Mobbing
A collaborative practice where several team members work together at the same time on a single work item, coordinating their efforts in real time.
Key Points
- Whole team focuses on one item simultaneously to speed delivery and improve quality.
- Roles often rotate (e.g., one person drives at the keyboard while others navigate), spreading knowledge.
- Best for complex, high-risk, or ambiguous work; use timeboxes and breaks to sustain focus.
- Reduces handoffs and rework; effective in co-located or remote sessions using shared tools.
Example
Facing a critical integration defect, the agile team schedules a 90-minute mobbing session. One developer drives at the shared screen while others propose test cases, refactoring steps, and deployment changes. The tester adds acceptance tests and the DevOps engineer updates a pipeline script. The team resolves the defect and moves the story to Done in a single session.
PMP Example Question
A cross-functional agile team is delayed by handoffs on a complex user story. The Scrum Master suggests a practice where several team members work at the same time on the single story, coordinating in real time and rotating roles. What technique is being recommended?
- Pair programming
- Swarming
- Mobbing
- Daily scrum
Correct Answer: C — Mobbing
Explanation: Mobbing is when multiple team members collaborate simultaneously on one work item, often rotating roles. Pair programming involves two people; swarming may involve many people but not necessarily working together at the same time and place on a single item; the daily scrum is a planning event, not an execution technique.
