What doesn't work well

• Having one person drive all the time

  • Even (especially!) if one person is far more familiar with the codebase.
  • Take turns! If you feel you’ve just been watching for too long, speak up.

• Having one person do all the “discovery” work: the work that you do to learn about the problem and build context by diving into the codebase, reading docs, and asking questions.

• Pairing on a tight time budget.

  • Okay, theoretically we say pairing is more important than a deadline, but it’s unclear whether that’s something we can support when the pressure’s on.

• Wandering attention, checking Slack or your phone, generally drifting off.

  • All of these signal to the person that you are pairing with that you don’t think the work is worth your attention. It can be particularly easy to fall into this when pairing remotely. Be prepared to give the work your full attention.

• No matter how excited you are about getting started, don’t start work you’ve agreed to pair on without the other person unless there is a reason e.g. time pressures.