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Go forth and self-organise! | strategies & tactics for building great teams

eddieosh
October 25, 2017

Go forth and self-organise! | strategies & tactics for building great teams

Presented at the Melbourne Agile and Scrum User Group Meetup.

eddieosh

October 25, 2017
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  1. About me {ed | eddie | edmund} I’m an Agile

    Coach & Change Agent I (try to) help people work together more effectively When I’m not being disruptive and typing up Post-It notes, you can find me @agileeddie All views expressed or implied are mine, and do not represent any organisation or anyone else, past, present or in the future of this or any other timeline
  2. #5 Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment

    and support they need, and trust them to get the job done #11 The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams #12 At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly Agile Manifesto Principles: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
  3. “Scrum Teams are self-organizing and cross-functional. Self-organizing teams choose how

    best to accomplish their work, rather than being directed by others outside the team… The team model in Scrum is designed to optimize flexibility, creativity, and productivity.” “Development Teams have the following characteristics: They are self-organizing. No one (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality” “The Scrum Master serves the Development Team in several ways, including: Coaching the Development Team in self-organization and cross-functionality” “The Development Team self-organizes to undertake the work in the Sprint Backlog, both during Sprint Planning and as needed throughout the Sprint” “By the end of the Sprint Planning, the Development Team should be able to explain to the Product Owner and Scrum Master how it intends to work as a self- organizing team to accomplish the Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment” “Every day, the Development Team should understand how it intends to work together as a self-organizing team to accomplish the Sprint Goal and create the anticipated Increment by the end of the Sprint” The Scrum Guide™ http://www.scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
  4. Team Efficacious Timely Affordable Trusted Value Feedback Customer 1 Great

    Outcomes 2 Improving Capability 3 Fulfilling Work
  5. An identity and coherence as an actual team Clear boundaries

    / guiderails A compelling direction that sets the team’s focus Inter-dependent work to achieve collective outcomes Enabling team structure that facilitates teamwork Membership stability over reasonable period Supportive organisational context & Coaching. What Makes a Team a Team?
  6. • Form into teams, take a team name • You

    are Wordsmiths creating new words for demanding Authors • You have 2 minutes • Note the first and last letters of each person’s given/first name on your team, e.g. edmund • Create the longest word you can from these letters of your team • Compare results
  7. An identity and coherence as an actual team Clear boundaries

    / guiderails A compelling direction that sets the team’s focus Inter-dependent work to achieve collective outcomes Enabling team structure that facilitates teamwork Membership stability over reasonable period Supportive organisational context & Coaching How Did We Do?
  8. “As the nature of software continues to shift towards continuous

    delivery, we are able to create a new type of conversation with the marketplace – a continuous one. We deploy products, observe, measure, interview, learn, and optimize in hours, not months. Decisions are made quickly. Directions shift overnight” https://hbr.org/2014/11/bring-agile-to-the-whole-organization
  9. Where does Self-organising fit in? https://www.infoq.com/articles/what-are-self-organising-teams Setting overall direction Designing

    the team and its organisational context Monitoring and managing work process and progress Executing the team task Manager-led teams Self- managing teams Self- designing teams Self- governing teams Management Responsibility Team’s Own Responsibility Agility Stability TENSION
  10. An appropriate set of skills and knowledge Collective ownership and

    accountability Control over work methods, team structure and coordination strategies Feedback about how well the team is performing Monitoring the environment and adapting its working methods accordingly Behavioural boundaries (core norms of conduct). What Enables Teams To Self-organise?
  11. • You have 3 minutes • You are Wordsmiths creating

    new words for demanding Authors • < A surprise! > • Note the second and penultimate letters of each person’s given/first name on your team, e.g. edmund • Create the longest word you can from all these letters of your team • < Maybe another surprise! > • Compare results
  12. An appropriate set of skills and knowledge Collective ownership and

    accountability Control over work methods, team structure and coordination strategies Feedback about how well the team is performing Monitoring the environment and adapting its working methods accordingly Behavioural boundaries (core norms of conduct) How Did We Do?
  13. • You have 5 minutes • You are Wordsmiths creating

