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Tag: Change Management

This is Change: Compassion, Losses, and Gains

Written by Gregg Brown, M.Sc, CTDP, PMP on . Posted in Articles. 11 Comments on This is Change: Compassion, Losses, and Gains

First off, as business analysts and project managers, I believe you are all leaders regardless of your job title, so keep that in mind as your read through this article.

When leaders, such as you, are confronted with executing change in the workplace, you are frequently looking at a difficult task. Staff can get confused, angry, distracted, stressed-out or afraid for their jobs, all of which can bring about decreased performance and lowered morale. How can a leader effectively actualize change while still maintaining employee productivity and motivation?

In order to re-establish productivity, balance, and profitability, leaders require a specific strategy. Supporting people through change must include techniques along with practical tools that a leader can apply to present or future changes in their workplace.

Related Article: From the Sponsor’s Desk: The 4 Pillars of Successful Change Management

So, how can you assist workers during change, particularly when you can’t slow down, stop what’s going on, or give them a chance to get settled at their own pace?

Here are some important approaches to support your colleagues through change:

COMPASSION

Yes, compassion! I know it sounds weird at work but stay with me. To start with, remember your own reaction when you first heard about the change and were seeking answers concerning the change. If the change impacted you positively, you might have accepted the change – yet most likely you still would’ve experienced some uncertainty.

If you perceived the change as negative, you may have been anxious, angry, or confused and experienced a range of other emotions your colleagues are currently encountering. It’s easy to forget that not everyone has had the time you had to understand the change. You are often discussing the change with your colleagues a couple of days, weeks or months after you first heard it AND after you’ve dealt with the change yourself. They may be hearing it for the first time.

When you’re planning to talk with your co-workers about a change, recalling your initial response can help you be more understanding of their challenges with the change, and to put proper avenues in place to help them adapt to the change. If appropriate, tell them your experiences and remember – not everyone has had the time you have, to process this change.

BE HONEST WITH WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOSING

Before you discuss the change with your colleagues, consider what will specifically change. What would your colleagues say they must relinquish doing, having or saying? For instance, when you are developing a new process, your co-workers may need to stop simply planning with a couple individuals, or thinking only about their part of the organization. If the new approach is designed to be more strategic and integrated, people will need to build new relationships and learn about other business units. People will have to step out of their comfort zone – the place that is easy and natural to be in. But for most people, when they need to change their behaviour, it’s hard; you have to give up something. It could be time, productivity, relationships or any other issue. When you understand this, it will make it simpler for you as the change agent to be more patient – and just as importantly, to facilitate that discussion.

WHATS NEW?

It’s likewise helpful to consider what’s new. What do your colleagues need to start doing that they have not done before? For instance, some changes may be procedural: incorporating new stakeholders in a planning meeting. Other changes may require additional skill development or new ways of thinking. If part of a new process includes how that process is going to influence and be used by the entire organization, they may have to learn new skills of collaborative negotiation, influence and strategic thinking to be effective in implementing the change. This doesn’t happen overnight. All of us require time to adapt to the change. Be specific about what will be new. What do you want people to think, feel, behave and do following the change. If you can’t see the end result– no one can!

Join Gregg at Project World * BA World – Toronto – May 9-12, 2016 where he will be a keynote speaker – Building Leadership Resilience: 5 Strategies for Business Analysts & Project Managers to Increase Their Effectiveness During Change

From the Sponsor’s Desk: Cultivating Culture

Written by Drew Davison on . Posted in Articles. 5 Comments on From the Sponsor’s Desk: Cultivating Culture

A recent article by Jay W. Lorsch and Emily McTague in the Harvard Business Review suggests that placing major emphasis on changing an organization’s culture is putting the cart before the horse.

In the article, entitled Culture is Not the Culprit, Lorsch and McTague suggest that “cultural change is what you get after you’ve put new processes or structures in place to tackle tough business challenges like reworking an outdated strategy or business model. The culture evolves as you do that important work.”

But what should you do if your organization already has a great culture and you simply want to reinforce and expand those essential beliefs, values, and behaviours? Focus on improving strategy execution, process performance and organizational agility to build the culture? Or, recognize and enhance the existing culture to entrench and improve organizational performance?

In this post, we’ll look at the approach one organization took to build their organizational capability. It focused explicitly on leveraging their widely recognized cultural attributes. It cultivated culture!

 culture.fw

Thanks to M.A. for the details on this case.

