Definition:
Swarming is when team members with appropriate skills work together to complete a task that a team member is having trouble completing on his or her own.
How It’s Used: Swarming is used to quickly bring a task or work item to completion before moving on to the next in order to keep workflow and delivery on track. Kanban teams in particular use swarming to ensure continuous workflow and maintain Work-in-Progress (WIP) limits.
Project Management Benefits:
- Keeps workflow and delivery on track.
- Maintains WIP limits in Kanban.
- Encourages team collaboration.
Further Reading:
Book: Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager’s Guide by Craig Larman