Role of the ScrumMaster Notice: Much of this content is courtesy of and copyright of Pete Behrens, Agile Organization & Process Coach

Role of theScrumMaster

Notice: Much of this content is courtesy of and copyright of Pete Behrens, Agile Organization & Process Coachwww.trailridgeconsulting.com

© Trailridge Consulting, LLC and Leffingwell, LLC 2007

http://www.trailridgeconsulting.com/

© 2009 Trailridge Consulting LLC & Leffingwell, LLC

Class Objectives

Review WHAT Scrum is Focus on the HOW and WHY it works Role play many situations and scenarios to deepen

our understanding of Scrum Provide an agile leadership model to make it effective Share and discuss your experiences, questions, and

concerns in applying it

2


Agenda

Background of Scrum Meetings In Scrum Roles in Scrum Agile Leadership Team Dysfunction Adopting Scrum

3


Exercise: Scrum Redux

Form groups of three

Describe Scrum in 50 words or less

4


Scrum

5


Problem

We are skilled problem solvers, experts at devising long-lasting solutions.

The problem in our profession is not process or technology … it is people and dysfunctional interactions. It can only be solved person by person.

Scrum provides the mechanism for making the people problems apparent so they can be solved

6


Scrum Origins

The New, New Product Development

Game*Lean

Iterative, Incremental

Development, Time-boxes

Smalltalk Engineering Tools

Scrum

7


Scrum Origins

“The… ‘relay race’ approach to product development…may conflict with the goals of

maximum speed and flexibility. Instead a holistic or ‘rugby’ approach—where a team

tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth—may better serve today’s

competitive requirements.”

“The… ‘relay race’ approach to product development…may conflict with the goals of

maximum speed and flexibility. Instead a holistic or ‘rugby’ approach—where a team

tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth—may better serve today’s

competitive requirements.”Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka,“The New New Product Development

Game” Harvard Business Review, January 1986.

8


Scrum Origins

Jeff Sutherland Initial scrums at Easel Corp in 1993 IDX and 500+ people doing Scrum

Ken Schwaber ADM Scrum presented at OOPSLA 96 with

Sutherland Author of three books on Scrum

Mike Beedle Scrum patterns in PLOPD4

Ken Schwaber and Mike Cohn Co-founded Scrum Alliance in 2002

9


Scrum Core

Scrum is an agile process that focuses on delivering the highest business value in the shortest time

Scrum provides rapid and repeated inspection of actual working software (two weeks to one month)

The business sets the priorities and teams self-organize to determine the best way to deliver the highest priority features

Every two weeks to a month anyone can see real working software and decide to release it as is or continue to enhance it

10


Scrum Characteristics

Self-organizing teams Product progresses in a series of month-long

“sprints” Requirements are captured as items in a list

of “product backlog” No specific engineering practices prescribed

11


Project Noise Level

12


Caution Before Proceeding

1. People in our profession are skilled and take pride in creating meta-solutions to problems and implementing them

2. The problem we face has nothing to do with process and technology, but with people

3. Scrum and Agile are based on the hypothesis that there is no meta-solution for software development - just a framework within which we will be empirical to inspect and adapt.

4. This is very frustrating to those looking for procedures and final answers

13


Scrum Framework

14


Scrum Framework

Roles•Product Owner•Scrum Master•Scrum Team

Roles•Product Owner•Scrum Master•Scrum Team

Ceremonies•Release Planning

•Sprint Planning•Daily Scrum

•Sprint Review•Sprint Retrospective

Ceremonies•Release Planning

•Sprint Planning•Daily Scrum

•Sprint Review•Sprint Retrospective

Artifacts•Product Backlog

•Sprint Backlog/Taskboard•Burndown Charts

Artifacts•Product Backlog

•Sprint Backlog/Taskboard•Burndown Charts

15


Meaningless Meetings!