The Situation

This automotive services organization had an open, collaborative and supportive, some would even say fun, work environment. There were lots of smiles and lots of engaged discussions on how to best solve their customers’ needs. Among the 200 plus full and part time staff, everyone knew each other’s first names, from the president on down. Their voluntary staff turnover was ridiculously low, usually due to a spouse moving out of town. New employees were introduced to the entire store over the course of their first day, with customers joining in the celebration. The company’s profit sharing plan allowed everyone to participate in their shared success.

The Service Manager, let’s call him Andrew, was a big booster of the organization’s culture. It made it easy for him and his staff to come to work every day. But he was concerned. The company was undergoing a significant expansion and would be increasing staffing levels by as much as twenty-five percent over the next eighteen months. He wanted to find ways of ensuring the culture was extended to and embraced by the new employees. Doing so would ensure the expansion would yield the planned returns for everyone, old and new alike.

One idea Andrew had was to capture “heroic” actions performed by staff for their customers. He witnessed first-hand “above and beyond the call of duty actions” by his staff. He heard regularly of similar performances from staff in other parts of the organization. He thought if he could record these occurrences as they happened and play them back to staff on a regular basis, the culture would be revealed and reinforced.

Related Article: From the Sponsor’s Desk – Measuring Key Stakeholder Satisfaction

Andrew reviewed the idea with his General Manager and President. They liked the idea enough to agree on a trial and proceed from there, either to abandon, implement or expand the initiative based on the results.

The Goal

Capture and share instances of heroic employee effort on behalf of their customers to demonstrate, sustain and reinforce the company’s cultural beliefs, values and behaviours going forward. The specific metrics agreed to included employee awareness (% staff who reviewed the stories), employee support (degree to which staff found the stories worthwhile) and comments and suggestions to increase the effectiveness of the effort. The initial trial was to run for three months.

The Project

The GM agreed to arrange some assistance from the Advertising Department to document and package the stories for publication in the monthly newsletter. They also helped prepare the announcement regarding the launch of the program trial.

The GM introduced the program to his department heads and asked them to submit possible stories to Advertising for consideration. Andrew was familiar with a number of events in his own organization that he thought would make good reading for the first month’s publication and selected three to start:

  • A customer booked an appointment to have snow tires installed. The tires he ordered were the most expensive, top-of-the-line tires available. When the customer arrived to have the tires installed, the service advisor asked him why he had chosen those specific tires and what type of driving conditions he normally encountered. Based on the customer’s response, the service advisor suggested another tire that would suit his needs just as well and save him hundreds of dollars in the process.

The customer was surprised that a company would actually suggest a lower priced product. But, after he thought it over, he decided to go with the recommended tire. A week after the appointment, the customer called the Andrew to say how thrilled he was with his new tires and what a pleasant surprise it was to encounter a service advisor who was more interested in his needs than company profits. He declared himself a customer for life.

  • A customer arrived with his daughter’s car to have a persistent leak from the back end investigated. The customer’s daughter was attending college in town, and the customer had given her the fifteen-year-old family car to get around. When the mechanic put the car on the hoist, he found a leaking gas tank. He also found a rusting structure holding the tank in place, rusting suspension and brake components and a badly rusting frame. He suggested to the service advisor that the car should be towed to the wreckers.

The service advisor informed the customer of the mechanic’s findings. Of course, the customer was aghast. He asked if there wasn’t some short term fix they could perform to get the car back on the road for the remaining five months of the school year. He argued that he didn’t have the cash do buy another car for his daughter with all the costs of sending her to school out of town. Apparently he lived more than a hundred miles away. The service advisor was sympathetic and conferred with the mechanic, but he was adamant. The car was a safety hazard and could not be repaired in any fashion to make it safe. The service advisor offered to have the car towed to the wrecker and a taxi for the customer to get back to his daughter’s residence where he had left his own car. The customer reluctantly agreed.

Later that day, the customer called the GM to express his gratitude for their professional assistance. Apparently, when the customer gave the bad news to his daughter about her car, she wasn’t disappointed in the least. None of her friends had cars. They all used the public transit system. She planned to do the same. The customer was most appreciative of the honest advice and impressed that the company had turned down a quick profit from replacing the gas tank in the interests of his daughter’s safety. He vowed to bring his own car in for service when he visited town to see his daughter. And he did!

