Archive for Adoption
Command and Control
Posted by: | CommentsI have just started reading Collaboration Explained: Facilitation Skills for Software Project Leadersby Jean Tabaka. Over the next several posts I will basing my comments on material I have read from this this book.
As you know, I am very interested in what is involved in creating a high performing team. Why do we not see more high performing teams in corporate America? I believe that the “command and control” management philosophy contributes to this.
Now if you ask most ScrumMasters if they use command and control and they will say no they do not. But is this really the case when they are working with teams?
Here are questions you should ask yourself about you interaction with the team:
- Are all decisions involving the team made by the team?
- Does the team feel they control their destiny?
- What are the factors that prevent the team from being empowered?
Review you own style of facilitating. Then ask the team to evaluate you style of facilitating. As with all Agile processes this constant inspection helps us to improve how we interact with the team.
Change – It Starts With One
Posted by: | CommentsI just finished an excellent book on change:
It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations
This book does an very good job explaining how to move an organization through change. As with Agile the principles in this book are simple but difficult to implement. Here are the three principles of implementing change in an organization:
- See”…we must understand that people will not change if they fail to see the need and they often fail to see the need for change because they are blinded by the light of what they already see—the powerful mental maps that have worked well for them in the past.”Our own successes are often the reason we do not see the need for change.
- Move”First, even after we have helped people see that the old right thing is now wrong, and we have painted a picture of the new right thing, that new map must have a clear destination or vision.”People need a clear vision for change. But change always involves personal risk. These risks must be mitigated so as a person moves through a time of incompetence they know that their will be rewards along the journey.
- FinishSo many times change is not successful because people get tired or lost.Change is hard and it is so easy to go back to doing what you comfortable doing and are competent in doing. During this time of change constant feedback and encouragement are needed.Also it is easy to get lost when making the change. Often people wonder are they making a difference or are they performing the correct tasks.
This books gives excellent examples and tools to use to help implement change in an organization. As Agile coaches we are often in the middle of change in an organization. I know from personal experience it is helpful to have additional insights on how to manage change.
Team Formation
Posted by: | CommentsI have been helping a new team form over the last 2 months. As the ScrumMaster I have been really interested to see the team become a high performing team. Team dynamics are really hard to understand especially in a new team. Here are some principles I believe are really important to help the team become a performing team.
All Teams Go Through the Storming Phase
Why do team members try to fool themselves that they do not need to go through a storming phase? I see this in many teams with which I have worked with. They will tell you that they get along and they have passed the storming phase. I know it is not so. We have not experienced “Fierce Conversions“, conversations that are courages, authentic an clear. We definitely need these during the storming phase. And without them we will never really get out of the storming phase.
Confidentiality
It is so important that what is discussed in the team and how we come to our decision is held in strictest confidence. Because I have worked with teams in multiple environments at work and outside of work I learn to live by this principle. But that is not so in a new team that is going through the storming phase. During this phase difficult issues are faced and not all team members agree with the team decision but will abide with the decision to see if can work. Team members must not express their displeasure to management for a decision that team has made. Team players keep it within the team.
As a coach I have challenges ahead of me to help the team. They are great people and make a great team. Helping them requires that I understand my own style of coaching better that I can lead them to understand these principles.
Easy but Hard
Posted by: | CommentsI have been just reading another pre-release book from the Mike Cohn series. This series has been very impressive. The book I am reading is Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition. The following quote really stood out:
Agile is easy to get going, yet hard to do well. Many reasons collude to make this so. Chief among them is that agile exposes the dirt people have been sweeping under the rug for years. Who wants to look at that? Yet, we must.
Yes the problems are going to be exposed. From my experience this has been one of the most difficult areas of Agile adoption. It causes so much stress for the team. We know Agile should work but to get to the point where it can work requires so much work.
Vision
Posted by: | CommentsWhere there is no vision, the people perish Proverbs 28:19
The ancient proverb could be restated in development as “Where there is no vision the project fails”.
It is important the every product has a vision. The vision makes the intangibles of the project understandable. The vision gives the road map of the who, why, what and when of the project.
