Should we move programmers between rooms to group them by project they're involved in?

Question

Assume that a company runs several projects simultaneously. When a project reaches certain state (is completed, beta is shipped, etc) some people move to the other projects, then to the other, ad infinitum.

It could be a good idea to assign rooms to specific projects, and make people move there as soon as they're added to the project as well. Some software methodologies, for example, Scrum and other agile ones, explicitly declare that having all programmers in the same room is a boon, and benefits development.

However, a group of programmers that spends their work time in a common room for years creates a constructive and strong relationship between its members. The programmers inside it always know whom to ask for an advice about a specific technology, and the closeness makes people helpful and trusting. An advantage of a closer social interaction could also be taken. Should such an opportunity be missed just to arrange several peers for a specific short-term project?

In other words, how should we organize moving programmers between rooms?

Note: The best option, perhaps, is keeping each programmer in a separate office. But let's assume that the office under consideration is just not big enough for that.

Answer 1

Organizing by project is an excellent idea. Anything that encourages communication within the team is a Good Thing, and this will permit them to ask each other quick questions without needing to wait for an email response, or go track the other person down. It also gives them an opportunity to overhear conversations they really ought to be a part of; happens all the time around here. ("Wait, I'm going to be doing what to the who now?")

Answer 2

What motivates programmers/ See http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDevelopers.html

Joel (let his name be praised) estimates that it takes 15 minutes to recover form an interruption, no matter how brief.

See also Tips for surviving an interruption.

I'll buy that. I am usually so deep in coding that the slightest interruption throws me out of "the zone". Joel advocates individual offices. If you can't to that, then one room per time ought to reduce interruptions. Open plan & cubicle farms are great contributors to project slip (as are bosses who "drop by for a chat").

Answer 3

I personally think that having programmers in same room is great feature for mid-size and large projects.

If projects are small (and thus people would move every week or so) I would avoid excessive moving.

Answer 4

For my experience, I would say absolutely yes. I work in a big open space, and I've often to get up and going to some coworker needing help. When I was next to a coworker that worked on the same component as I, we where much more productive (something like pair programming without its huge faults).