Unexpected Consequences of Agile: The Business Cares about People

In the late spring, early summer of 2012, I became the Scrum Master for a team that had already been Scrumming for about 2-3 months. They had a business customer from an area that did not have an historically good relationship with IT, and she was fully dedicated to the team. Over the next several months I helped the team overcome some of the largest obstacles that first-time teams typically face; as a result, the team got much closer to each other than they ever would have expected.

Then the time came to start another team. A couple of the members of the team were technically "on loan" and knew from the beginning that they'd eventually move off to this new team when the time came. So the "Resource" Managers let the Project Manager and developers know; the Project Manager let me know and went to the "appropriate" "Resource" Manager for the existing Scrum team to back-fill the developers. This was nothing new to them - it's how we always worked. The only real difference was that all of the developers who were being put on Scrum teams were only allocated to that one team, a concept that was totally new to our "Resource" Managers. All in all, we were pretty proud of ourselves.

What we didn't count on was the relationship that our Business Owner had developed with the development team. It used to be the business would hand the work off and we would do whatever we felt was necessary to get the work done. Moving people on and off of projects was status quo. Business Owners didn't know and didn't care who was working on their request.

About a Sprint before the change was to take place, we went disc golfing as a Scrum team building. We split into 2 groups (limited WIP) to keep from holding up traffic, and I ended up on the team with the Business Owner -- but NOT the PM. About 75% into the team building, I rather unfortunately made a passing remark that alluded to the two developers leaving the team soon. I was pressed for an explanation which, when given, completely deflated the mood of the activity. As if I wasn't bad enough at disc golf, I now had to throw through the now palpable tension.

The fallout of that experience taught us all that we can't ask for our business owners to get more involved and still treat them as if they weren't. I'm grateful that the failure was not only fast but relatively small, giving us a lesson that benefited us greatly later on when we had more teams and the stakes were higher. We're still learning about the new dynamic between IT and their business counterparts, but this one was particularly meaningful and memorable.

What lessons have you learned as Agile has reshaped your team dynamics? What cautionary tale would you share? I'd love to hear!

Tooting Your Own Horn

I’ve always been told that it’s a bad thing to “Toot your own horn”. This colloquialism typically refers to bragging or boasting. But if you view your horn as your accomplishments, I’ve come to the realization that you have to toot your own horn, or who will?

Obviously there are those out there that would be willing to give a toot or two. There are family members, close friends, and respected colleagues that would be willing to speak up at a moment’s notice. What they likely won’t do is go out of their way to talk someone else up without any nudging or coercion.

There are moments in life, plenty of them, actually, where it is perfectly acceptable – perhaps even vital – for “self tooting”. It just has to be done carefully. For example, I feel I’m due a promotion at work, especially since they took my last one away (they actually just eliminated the position altogether – my compensation was unaffected by the stripping of my title). Now, what I can’t do is bust into my boss’s office, guns blazing as it were, demanding the promotion that is rightfully mine whilst my bards and minstrels catalog my glorious accomplishments and sing accolades to the wonder that is me.

I’ll give you a moment for that imagery to set in.

This is what I can, and intend, to do. First, I’ve been keeping track of the things that I have done to benefit the company. I have participated in and even led minor projects successfully that my internal customers are now benefiting from. Next, I will sit down with my manager and outline these accomplishments, emphasizing both the benefit to the company and the translation to job skills that are required by the position I am seeking.

You may ask, “Shouldn’t your manager know all that already?” The reality is that, due to exceptional circumstances, I’ve spent 3½ months under my first manager, 1½ months without an official manager, 3½ months under my second manager, and now ½ a month under my third manager (who I will likely be reporting to for a while to come). However, even if I’d have had the same manager for the past 9 months I would not expect my manager to just know that I feel I’m ready for a promotion and why I believe I deserve it. Repeat after me: “If you can back it up then it’s not bragging. It’s a dissertation.” I just have to make sure that I stick to supporting my thesis or it might turn into bragging. If I can meet with my manager and engage her in open, honest dialogue, then we can at least get on the same page. But if I don’t “toot my own horn”, she’s not likely to hear anything.

Imitation – Flattery, or just good sense?

I’ve always heard that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. But in business that imitation isn’t usually intended to flatter the imitated – it’s intended to make money! The mantra “Good artists create, great artists steal” is still alive and well, as evidenced by LinkedIn’s recent updates.

Facebook is currently king of the social networking hill, and LinkedIn has recognized that, if they’re going to be taken seriously as a networking utility, they need to take a few leaves from Facebook’s, er, book. Of course, they’re still taking the business aspect very seriously, so I wouldn’t expect a “Hot or Not” module any time soon, but it’s only a matter of time before people find their work relationship status on LinkedIn.