- Who are our customers
We must understand who will be using our product. Product focused on actual customer requirements will help keep it lean and easier to develop. - Why is the product being developed
Again this focuses on the customer. There must be a compelling reason for this product. Will it help the customer to be more efficient in their work? Are we working to keep ahead of the competition by providing innovative features? - What are the critical features of this new product
Do you know what is needed to make the product a success? What are the top priority features the customer desires. - When do we need to deliver
The time box constraint. Product must be delivered to the customer for it to be useful.
The vision can always be referenced when there are decisions to be made about the product backlog. It helps set priorities and make sure the the most critical features are released.
With out the vision how can the team know when they have reached their goal?
Enterprise Transition Community
Posted by: | CommentsWe have a book club at work. The book under discussion right now is Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum by Mike Cohn. If you have not read this book it is a must read. I bought copies for my team (I did get reimbursed later) because I thought it was so good. The following are comments about ideas presented in this book.
Agile so many times starts at the developer level. Usually a team lead or manager has read about Agile and wants to use it with their team. That is the way I started, I was a team leader. This works great for a limited period of time util you run into the bureaucracy of the standard software development process. That is the time to start thinking of how to transition the whole company or division.
One concept introduced by Mike is the Enterprise Transition Community (p. 63).
The Enterprise Transition Community exists to create a culture and environment where change can be released by those who are passionate about the success of the organization and where success leads to more passion from more people. The ETC does this not by imposing changes on the organization but by guiding groups who are implementing changes, by removing obstacles to doing Scrum well, and by creating energy and excitement for the change.
In other words you need a team at the appropriate level in management to take up the Agile cause. They are the ones who will guide the agile adoption and remove the obstacles. Read this section in the book, it might help you in your adoption.
Introducing Agile Change
Posted by: | CommentsChange is difficult for all of us. We get comfortable in a routine and like to maintain it. This is especially true at work where we spend a majority of our waking hours.
It becomes a challenge to Agile practices to an organization or a team because of resistance to change. Here are some ideas on how to introduce change :
- Sell the team on the problem that needs to be fixed
Many times we need to convince the team there is a problem. It is important we explain what the problem is and have the team agree that the problem needs to be addressed. - Have the team read about Agile
Introduce the team to reading materials that clearly explain the Agile concepts you want to introduce. These may include blogs, white paper and books. - Attend Agile user group meeting
There are Agile user groups in any metropolitan area. It is good to attend these meeting to get other developers opinion about Agile. - Do not be fanatical about Agile
When you are passionate about Agile methodologies it is easy to be fanatical. This will turn people off because you do not listen to their concerns. - Choose one Agile practice to introduce
To much change at one time overwhelms a team. Introduce one new Agile practice a month. This will make change easier because the team will have time to learn about the practice and apply it.
The tide is changing
Posted by: | CommentsToday was one of those days when one sees months of effort pay off. The project manager and QA manager are really going to give the team a chance to do genuine agile development over the next 3 months. Our overall deliverable is not until the end of September but we will have a chance to work with QA and actually produce sequential releases for for multiple projects. This should be challenging and fun.
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Posted by: | CommentsCommunicate can I say it enough. Agile development requires and enhances communication. We had an unfortunate situation where lines of communication broke down for a project. It occurred with requirements and QA testing.
The scope of the requirements were not clearly understood by the product owner. Actually we do not have direct communication with the product owners and are using a proxy. Fortunately there are still drawing on the window which clearly showed the scope of the project.
Then we had miscommunication with the QA test plan. The test plan was never reviewed. and had tests that were outside of the scope of the project.
The project is also behind schedule and requires special exemptions to get into the current release.
I hope you understand that this was not a Agile project. These problems are ones that would have been exposed sprint plans and reviews.
Adopting agile in large organizations
Posted by: | CommentsIs this how it happens in most large development groups “adopting” agile?
More important from a business perspective, the ability to compete
and make money with the potential power of lean and agile principles
has been squandered by doing agile rather than being agile.
We encourage those that want to realize enterprise agility to take
the time to learn the implications of values such as responding to
change over following a plan, and to take the time to discuss and
share these insights with others.
p 146 – Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Thinking and Organizational Tools for Large-Scale Scrum