Four Steps Beyond Just Start: Part III: Develop the Team

Welcome to part 3.  In the last two articles I talked about assessment and organizing the work.  Before we get started on part 3, i want to remind you that the order that we activate these steps is dependent on the original assessment and subsequent retrospectives.  It is super important that the team as a whole play a big role in deciding and embracing what work we will do during these process development sprints.  Oh yeah, each one of these steps should be taken as an agile process development sprint, mixed into a delivery sprint (where possible).

Building an effective team is absolutely essential for long term success.  A team is a living thing made up of living things.  Like all living things, a team needs care and feeding everyday.  For this step, we will focus on how we lay the ground work for a team that will grow into a wonder to behold.

The main goal of this step is to create and maintain a common purpose that the team can articulate and build their culture around.  Yes, i know i just said culture.  It is a word that gets bandied about anytime we try to make any change to an organization, and especially when we try to “go agile”.  

“But how do you change the culture?” This question can grow to be the #1 barrier to making your organization more agile.  It can be used as an excuse and as false flag: “Well, yes we love this Agile idea, but we have to change the culture first.”  or “Oh no, change the culture?, that sounds hard…better not try it”.  But that attitude has it wrong.  No need to change your culture before you go agile because agile is the thing, that if you do it well, will change the culture to a more positive work world.

So, before i get into the meat of this step, let me talk about what culture actually is.  Culture is the collective understanding that a group has about itself, based on what the individual people in the group think.  This identity is spread and reinforced by the stories the people in the group tell, the activities they participate in together, and the values that the people in the group hold.  Culture is people acting on their values.  Changing culture for the better is about identifying the groups better angels, by allowing them to express those positive values through self organizing action. 

Enough opining now to the Steps:

  1. Have the team articulate their values as a team and discuss the values of the larger organization
  2. Have the team list their “pocket principles” about what Agile means to them
  3. Take a Break
  4. Work on a common mission statement for the team that is informed by those values
  5. Write some goals that the team wants to meet to reach that mission
  6. Write user stories about activities the team will perform to help reach its process goals
  7. Prioritize the Stories
  8. Pick a Story and work it.
  9. Perform Retrospective
  10. Make changes, groom the backlog and repeat 7-10

In order to charge down the list, you'll need a few tools:

  1. Someone who is good at facilitating:  This is really important
  2. Enough time to let people talk and think, and so you can finish the discussions you start
  3. A big enough room where people can move around and have enough personal space
  4. Bring snacks 

Why it Works

The #1 most important thing that has to be present for the team do really thrive is trust.  Trust like many massively important concepts is complex and made of smaller parts.  People will define trust in different ways, but there are some core things that trust always requires. Trust requires all four items listed:

  1. Competence
  2. Reliability
  3. Integrity
  4. Communication

The team building step helps create trust by building on these cores pieces by letting the individuals in the team display and exercise these factors, while they are actually working toward a product the team shares the benefit of.  Perfect way to build trust.  This step also builds the teams mastery of collaboration skills, and importantly, the feeling that they are learning, achieving focus and making a difference in the organization.  All these things lead to high morale.

We also may find that there are some gaps in the team regarding one or some of these factors.  The good news is that in this step, these issues will be exposed, so that they can be addressed before we get too far down the line.  The other good news is that each factor can be developed with practice, training or mentorship.

Super important is that the team discovers the issues themselves, honestly talks about them and devises the remedy, together.  This is why having an experienced facilitator is so important.  People have feelings; feelings must be heard and addressed.  It is touchy stuff, but gaps need to be addressed as early as possible. Facing trust gaps, in and of it self, builds trust. Building trust is the best way to make your teams resilient, innovative, flexible and happy.

If you need help building the team, I can help.  Pop me an email at doug.birgfeld@theagilewave if you like.

Stay tuned for Part IV

douglas birgfeldComment