16


The State of Meetings

1. They are boring, tedious, unengaging, and dry

2. They are ineffective and don’t contribute to organization’s success

Meetings are perceived as a waste of time People want to leave to get “real work” done We try to fix them with agendas, minutes and rules

17


Why are Meetings boring and ineffective?

They lack drama Rather than mining for conflict, most managers

will avoid tension and end on time

They lack context Most organizations have only one kind of meeting

– often called a staff meeting No clarity around what topics are appropriate

(strategic, tactical, administrative, culture, etc.) Everyone comes with a different objective

18


The Importance of Meetings

Meetings are where the “real work” is done and critical decisions are made

Meetings drive the culture of the organization Bad meetings lead to bad decisions

19

Source: Death by Meeting, Patrick Lencioni


Running Successful Meetings

1. Set them up right Get people hooked

2. Mine for conflict Get people in the game

3. Set the context Get people focused

20


The Hook

“Alright people, we are 12% over budget, and from what I can tell, we’re spending way too much money on travel. Going forward, we need to have better controls and monitoring so we can meet

the corporate guidelines laid out in the budget.”OR

“Okay, everyone, we’re here to talk about cutting expenses, which doesn’t sound like much fun. But consider that there are plenty of people out there who have a vested interest in the way we spend out money. Our competitors are hoping we throw our

money around carelessly. And they’re certainly looking for ways to reduce their own expenses. Our customers don’t want to

have to pay higher prices for our products to cover our lack of discipline. Our families would rather see more money in our

paychecks than in our travel and entertainment budget. So let’s dive into this issue with a sense of urgency and focus, because I certainly want to make sure that we’re using the resources in a

way our investors and shareholders intended…”

21


Avoiding Shared Conflict

Avoiding issues that merit debate and disagreement makes meetings boring and guarantees that issues won’t be resolved

Ironically, this drives frustration that later manifests itself in unproductive personal conflict or politics

22


Mining for Conflict

A leader must make it a priority to seek out and uncover any important issues in which there is disagreement

Make it clear that conflict is expected Create an environment where disagreement

is encouraged and supported

23


Meeting ContextMeeting Type Time Required Purpose & Format Keys to Success

DailyCheck-in

5 minutes Share daily schedules and activities

Don’t sit down

Keep it administrative

Don’t cancel even when some people can’t be there

WeeklyTactical

45 – 90 minutes Review weekly activities and metrics, and resolve tactical obstacles and issues

Don’t set agenda until after initial reporting

Postpone strategic discussions

Monthly Strategic

2 – 4 hours Discuss, analyze, brainstorm, and decide upon critical issues affecting long-term success

Limit to one or two topics

Prepare and do research

Engage in good conflict

QuarterlyOff-site Review

1 – 2 days Review strategy, industry trends, competitive landscape, key personnel, team development

Get out of the office

Focus on work; limit social activities

Don’t overstructure or overburden the schedule

Source: Death by Meeting, Patrick Lencioni24


Scrum Meetings

Release Planning Sprint Planning, Review, and Retrospective

Daily Scrum

Quarterly Strategic

1 - 2 days

Bi-weekly Tactical

2 – 4 hours (total)

Daily Coordination

15 minutes

Review tangible vision

Review product backlog items

Discuss and estimate next release items

Plan release

Whole team shares understanding and commits to goals

Detailed planning for next sprint focus

Discuss and estimate tasks for the sprint

Review past sprint accomplishments and process effectiveness

What I did yesterday

What will be committed today

What is blocking me

Team coordination alleviates multiple unproductive follow-ups later in the day

25


Exercise: Scrum Meeting templates

Create a daily agenda for Daily standup Scrum of Scrums Sprint Planning Sprint Review

Define any rules that you think will keep your meeting interesting and productive

26


Scrum Meetings

Are effective because they… set the appropriate context engage the entire team in the discussion open the door to communication and visibility drive commitment and accountability

However, they still require leadership to… set up the appropriate context create an environment which supports collaboration mine for conflict direct conflict appropriate toward ideas, not people

