Mastering Dependency Management Playfully – Your Key to Effective Collaboration

Are you a Scrum Master working with multiple teams on your product? Then you’ll know how dependencies can block progress, delay features, and disrupt plans. The Dependency Discovery Deck helps you visualise and manage dependencies effectively.

This free card game, available on GitHub and as a Miro board, offers a playful yet structured approach to improving collaboration. Learn how gamification enhances teamwork, minimises risks, and optimises workflows—whether remote or on-site!

Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/1712190266/dependency-discovery-deck

Transcript

1. MASTERING DEPENDENCY MANAGEMENT PLAYFULLY – YOUR KEY TO EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION NILS HYOMA ONLINE SCRUM MASTER SUMMIT, 17.06.2025
3. Nils Hyoma • Believes that Co-Creation leads to real Commitment • Advocates for "Sharing is Caring" • Passionate about Gamification in Agile • Builds tools like the Dependency Discovery Deck to foster better conversations • Blends structure and creativity to improve how teams work together • Management 3.0 Facilitator – puts people first • Former Japanologist – believes context matters in communication • Serious about fun at work
4. Chapter 1 The Good Old Days “When Collaboration Was Just a Coffee Away”
5. The Good Old Days – Fewer Jira, More Coffee, More Collaboration Team Setup & Agile Routines • Scrum by the Book with multiple co-located teams • Common Sprint Reviews and shared Artefacts • Onsite Backlog Refinement – fast, informal, effective • Leading Team + Satellite Team model • Long-term dependency planning and backlog prioritization
6. The Good Old Days – Fewer Jira, More Coffee, More Collaboration Technical & Communication Culture • Domain-Driven Design & Event-Driven Architecture • Lightweight alignment via Mocks, Dummies, Emulators & Stubs • Strong personal relationships, trust built over time • Long planning horizons with fewer last- minute surprises
7. The Good Old Days – Fewer Jira, More Coffee, More Collaboration Results • Longest known blocker: 3 months - discovered before development started • Strong alignment between business and tech • Developers felt confident in the plan, not just the code • Dependencies were a team topic, not a surprise
8. Chapter 2 A New World “Remote, Scaled, and Stuck”
9. A New World - Scaled, Remote, and Misaligned • Teams work mostly remote • SAFe is in place • Big Room Planning • Teams as independent and interchangeable as possible • Planning horizon is short-term and very detailed • Jira and Confluence are the dominant tools
10. A New World - Refinement Without Real Collaboration • Features are written by Product Management alone • Handover happens during Refinement – too late, too one- sided • Expectation: Everyone should prepare individually and silently • Dependencies stored as a text field in Confluence – without any context
11. A New World - The Dependency is Real – and So is the Frustration • Work starts – but something’s missing • Delays happen “at the end of the sprint” • Frustration, finger-pointing, blame games • Quality drops, late surprises • Teams fall back into silo thinking
12. A New World – Stagnation Costs Trust, Money, and Nerves • Roadmaps become unreliable • Transparency vanishes – uncertainty spreads • Trust in teams gets low • Stakeholders start demanding micromanagement • Reversion to Management 1.0 mindset (control over trust) • Blame gets pushed to “the developers”
13. Chapter 3 The Deck of Change “From Chaos to Cards”
14. unFIX Workshop
15. PI-Planning
16. The Origin of the Dependency Discovery Deck • Inspired by the unFIX Pattern Library: How can we make dependencies visible in scaled environments? • 8 Scaled Agile Experts Reflect in a collaborative session to identify typical dependency patterns • The most common types of dependencies were identified • 60-Minute Design Studio First card design emerged
17. Chapter 5 The First Attempt “Cards are for Junior Developers!”
18. The First Attempt -Resistance in Big Room Planning “Cards? That’s for Kids!” “We only look at Requirements during Story Kickoff.” “Dependencies? That’s someone else’s Problem!”
19. The First Attempt - Big Room Planning • Developers paired up in pairs • Goal: Identify dependencies per Feature • 5-minute timebox per Feature • Results clustered and discussed afterward
20. The First Attempt – Results • Some dependencies identified • People unwilling to talk or take it seriously • Unsure team members avoided picking cards • Underlying issues remained hidden
21. Chapter 6 The Second Try “Nils plays the Uno Reverse Card!”
22. The Second Try – Flipping the Approach • Active reversal of responsibility • Teams identify dependencies they don’t have • Make the work visible • Focus on removing non-existent dependency categories • The clustering / discussion
23. Chapter 7 Routine “Inspect and Adapt!”
24. My Learnings
25. My Experience
26. Chapter 8 My Learnings “Serious Games rock!”
27. Benefits of Gamification • Clarity: All possible dependencies are collected and made visible • Psychological Safety: Both introverts and extroverts get an easy tool to express themselves and be heard • Visual Support: Complex situations become more tangible • Motivation: Playful elements boost willingness to learn and understand • Structure: Cards encourage clear, structured communication • Democratization: Discussions become more balanced, avoiding dominance by individuals • Accessibility: Visual aids lower language barriers and reduce shyness
28. Chapter 9 The Future “Breaking the Feature Factory – From Software to Organizational Development”
35. How to organize Teams?
36. How to organize Teams?
37. How to organize Teams? https://www.it-agile.de/agiles-wissen/agile-teams/was-sind-fluide-teams/
38. Final Chapter Ressources “Sharing is Caring”
39. Ressources!
40. Thanks!