What to Do Next

The authors proved to their own satisfaction that XP did indeed address those deficiencies they'd encountered on other projects, and they, along with many of the rest of the team, consider the team experience on this project the best they've ever had.

In future job assignments, the authors intend to create as XP-like an environment as possible but to have an increased awareness of the perceptions of others, especially those who are not involved with the team or are not trying the practices. An extra effort should be made to involve management with the process, because this won't occur naturally. The authors believe now that unless management (or anyone else) gets in and experiences the XP practices, they won't buy in to them, even if they may appear to for a while.

At some point, the authors hope to be able to work with a development team fully committed to XP, predicting that such an environment would prove even more productive and enjoyable than the partial XP they enjoyed on this project.