Presented on 2nd October 2019 at the Global SAFe Summit 2019. When it comes to shaping agile teams, many organisations use a leader decides model. The design of the teams is often a very delicate balancing act. Skills, experience, subject matter expertise and personalities all need to be factored in and the end result is often less than ideal. So, what if we took a different approach? What if we let the people who are going to be in the teams decide for themselves which mix of skills, experience, subject matter expertise and personalities are going to work best? In this session you will learn how Sandy Mamoli & David Mole's approach to self-selection (aka Squadification) has been used with SAFe to empower people to choose who they work with. This warts and all tale from the trenches will arm you to attempt your own self-selection workshop when launching or reshaping Agile Release Trains. Learning Objectives: Explain the value of using self-selection to create teams Identify where the standard self-selection guidance needs to be modified for SAFe Prepare for & facilitate a self-selection event

1. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Self-Selection:
A SAFe Approach to Forming
Agile Release Trains

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3. http://nomad8.com/the-self-organising-organisation/
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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“Self-selection is a facilitated process of letting
people self-organize into small, cross-functional
teams. Based on the belief that people are at
their happiest and most productive if they can
choose what they work on and who they work
with…”
- Sandy Mamoli & David Mole, Creating Great Teams

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1.1© 2016 Scaled Agile, Inc. All Rights Reserved.V4.0.0 V4.0.4.1© 2016 Scaled Agile, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Leading SAFe®
4.0
with SA certification
Because better systems makes the world a better place

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What if no one
wants to work
with someone?
What if
someone gets
left out?
What if the
teams make the
wrong choices?
What if people
choose to work with
their friends?!?!

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Trust
the
Team
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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Define the
Constraints
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Minimise
Constraints
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Seven ± Two

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The Feature
vs.
Component
Teams debate

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Identify the
Scrum Masters

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Nominate the
Product Owners

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Determine where
the Managers fit

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Answer
FAQs

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How should I choose
a squad?

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When will I start with
my new squad?

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Can I be in more than
one squad?

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What should I do if I
can't be there on the
day?

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What about my current
work?

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I just want someone to
tell me where to go, can
you just put me in a
squad?!

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How long will I be
with my squad for?

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Where should I put my
photo if I just don't
know where to go?

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What if someone else is
already doing what I want
to do?

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ü Venue booked
ü Constraints agreed
ü FAQs written
ü Handouts printed
ü Product Owners briefed
ü Photos taken

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]

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40. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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Round 1 & 2

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ROUND 3 & 4

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Lessons
Learnt
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Don't assume everyone
knows everyone else
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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63. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Be crystal clear on your
expectations
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

64. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
For feature team ARTs:
Don’t seed the teams with
missions
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

65. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Communicate,
Communicate,
Communicate
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

66. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Re-Squadification
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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SM PO
i
?
Clearly
Define the
Constraints

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Scrum Master
&
Product Owner
Speed Dating

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70. Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/efuVjsz
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

71. Image source: https://flic.kr/p/78ahEy
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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Lessons
Learnt

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SMs & POs should not be
pitching the features they
hope to pull
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

75. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Be crystal clear on your
expectations
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

76. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Sometimes management
intervention is the right
call
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

77. Em Campbell-Pretty
Managing Director & SAFe® Fellow
@PrettyAgile
linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Communicate,
Communicate,
Communicate!
@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

78. Round 3
Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/pBtHHx@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

79. Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/6q5tx@PrettyAgile #notrainwreck

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The Result?
ü Only 3 rounds
ü No management intervention
ü Done in 40 minutes

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…whilst we have probably
invested significantly more
time up-front in planning the
event this time around, we have
landed in a better spot!

83. @PrettyAgile #notrainwreck
What was different?
ü Communication
ü Tie-breaker process
ü No Feature pitches
ü Clear Expectations

84. Em Campbell-Pretty
@PrettyAgile
blog.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@prettyagile.com w w w.prett ya gi l e .com
Check out my blog on Facilitating Self-Selection: http://bit.ly/FacilitatingSelfSelection