  • A young woman brought her car in to have a “clunking” noise in the front end checked out. When the mechanic put the car on the hoist and did his investigation, he found severely worn suspension components that were on their very last legs. He passed the findings on to the service advisor to get approval for the needed repairs.

The service advisor informed the customer of the findings and gave her an estimate for the repairs. He mentioned the car wasn’t safe to drive in its current state. The customer groaned and put her head in her hands. She had recently been laid off and didn’t have the money to pay for something that expensive. The service advisor consulted with the mechanic about possible options. The mechanic volunteered to check out a couple of wrecking yards for the needed parts after his shift ended to see if he could save the customer some money. They explained the option to the customer, and she accepted. They sent her home in a cab.

The mechanic visited the wrecking yards on his way home and managed to find the needed parts in decent shape. He called the service advisor at home, and they agreed to charge the customer cost plus labour for the repairs. The service advisor called the customer that evening and gave her the good news. She was thrilled. The next day the mechanic completed the repairs, and the customer drove off in her car, now safe and sound. That afternoon she called the GM to express her gratitude for the friendly, professional service she had received. It was above and beyond expectations!

The Advertising staff assigned to the trial reviewed the submissions and accepted four for publication, including the three from the Service Manager. It was an automotive services company after all! A week later the monthly newsletter went out with the usual content, plus the stories, and great anticipation.

The Results

Two weeks after the newsletter went out, the Advertising staff conducted a survey to find out staff reaction. 212 management and staff were surveyed. 162 surveys were returned producing the following results:

  • % staff who reviewed the stories: 82% (133 of 162)
  • Degree to which staff found the stories worthwhile, out of the 133 who had reviewed the stories:

davisonAprilchart

It was obvious from the results that, of those who had reviewed the stories, the vast majority, over 85%, found them worthwhile. That was great news. As well, there were a number of terrific suggestions, including:

  • Interview the customers involved and, if possible, put the stories in the customers’ words.
  • Recognize the employees involved including cash, service and/or merchandise bonuses.
  • To demonstrate the challenges as well as the successes, include stories where the staff was unable, in spite of trying their hardest, to satisfy a customer’s needs.
  • Make videos of the customers, their comments, and comments from the employees involved and put them on the company’s intranet.
  • Incorporate the stories into the formal and online training programs offered by the company.

These and other suggestions were included in the program over the following months. The customers involved in these stories were, almost universally, more than willing to talk about their experiences and what the services they received meant to them and their families. One of the downsides from the program was the sheer volume of incidents submitted to the Advertising staff for consideration, from two or three a week initially to over ten a day on occasion. The submission process was formalized a bit more, and a staff review committee was formed to manage the volume and assess and select the top candidates for recognition and further documentation. However, the president and GM made sure that they personally acknowledged every submission received and confirmed by the review committee.

Typically, there wasn’t a day that went by where you wouldn’t hear at least a couple of staff members chatting about the latest heroic exploit. Cultivating culture!

How Great Leaders Enhanced Their Corporate Culture

I really enjoyed writing about this case. Listening to M.A., the contributor, talk about the company, the often out-of-the-ordinary responses to customer needs, the program launch and trial and the results achieved left me with a perpetual smile. But there are some very significant lessons here for anyone involved in or leading change:

  • Recognize your assets, liabilities, and risks – This program wouldn’t have happened if Andrew hadn’t recognized the significant contribution culture made to corporate performance and the risks to that vital asset from the planned expansion.
  • Sponsorship – Chances are this program would have failed if Andrew had tried to run it on his own. By getting buy-in and support from the president and GM, he was able to get the other departments onside and engage support from Advertising to run it professionally.
  • Just try it! – Andrew had a concern and an idea. It wasn’t the final solution, but it was enough to get the president and GM to get on board. They saw enough value to give it a go and see what happened. The rest is history.
  • Collaborate! – This whole program was about recognizing and growing the pervasive collaborative culture to satisfy customers’ needs. The program and the organization succeeded by cultivating that culture.
  • Measure – Andrew, the president and the GM all understood measurement of the trial results was essential. Measurement not only provided the foundation for the go/no-go decision, but it also enabled the adaption and fine tuning that followed. They didn’t have a lot of metrics, but they had just enough meaningful indicators for what was needed.

