Building Agile Teams
Brian Watson, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM1
Product and Agile Coach
@bdub1pmp
brian@versionone.com
Agenda
• Team Building Analogy
• Enablers
• Other Considerations
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Team Building
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Analogy
• Growing Agile teams is like learning to
fly a plane….
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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
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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
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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
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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…
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Teams…
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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)
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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
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Agile Team Schematic
Product Owner
Transition
Coach
New Dev
Pairing
Experienced
Dev
New SM
Pairing
Experienced
SM
New BA
Pairing
Experienced
BA
New QA
Pairing
Experienced
QA
New UX
Pairing
Experienced
UX
Formal
Training
Management
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Cost/Benefit Analysis
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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
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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
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Agile Team Progression
Knowledge
Skill
Confidence/Desire
Pre-CSM Post-CSM Pairing
Training Training
Flying
Sharing
Solo
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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%
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Enablers
• Management support
• Team spaces
• Empowerment
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Management
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Management Support
• Learning is a process, mistakes will happen
• Management needs to transform along with the
team
Command/Control
“Approver”
Work Assignor
Transition
Coach
Mentor
Remover of
Roadblocks
Beware the “middle manager conundrum”
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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
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Empowerment
• The team should be able to say “no”
• Encourage the team to take risks
– Within guard rails
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Other Considerations
• Continuity
• Culture
• Organization
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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…
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Culture
• Embrace the new culture
• Work to convert pessimists
– Lack of understanding
– Change
• Not everyone is “cut out” for agile
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Satir Model
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Organization
• Think local…act global
• Work to limit roadblocks this will cause the team
frustrations
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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
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Questions
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Building Agile Teams
Brian Watson, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM1
Product and Agile Coach
brian@versionone.com
@bdub1pmp
http://www.linkedin.com/in/bdub1pmp