Mob programming
Mob programming is a practice where the entire team works on the same problem at the same time, on the same screen, with one person typing (the 'driver') and the rest navigating. Originated at Hunter Industries, popularised by Woody Zuill.
Mobbing maximises knowledge transfer and minimises rework, at the cost of feeling slow. Teams that adopt it consistently report faster overall delivery — fewer review cycles, fewer interruption-driven context switches, fewer 'why did we do this?' questions a month later. Variants: mini-mobbing (3 people, 90 minutes), full mobbing (whole team, all day), rotating-driver (every 5-10 minutes).
Related terms
- Pair programming
Pair programming has two engineers at one workstation, alternating between driver (typing) and navigator (reviewing, suggesting, thinking ahead).
- Swarm pattern
Swarming is the practice of having multiple team members work on the same story until it's done, then move together to the next.