    new words for demanding Authors • < A surprise! > • Note the third and last-but-two letters of each person’s given/first name on your team, e.g. edmund • Create the longest word you can from all these letters of your team • < Maybe another surprise! > • Compare results
  14. An appropriate set of skills and knowledge Collective ownership and

    accountability Control over work methods, team structure and coordination strategies Feedback about how well the team is performing Monitoring the environment and adapting its working methods accordingly Behavioural boundaries (core norms of conduct) How Did We Do?
  15. Team Efficacious Timely Affordable Trusted Value Feedback Customer? 1 Great

    Outcomes 2 Improving Capability 3 Fulfilling Work
  16. Tahani Al-Jamil AGE OCCUPATION ASPIRATION DOMICILE FLUENT IN PERSONALITY MOTIVATION

    Tahani wants a career change and has landed a gig with mumsnet.com writing cartoon strips to educate under-5’s. SITUATION The first cartoons have got a good response and now the editor wants to run a series focusing on language skills. NEEDS Tahani requires lots of long, funny, challenging, nonsense words that she can use in her cartoon strips to engage the audience and spark their curiosity about how words are created, used and modified. 36 Civil Engineer Children’s author Switzerland Five languages Demanding!
  17. • You have 3 minutes • Reflect on how you

    worked as a team • What were your frustrations? • What worked well? • What might you be confused by? • Have a conversation in your team then share your insights with everyone
  18. Psychological safety is a sense of confidence that the team

    will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up. It describes a team climate characterized by interpersonal trust and mutual respect in which people are comfortable being themselves. Amy Edmondson Psychological safety and learning behaviour in work teams https://flic.kr/p/i8nEz
  19. Concern Influence Control Can directly control the situation to obtain

    desired outcomes No direct control but can influence / persuade others to do what you need to achieve You are concerned about the situation but have no direct or indirect control over it You respond to events Move into your control circle Focus on Your Circle of Control http://bioteamsmicroblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/control-versus-influence-versus-concern.html
  20. Endorse Agree with reservations Disagree – cannot support Block “I

    like it and support it” “I can live with it and support it: I do have some concerns” “I wouldn’t stop the group, but I don’t want to be involved” “I veto this proposal” 1 2 3 4 Agreement Scale for Making Decisions https://www.ebgconsulting.com/Pubs/Articles/DecideHowToDecide-Gottesdiener.pdf
  21. Explore and Sustain Self & Team Reflection What Does Success

    Look Like in X Months? What do you bring to the team? What Makes a Great Team? What do you need to be personally successful? What do you expect from your team? What Would Abject Failure Look Like in X Months? What’s important to you & What pisses you off?
  22. • You have 5 minutes • In your teams explore

    the questions • Discuss these and note your insights • Share with everyone what you found • What was the biggest surprise for you? • What would be the easiest / hardest for you to use?
  23. • You have 5 minutes • In your teams explore

    how to help with self- organisation • If you’re a manager / leader, what can you do to help self-organising teams? • If you’re a team member, what do you need from managers / leaders for you to succeed at self-organising? • Share with everyone what you found
  24. Creating & Sustaining Self-organising Teams Set and communicate a coherent,

    unifying purpose Leave the team to decide how they do the work. Delegate decision-making to lowest level possible Help the team learn how to work collectively Define team boundaries & protect them as an entity Nurture the development of psychological safety Facilitate interactions within and across the team
  25. Choice Team Accountability Empowerment Authority to Decide & Act Enablement

    Direction & Support Accountability Account for Decisions Autonomy Freedom to Choose
  26. Team “A continuous conversation with the market” Value Feedback Customer

    1 Great Outcomes 2 Improving Capability 3 Fulfilling Work
  27. References 1: Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances.

