Agile workplace configuration at Microsoft

Working as a development product manager at Microsoft at the time I had no idea what scrum or agile development was, but this configuration of tables and chairs in the hallway of the 3rd floor of Microsoft's Building 114 just made sense to me.

I found these tables abandoned or stuck in hallways from other floors and dragged them here with my new team members. Then I ordered comfortable chairs from Microsoft's internal portal. We were set and took off and developed like mad.

The person, my friend, in the foreground found our environment to her liking, quiet, convenient yet friendly and joined us; as many travelers or consultants did from time to time. This worked for many reasons and gave MS full-timers the ability to find and interact with us without having to search around much.

Due to the location, our rules were straight forward, low tones, quiet, leave nothing in the room when leaving, push in your chair, and police your area. As you see in this photograph we had one phone for 18 + people. It rarely rang. The person being sought was nearly always there.

Twice in several months there was a slight disagreement about how open or closed the blinds should be but that environment worked very well for the team. We launched our project on time of course.

I absolutely loved working with them.

After I studied and worked with Agile development I came to understand that the techniques I had developed on my own, such as short daily meetings (scrum), worked for others.

everything down to Friday

comes down to
when your eyes are so sensative
as an indoor office jockey
riding on that corporate nag
that you see halos around the lights
and people look crisp and thus holy
even the desk origami made by human hands
looks strangely organic and dirty
hey -- it doesn't speak English
or tick stately with the clock
or laugh on time
it doesn't lean slightly forward
like the gray steel towers
all right angles and perfection when
everything comes down to Friday



with your spine the exact shape
I mean EXACT shape of your office chair
and your hands are blue and kinda lacy
like you could see through them in all their glory
and then they rise if you hold a pencil
it looks real like the official steel
your hands feel like the origami, all spicked and earthy
then they're ticking
like the cold clock'd time that shows you
everything comes down to Friday



like a great sporting event
where the players and spectators all hold their breath
for the running split second
and some how if thus enlightenment ensued --
or even eggs were fried with that potencial
we'd be famous not in the future, Jackson, but right now
and if I just keep saving myself
and my money
I won't be waiting with bated breath
for the exact moment when
everything came down past Friday