Building Agile Teams Brian Watson, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM1 Product and Agile

© 2011 VersionOne 2 Agenda Team Building Analogy Enablers Other Considerations

© 2011 VersionOne 3 Team Building

© 2011 VersionOne 4 Analogy Growing Agile teams is like learning to fly a plane….

© 2011 VersionOne 5 Formal Training You can read a book or take a class to learn the “major” theoretical elements – Takeoff/landing, Stalls, Weather, etc. You might even be able to pass a written test after class However, are you ready to fly the plane

© 2011 VersionOne 6 Flight Training With formal knowledge in hand, the student must fly with an instructor Time in the pilot seat will allow the student to encounter the numerous situations formal training cannot cover There is no substitute for practical experience…with a guiding hand Converts theoretical knowledge into skill

© 2011 VersionOne 7 Flying Solo Once the student’s skill level has caught up to their desire and confidence, they can fly solo This occurs after many hours of guidance from the instructor Each person will learn something new when they fly solo – Reinforcing and existing concept – New situation

© 2011 VersionOne 8 Sharing the Passion Flying solo will allow the knowledge/skill of the pilot to exceed their level of desire and passion for flying When this occurs, they can begin to share their knowledge with others – The cycle begins anew…

© 2011 VersionOne 9 Teams…

© 2011 VersionOne 10 Formal Scrum/Agile Training Critical foundational element to starting down the path to agile Theoretical concepts Review key ceremonies – “Guard Rails” Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Professional Scrum Master (PSM)

© 2011 VersionOne 11 Growing the Team Accomplished through pairing the major skills sets (Dev, BA, QA, PM) with experienced people Allows the experienced people guide the new team through how to apply their theoretical knowledge A Transition Coach assists with guiding the entire process – Provide “guard rails” to the process – Product owner, management, other teams

© 2011 VersionOne 12 Agile Team Schematic Product Owner New Dev Experienced Dev Experienced SM New SM Experienced BA New BA Experienced QA New QA Management Transition Coach Formal Training Experienced UX New UX Pairing

© 2011 VersionOne 13 Cost/Benefit Analysis

© 2011 VersionOne 14 Coding (Flying) Solo Once the team has worked through 3-5 sprints, they should be ready to fly solo This will allow the team to grow their skills in new situations by applying concepts learned in training and pairing Teams will make mistakes in this phase – Mistakes are part of the learning process – Mistakes are OK

© 2011 VersionOne 15 Sharing When team members are ready, they can be transferred to a new team to guide and lead their transition – Option 1: Remove members of original team – Option 2: Pairing Set expectations - Velocity on the original team will be reduced

© 2011 VersionOne 16 Agile Team Progression

© 2011 VersionOne 17 Infection Rates 10% of a team will infect the other 90% – It is critical that the 10% is positive, knowledgeable and evangelizing agile concepts When removing resources from a productive team to create a new one, you do not want to remove more than 10%

© 2011 VersionOne 18 Enablers Management support Team spaces Empowerment

© 2011 VersionOne 19 Management

© 2011 VersionOne 20 Management Support Learning is a process, mistakes will happen Management needs to transform along with the team Command/Control “Approver” Work Assignor Coach Mentor Remover of Roadblocks Transition Beware the “middle manager conundrum”

© 2011 VersionOne 21 Team Spaces Functional, not fancy – Elbow room for pairing and collaboration – Dual monitors Stimulate teamwork and communication – Remove walls – Central location for card wall and stand-ups Do not break the bank

© 2011 VersionOne 22 Empowerment The team should be able to say “no” Encourage the team to take risks – Within guard rails

© 2011 VersionOne 23 Other Considerations Continuity Culture Organization

© 2011 VersionOne 24 Continuity Only a small part of overall team success is “Agile” Teams form a bond Teams must be kept together – Tuckman’s “law” is undefeated and untied…

© 2011 VersionOne 25 Culture Embrace the new culture Work to convert pessimists – Lack of understanding – Change Not everyone is “cut out” for agile

© 2011 VersionOne 26 Satir Model

© 2011 VersionOne 27 Organization Think local…act global Work to limit roadblocks this will cause the team frustrations

© 2011 VersionOne 28 Wrap-up Avoid “shock and awe” – Go slow and low… Set expectations – Mistakes – Not an overnight transformation Embrace psychological roadblocks of humans Allow the teams to evolve into high performing, motivated groups

© 2011 VersionOne 29 Questions

Building Agile Teams Brian Watson, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM1 Product and Agile