We started this post with the view from Lorsch and McTague that cultural change evolves from fundamental changes to core strategies, processes, and practices. This post suggests that perhaps one can tackle cultural enhancement directly with equal success. It’s always nice to have options, isn’t it? So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, put these points on your checklist of things to do in future endeavours so you too can be a Great Leader. And remember, use Project Pre-Check’s three building blocks covering the key stakeholder group, the decision management process and Decision Framework best practices right up front so you don’t overlook these key success factors.

Finally, thanks to everyone who has willingly shared your experiences for presentation in this blog. Everyone benefits. First-time contributors get a copy of one of my books. Readers get insights they can apply to their own unique circumstances. So, if you have a project experience, good, bad and everything in between, send me the details, and we’ll chat. I’ll write it up and, when you’re happy with the results, Project Times will post it so others can learn from your insights. Thanks

Meetings: How Can We Make Them Better?

Written by George Pitagorsky on . Posted in Articles. 4 Comments on Meetings: How Can We Make Them Better?

Imagine yourself sitting in a meeting, hearing a colleague drone on about some detailed topic that you don’t really care to know about,.

The meeting is beyond the agenda that you thought would be covered, and the meeting is running over the time you planned to use to accomplish a task that requires your full attention and has a deadline.

How pleasant is that? How productive?

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Meetings are a part of life. There are millions of them. According to the online media provider Fuze, more than 65% of meetings are failures, costing organizations $37 Billion per year1. People say “They’re boring. They’re useless. Everyone hates them. So why can’t we stop having meetings?”2

Why are they useless and boring? Does everyone hate them? Why? How can we make them better?

Who Goes to Meetings

Paul Graham’s perspective on meetings involves a split between managers and makers. He views meetings as useful, saying that Managers require meetings to do their jobs. “But there are Makers too – poetic souls whose well-being can be shattered by an ill-timed “sync,” … They require “Maker hours” – long unspoiled afternoons … rich, solitary, germinative time. … Makers flourish in four-hour long stretches, which absolutely must … be kept unblemished by meetings.”3

Being both a manager and a “Maker” I can relate to and accept that perspective. Solid solitary time for creating and relieving stress is a critical success factor. So are the right meetings at the right times.

If we include work sessions in which two or people collaborate, there is another class of player that the Manager/Maker model leaves out – the analyst/designer who by the nature of their jobs must combine meeting time and “Maker” time. The analysts and designers have meetings for the purpose of accomplishing creative work in groups rather than meetings in which managers initiate, plan, prioritize and monitor. Analysts need to meet with subject matter experts, designers, and developers. Designers and problem solvers co-create, validate and present solutions in meetings. Analysts and designers also need “Maker” time to complete their work.

In addition, there are meetings which cut across the Manager-Maker-Analyst-Designer spectrum. These meetings are forums for raising and addressing administrative and interpersonal process issues. These are often the most difficult to arrange and manage and can be the most valuable.

Are Meetings Really Useless?

Are meetings useless? Some are, and some aren’t. Useful meetings resolve issues, keep people abreast of what is going on, do things that require collaboration and promote healthy teamwork.

There are also useless meetings.

A meeting is like a project; it is useful if it achieves the meeting’s objectives. If the objectives are to inform people of a project’s status and issues and to promote group ownership of the project, then there is success if people come away knowing what’s going on and they have a sense of being on the same team. If the objective of another meeting is to make decisions about a business process or system function, then the measure of success is a clear, written statement of the decision or the open issues. If the meeting wasn’t useful in achieving some business related or project related goal then, even if the meeting’s objectives were met the meeting was a waste of time, a failure.

Why are meetings boring?

Are meetings boring? Some are, and some aren’t. The boring ones are the ones that are not meaningful to you, where you don’t care about the content and where you are not paying attention.

If attendees are the right people, and they know why they are there and what is expected of them, that stimulates interest and motivates the attention that defeats boredom. Make sure you facilitate to stop long-winded detours into the weeds when the meeting is about the bigger picture.

If you do get invited to a meeting that you have no interest in and you can’t opt out, you can make the best of it by being mindfully aware of what is going on, including your boredom. In other words, make yourself interested in the meeting, as if you were going to be tested on the content and asked to critic the way the meeting was held. If you can, informally and subtly facilitate to avoid the causes of boredom.

Why does everyone hate them?

