(FromOrganizational Patterns of Agile SoftwareDevelopment)

In a project, not all roles hear everything. But much of the information communicated hasimportantimplications for the product.

Within any software project, there are many activities, roles, and individuals competing forattention. Ofcourse, there are the developers. But project managers have a need to be at the center ofeverything. They needto have their finger on the pulse of the project; to know everything that is going on. That’s theirjob. In asimilar manner, perhaps to a lesser degree, other roles also need to be involved in the project.

But all roles are not equal. Certain roles (developer and a few others) contribute directly to theproduct; theycreate it. Most other roles contribute indirectly to the product; they (should) exist only to helpthe producersdo their job. The producer roles need information in order to do their job.

Therefore,

The producer role(s) must be at the center or very near the center of the hive ofcommunication. Makesure the producers are party to all, or nearly all communication about the project.