Agile talks a lot about self-organized teams, where developers and testers work together to deliver software. But what can you do to make teams succeed? This talk explores why people would like to work in teams, what managers can do to enable a team structure and culture, and how to (not) manage agile teams.
Teams what is in it for me - Agile Portugal 2019 - Ben Linders
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Ben Linders Consulting
Teams, what’s in it for me?
How to (not) manage teams
Agile Portugal 2019
Porto, Portugal, May 31, 2019
Ben Linders
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Ben Linders Consulting
Trainer / Coach / Adviser / Author / Speaker
Agile, Lean, Quality & Continuous improvement
Freelance Editor for InfoQ.com
BenLinders.com
Books: Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives What Drives Quality
Agile Self-assessment Game Continuous Improvement
Games: Agile Self-assessment Retrospective Bingo Retrospective Smells
Impediment Board Game Quality Cards Impediment Cards
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Ben Linders Consulting
Agile Team
people working together to deliver value to the
users of products or services and stakeholders
• Self-organized
• Deliver value
• Collaborative
• Learn and adjust
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Ben Linders Consulting
Why people hate working in teams
• unfair workload
• find it hard to work together
• depend too much on colleagues
• too much unclearness
• not getting credits you deserve
• work with people you dislike
• unclear roles or expectations
• unsure how what you contributes
• slowed down by colleagues
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Ben Linders Consulting
Why people hate working together
• unfair workload
• find it hard to work together
• depend too much on colleagues
• too much unclearness
• not getting credits you deserve
• work with people you dislike
• unclear roles or expectations
• unsure how what you contributes
• slowed down by colleagues
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Ben Linders Consulting
Let’s face it
You can't do it alone, you will have
to work together with other people
Better get better in working together
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Ben Linders Consulting
Why work in a team – WIFM?
Get more done together
Getting credit
Give and get help
Learn from each other
Camaraderie, belonging
Increased work satisfaction
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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Ben Linders Consulting
Benefits of Agile Teams
No micromanagement
Sustainable pace
Limit outside interference
Less unclearness
Improved communication
Better results
Making Agile Work for You
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Ben Linders Consulting
Organizing for Teamwork
Establish Stable Teams
Embrace Diversity
Short-cycled Improvement
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
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Ben Linders Consulting
Creating a Teamwork Culture
Guide Self-organization
Stimulate Collaboration
Foster Modern Leadership
Be an Example Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
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Ben Linders Consulting
What if it doesn’t work?
• Reflect & discuss
• Speak up
• Team working skills
• Get team coaching
Agile Retrospectives
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Ben Linders Consulting
How to not manage agile teams
• Don't call people resources
• Don’t micromanage
• Don’t put pressure on teams
• Don’t be a jerk
When in doubt: don’t do it and see what happens
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Ben Linders Consulting
How to do manage agile teams
• Listen
• Value collaboration
• Trust people
• Give them what they need
• Reward team results
• Drive out fear
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Ben Linders Consulting
One last thing
Managers are people too!
Stop using the term “management”, “business”, or “them”.
Call them by their name, respect them in the same way as
you want to be respected.
Managers come to work to do their job the best they can,
just like you.
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Ben Linders Consulting
Assessing your Agility
Over 70 tools:
• Self-Assessment checklists
• Readyness checks
• Maturity assessments
• Agile health checks
• Measurements
• And much more!
Agile Self-Assessments
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Ben Linders Consulting
Services for Agile Self-assessments
Services for assessing your agility and increase delivered value:
• In-house workshop for playing the Agile Self-assessment Game
• Public workshops to experience the Agile Self-assessment Game
• Agile assessment for your team, department, or organization
• Facilitation for playing the game at your event (conference, meetup,
hackathon, game lab, etc)
• Tailoring the Agile Self-assessment Game to your specific needs
• Licenses for playing the game
• …
Contact: benlinders@gmail.com +31 6 2901 3863
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Ben Linders Consulting
Continuous Improvement
Become aware of importance of continuous
improvement,
Explore how it’s engrained in agile software
development
Suggestions that you can use in your daily
work to improve continuously
Increase your organization's agility!
Leanpub.com/continuousimprovement
“Continuous Improvement is the act of continuously doing
whatever helps to become better and thus more valuable”