Does everyone hate meetings? Some do, and some don’t. Most people hate being bored and wasting their time in useless meetings. They hate meetings that interrupt and keep them from doing their “maker” work on schedule.

The Causes of Useless, Boring Meetings

Everything has a cause. Finding the cause is a critical step to finding a solution.

Why are so many meetings failures? Here are some common causes.

  • Lack of clear objectives, agenda and expected time per topic
  • Not sticking to the agenda
  • The wrong participants
  • Unprepared participants
  • Multi-tasking and otherwise being disengaged
  • One or a few people monopolizing the meeting
  • Lack of a written recap or minutes
  • Tantrums, tirades and other emotional outbursts

Can you think of others? If you can send them in and we can add them to the list.

How can we make them better?

To make them better overcome the causes of useless, boring and meaningless meetings. If you organize meetings:

  • Make sure they are aligned with organizational and project goals to accomplish something meaningful.
  • Clearly state the agenda and objectives.
  • Invite the right people and let them know what is expected of them.
  • Set and stick to a reasonable duration that matches the agenda.
  • Facilitate so that one or two people do not monopolize and so that the meeting stays on topic and at the right level of detail.
  • Arrange a suitable and comfortable meeting environment, whether virtual or physical
  • Recap regularly.
  • Ensure that there are minutes to document the meeting and a plan to act on decisions and address open issues.
  • Have a little fun, or, at least, don’t make the meeting an unpleasant chore.
  • Evaluate your meetings from time to time to see if they are good ones and if they are getting better.

As an individual attendee, take responsibility for paying attention and making the best of it even if you think the meeting is a total waste of your time and you cannot escape. Given the choice between sitting there bored and fuming or mindfully paying attention so that you are using the time and experience productively, why would you choose bored and fuming?

[1] http://digitalsynopsis.com/tools/meetings-are-a-waste-of-time/
[2]NY Times Magazine Feb 28, 2016, “Meet is Murder” by Virginia Heffernan, p. 29
[3]NY Times Magazine Feb 28, 2016, “Meet is Murder” by Virginia Heffernan, p.30

Keys to Success for Growth

Written by Lisa Anderson on . Posted in Articles. 5 Comments on Keys to Success for Growth

My clients across all manufacturing and distribution-related industries ranging from small, family-owned businesses to multi-billion dollar corporations have one item in common – growth. 

More than 80% are experiencing relatively substantial growth while the remaining 20% are muddling along with slight growth figures.  When companies grow, projects can become even more critical.  Cash is needed to fund growth.  Customer service must remain intact, even though it can be more challenging to succeed during periods of significant growth.  Profitability needs to continue to grow to support the growth and to leverage assets.  Keeping up with the people requirements can be a challenge.  Thus, we need to be stronger in periods of growth to ensure success.  I’ve found that the key to success is to get back to the core:  1) Start with people.  2) Develop a simple project timeline. 3) Follow-up is vital.

1.     Start with people – The project leader is number one to whether your project will deliver the expected results. Your team is a close number two.  Unfortunately, I often see project leaders and teams come up in the last position. In these cases, people are an after-thought. Often, the issue is that everyone has full-time jobs to do already.  And, in times of growth, most top quality potential project leaders are already maxed out.

As a former VP of Operations, I fully understand this dilemma. Instead of assigning those who are available to what could be a project that could have far-reaching impacts that add up much faster than you’d ever think ($500,000 – $1,000,000 isn’t uncommon) and directly impact key customers, take a step back and think about the best person to lead the project. There are countless ways to handle the talent shortage, so don’t let these challenges dictate your decision.  For example, you could reallocate work, bring in outside help, or provide tools to support the team.  Don’t let this be an excuse for not staffing your critical project properly.

The project leader doesn’t have to be a full-time resource – it all depends on the project. And, do not get caught up in thinking that your project leader has to be a guru in creating complex project timelines, as it has little to do with success. Instead, ensure that your project leader has the leadership skills and experience to effectively lead the project team, collaborate with all related parties, and is organized and focused on the project outcomes/results. In my experience with multiple $1 million+ successful projects, this is will make or break success.

2.     Develop a simple project timeline – There is no need for complex project timelines that require a complicated software program to develop and a Ph.D. to understand. Instead, develop an understandable timeline with major milestones and accountabilities. Keeping it simple works!

