.2%: Most days
- 25.6%: Sporadically
- 14.6%: Usually at least once a week
- 8.5%: Usually at least a few times a month
Q) On the days that you do mob, how much of the day will you spend mobbing?
- 67.1%: most of the day
- 30.5%: a couple hours
- 0%: A few mintues
- 0%: less than an hour
- 2.4%: other
Q) When you mob, how many people are usually in the mob at any one time?
- 50%: 4
- 19.5%: 3
- 11%: 5
- 11%: it’s different every time
- 3.7%: 7 or more
- 2.4%: 2
- 0%: 6
- 2.4%: other
Q) Some of the biggest benefits I get from Mob Programming are:
- 23%: Learning from others
- 20.5%: Increased code quality
- 20.5%: Sharing with others
- 18.9%: Team participation
- 13.2%: Quicker to solve a problem
- 3,8%: other
Q) What challenges do you see with Mob Programming?
Q) Is there a question we should have asked that we didn’t?
