Visible Heartbeat

Finally, my experience from this and other projects is that the "visible heartbeat"
you get from a continuous flow of checkin messages improves team productivity and
team morale. Nothing is more inspiring than seeing others working for a common goal. 
It's the final product that matters, not who's in charge of what part of it.  The end
user couldn't care less.

http://effbot.org/zone/frank-willison-award.htm