In working on countless projects over the years, I’ve found the critical aspects of the timeline to be the following: 1) clarifying the key dependent tasks; 2) the critical path milestones; 3) clear, agreed-upon ownership and accountabilities. It is amazing how many times I’ve seen the timeline fall apart either by focusing on non-critical path tasks to the detriment of the critical path tasks or due to a lack of clarity about the accountabilities. An easy yet effective rule of thumb is that a team cannot own a task. Instead, assign the task to one task owner.  This owner can coordinate with as many participants as needed to get the task done; however, there should be one, ultimate owner who is accountable.

3.     Follow-up is vital – Undoubtedly, my number one secret weapon to achieving success on-time, on-budget, and on-results on wide-ranging projects consistently is follow-up. This seemingly simple yet often overlooked action achieves amazing results. Does your project leader follow-up?

What are the keys to success with follow-up? And when should you follow-up? Follow-up with your project team on critical path milestones.  Start by making sure they are clear and accountabilities are established.  Then, follow-up on critical path tasks and milestones just prior to the start of the task. Do what makes sense.  If resources are required, follow-up so that you have enough time to work through potential issues so that they can start on-time.  Do not waste time on non-critical path tasks, as they will become a major distraction to the detriment of the critical path. Keep the team focused on the critical path. Remind critical path task owners when their deadlines are approaching. Ask if they have questions, concerns, roadblocks, etc. Don’t wait until the project falls behind. Instead, proactively follow-up to ensure the critical path stays on schedule.

Aggressively tackle any roadblocks in the way of achieving the critical path. Encourage, appreciate and thank the project task owners. Remind them how their task fits into the big picture and how the project’s outcomes are of value to the organization. Follow-up on critical finances. Don’t get lost in a debate over a few dollars. However, be extremely vigilant on the critical expenditures and those related to the critical path.

Every executive wants to continue to grow.  Thus, they need projects to deliver results on-time and on-budget.  Instead of getting bogged down in the latest, complex project planning software and process, continually follow these three key steps, and you’ll achieve significant project results – and grow your business.

Creating Self-Directed Teams – A Question of SPACE

Written by Robert Galen on . Posted in Articles. 7 Comments on Creating Self-Directed Teams – A Question of SPACE

Over the past few months, I’ve been coaching my clients who are in the early stages of adopting Agile approaches for software. Most of them are adopting Scrum, but a few are adopting Kanban.

Universally, one of their complaints is that their teams aren’t “stepping up” to the

  • Empowerment
  • Responsibility
  • Accountability
  • Passion & Energy
  • Creativity

that is implied as part of the culture of self-directed, Agile teams.

To say that they are disappointed is an understatement. And these comments are coming from all levels of the client leadership teams.

But it may not be the team’s fault

I have a shock for these folks. It may not be the teams that are the problem in these situations. It may be the leadership team that is still standing in the way of the team’s self-organization.

How, might you ask?

Well, lately I’ve been referring to the problem as – not giving the team enough SPACE, space to grow, to become autonomous, to become self-directed.

You see self-direction doesn’t just happen because you adopt Scrum, Kanban, or another Agile variant, or because you say ‘Agile’ twenty times to your teams. It needs a fertile space to grow. It needs to be watered and fertilized.

Related Article: How Kanban Can Change Your Life

It needs an honest environment.In far too many cases, this is simply not happening.

So what are the aspects of Self-Directed SPACE? Let’s explore a few that come to mind.

Managers – stop managing

The first element is for your managers to stop “managing”. In other words, stop trying to tell people what to do, estimating their work for them, or solving their problems for them.

I usually share the notion of “push” vs. “pull” to managers who are making the transition to Agile. You want to resist “pushing” yourself into the teams at all cost –the less frequently, the better. However, IF the teams ask you for help, or otherwise “pull” you into the team, then indeed assist your team. Push reduces their autonomy while pull supports it.

Be careful what you measure

Measures often drive behavior. For example, if you measure code complete milestones within sprints, then you’re emphasizing development-done rather than a whole-team done focus. So don’t be shocked if your team doesn’t gel as a good Agile team. It’s probably because of the way you’re measuring or incenting them.

I remember once doing an Agile training activity for a Ukrainian team. I spent a couple of hours emphasizing the mindset of agility, including the collaborative aspects. Near the end, one young man raised his hand and said:

But Bob, we are not incented to work together. Our compensation model and bonus structure is solely focused on individual performance. I don’t care about my team member’s performance or helping them; I only care about myself.