    Richard Hackman http://a.co/9cePVl7 What Makes for a Great Team? Richard Hackman http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2004/06/hackman.aspx What Are Self-Organising Teams? Sigi Kaltenecker & Peter Hundermark https://www.infoq.com/articles/what-are-self-organising-teams Psychological safety and learning behaviour in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2). 1999. Amy Edmondson http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Group_Performance/Edmondson%20Psychological%20safety.pdf Bring Agile to the Whole Organization. Jeff Gothelf https://hbr.org/2014/11/bring-agile-to-the-whole-organization Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy, Amy Edmondson https://amzn.com/078797093X Building a psychologically safe workplace: Amy Edmondson at TEDxHGSE https://youtu.be/LhoLuui9gX8 What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team. The New York Times Magazine, 25 Feb 2016. Charles Duhigg http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html The five keys to a successful Google team, Julia Rozovsky https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/ High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety. Here’s How to Create It https://hbr.org/2017/08/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety-heres-how-to-create-it 3 ways to promote psychological safety in your team, Dr Todd Hall http://drtoddhall.com/3-ways-to-promote-psychological-safety-in-your-team/
  28. References 2: Design the Team You Need to Succeed, Christina

    Wodtke https://productcoalition.com/design-the-team-you-need-to-succeed-aeb98d396fcf Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (NB, needs Java and Flash to run) https://www.questionwritertracker.com/quiz/61/Z4MK3TKB.html Reading the Mind in the Eyes or Reading between the Lines? David Engel et al http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115212 Team Learning and Psychological Safety Survey http://www.midss.org/content/team-learning-and-psychological-safety-survey Completing this 30-minute exercise makes teams less anxious and more productive https://qz.com/1046131/writing-a-user-manual-at-work-makes-teams-less-anxious-and-more-productive/ The Personal Leadership Canvas http://www.owlfoxdean.com/leadership-canvas The Team Canvas http://theteamcanvas.com/ Decide How to Decide, Software Development Magazine, vol. 9, no. 1. Ellen Gottesdiener https://www.ebgconsulting.com/Pubs/Articles/DecideHowToDecide-Gottesdiener.pdf How to build trust? Break it first. Julie Diamond http://juliediamond.net/home-page-blog/2065/ The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni http://a.co/64Miph1 Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink http://a.co/h2YodwM
  29. References 3: Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile

    Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition, Lyssa Adkins http://a.co/bUl15W2 Managing Product Teams for Success, Teresa Torres https://www.producttalk.org/2017/05/managing-product-teams/ The People's Scrum: Agile Ideas for Revolutionary Transformation, Tobias Mayer http://a.co/8p6mfRG Control? Influence? Concern? Know the difference or pay the price! Ken Thompson http://bioteamsmicroblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/control-versus-influence-versus-concern.html Devops Downunder, 2013. Jason Yip https://vimeo.com/63687885 Exploring Potential Drivers of Employee Engagement, Enablement, and Empowerment. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. Vol 6, No 2 S1 (2015). Iman Permana et al http://www.mcser.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/5940/5712 Cattle, Slaves and Automobiles: Driving Dangerously With Management Clichés, David Hurst https://medium.com/@davidkhurst/cattle-slaves-and-automobiles-driving-dangerously-with-management-clich%C3%A9s- 7e24a401add9 Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6). 1965. Bruce Tuckman http://openvce.net/sites/default/files/Tuckman1965DevelopmentalSequence.pdf Icons designed by Freepik http://www.flaticon.com/packs/ Photographs c www.flickr.com
  30. 1. Your team must move to another area outside the

    room 2. You are a remote member of the team, move physically out of ear- shot 3. Your team can negotiate with any other team to exchange letters. 4. Two teams are combined as one 5. You are a shared SME (Subject Matter Expert) between multiple teams (your letters move with you) 6. Some members of your team have been pulled away for other work 7. Your team must use letters from another team to form your words 8. Leave your team and take your letters with you 9. You are disengaged and grumpy, disrupt your team mates! 10. The requirements have changed! Create as many unique words as possible 11. You are nominated as team leader, take control and direct your team! 12. You are the team’s manager – demand word length estimates and regular status reporting!