At that point, I respectively closed the class.  

Team Leads

I’ve run into quite a few organizations of late that have the notion of “Team Leads” within their Agile teams. Quite often they’re also serving as Scrum Masters. In general, I’ve found that anytime a team member is declared a “lead” they’ll have a requisite of “followers”. That is, the self-directed nature of the team succumbs to the leader. Not always, but often.

If I can, I try not to create unnecessary hierarchies within Agile teams. I want the leadership to emerge from each team member as appropriate and as the situations dictate. You see, in a self-directed team, anyone and everyone can and should lead as appropriate.

Language

The language you use becomes very important. Do you reference developers, as “development” and do you reference testers as “test”? Or do you reference your teams as cross-functional teams?

I try to change my language to deemphasize organizational silos and instead leverage team language whenever possible. And I encourage all leaders to do the same. I’ve found the language we use (verbal, tone, body) sets an incredibly important tone with organizations. And the emphasis from an Agile point of view should be on the team.

Team organization

One of the craziest ways to build an Agile team is to connect a disparate group of remote folks from around the world and then call them a team.

I often get challenged that remote Agile teams simply don’t work. But, when I explore the dynamics that the challenger is talking about, I find the resulting organization structure to be, can I say this, insane.

Try to build your teams as sensibly as possible. Co-locate as many as you can, have as few time zones between them as you can, and support them with collaborative tooling. And, when you form your teams, pay the price to get them all in one place to kick things off.  Here’s another related article.

Scrum Masters

I don’t know what it is about today’s organizations, but I encounter so many who aren’t willing to pay for Scrum Masters – or at least experienced, it’s my job, Scrum Masters. Why? Often it’s because they don’t understand the role. They trivialize it and minimize the need for it. But Scrum clearly states that solid teams include the Scrum Master. It’s an important part of a Scrum team, and it’s not a side-effort. It’s a full-time role or job within the team.

I also believe it’s a crucial one. Sure, perhaps not the simpler parts of the role – like impediment remover. But the parts that include coaching the team and guiding them towards continuous improvement, effective collaboration, and high-quality delivery.

Give your team space by providing them with a focused and capable Scrum Master – then support the Scrum Master with ongoing training, coaching, and mentoring.

Failure and Discovery

I often talk to leaders making the transition to Agile about enabling or empowering their teams to try new approaches and to possibly support failure.

The room usually goes quiet, and everyone gives me a look like I’m trying to sell them a bridge in Manhattan. There’s almost a universal reaction that – Bob, we don’t fail around here, so please don’t mention the ‘F’-word.

The reality is that failure is a part of learning and a part of success. It lies at the core of innovation and creativity. And as leaders we need to create or encourage an environment of risk-taking, learning, and exploration within our teams. That is if we want them to grow and learn and become an outstanding team. Here’s another related article.

We also need to trust their intentions related to this journey.

Let the team solve their challenges

I liken many managers to birds circling their teams, ready at a moment’s notice to swoop in and save the day.

A few years ago, I worked with a manager who I’ll call Bob. Bob was an incredibly experienced and knowledgeable manager. His intentions were also good, that is, all he wanted to do is help his teams and our business to succeed.

When his teams struggled a bit or encountered an obstacle, in a few seconds, Bob was there to help them. He would leverage his vast experienced and essentially tell them how to handle the situation.

The Scrum Masters on Bob’s teams has a term for this. They would tell me that Bob swooped in today. In fact, some of them kept a swoop-ometer to keep track of the number of swoops.

As I coached Bob, you see he reported to me, I told him that this behavior was detrimental to the teams becoming independent and self-directed. That he was inadvertently taking things on himself rather than allowing the team to face and solve their challenges. In other words, I told him to stop it!

Wrapping Up

For you Star Trek fans outer space was always – The Final Frontier. I beg to differ. I now think that team space is the final frontier.

It may be just as hard (or harder) to achieve than leaving earth’s orbit on another adventure. Why, because traditional management techniques and approaches are a strong part of our DNA and incredibly hard to shift away from.

But if your goal is to foster a sustainable, empowered, trusted, and engaged self-directed team, then shift you must.

Engage #1 Stay Agile my friends,

Bob.