27


Roles in Scrum

The single customer voice who sets vision, prioritizes work and defines acceptance

The process facilitator who empowers the team and removes impediments

The people who deliver the customer value through architecture, design, code, test, doc

Those with a stake in the project but without direct impact on the solution - executives

ProductOwner

DevelopmentTeam

ScrumMaster

Stakeholders

28


Role Collaboration

CustomerTeam

DevelopmentTeam

StoryCreation

StoryPriority

StoryAcceptance

ProductOwner

ScrumMaster

Scrum Role Relationships

ProductVision

Story Conversation

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

29


Roles: Product Owner

Owns and prioritizes Roadmap and Product Backlog

Provides a single voice for the customer and stakeholder team

Leverages team to break down and estimate Product Backlog

Evolves product backlog detail as required by the team

Negotiates details with the team

Fully engaged with team

30


Exercise: Product Owner

A Product Owner and other stakeholders inspect the increment at the end of the Sprint. They are dissatisfied.

What are some of the potential reasons for their dissatisfaction? List them. Identify one and discuss what the Product Owner can do to remedy it during the next Sprint.

31


Who is the Product Owner?

Software Development Product Manager Customer

Information Technology Business Analyst Solutions Architect Business Expert Customer

32


Exercise: Options

Purpose: to explore the impact of transparency in a retail setting

You are working at FatBurger and are the only person on duty. A customer approaches and orders a Double Fatburger Deluxe, with onions, cheese, and bacon.

You ring up the order. The price is $5.65. The customer informs you that he only has $1.20 What do you do and what do you tell the customer?

33


Roles: ScrumMaster

Ensures Scrum Team lives by the principles and practices of Scrum

Communicates to outside groups

Facilitates the process and meetings

Removes obstacles and barriers between team and others

34


Roles: ScrumMaster

Protects team from external influences

Fosters team communication

Keeps progress information up-to-date and visible to all

Watches for stress points

A coach, a sheepdog

35


Day in the life of a ScrumMaster

Assess and ensure that everyone is aware of the project/releases project, overall and within the Sprint (work your projects)

Assess and ensure that organizational impediment are being worked in priority order to change the organization to get the most values from its software development investment (work the organization with other ScrumMasters)

Use all of your senses, including common sense, and remember that you have no authority

36


Who is the ScrumMaster?

Project Manager Balanced across team May tend to control or

micromanage Functional Manager

Shared role May tend to direct May be biased toward

their function Developer/Tester

Often conflicting priorities and focus

37


Pair Dialog: Multiple Roles

Pair with someone you don’t know. Turn to each other and share answers to the following:

1. What are some of the challenges a ScrumMaster would have if he/she was also a member of the team?

2. What would help you overcome these challenges?

38


ScrumMaster Skills & Competencies

Scrum Wizard Understands Scrum and why it works

Agile Leadership Creates shared-responsibility teams Listens and asks discovery questions

Facilitative Creates highly productive work environments Fosters team engagement and self-organization

Coach Guides learning through application and failure Pushes team beyond their current status quo

39


Exercise in Listening

Find a partner One is the team member, one is the ScrumMaster Team member chooses a project issue they are facing

ScrumMaster can only respond in one of two ways: Reflective Listening: “I hear you saying…” Questioning:

Why might that be true? What do you recommend? What distraction can I remove? How can I help? …

40


ScrumMaster

Most projects deliver software every 6 to 18 months Scrum reduces this to many 1 month deliveries to

increase control via inspect/adapt This puts stress on the team and organization, exposing

underlying problems and limitations

The ScrumMaster’s job is to prioritize these problems and help the organization overcome them to get better at

software development, managing software investments, and becoming a community to work in

41


Exercise: Deadlines

You and the team have planned the project. It will be done three months after the customer needs it.

1. What are some options available to you?

2. What do you think is the best option?

3. Who is best positioned to choose the best option?

42


Teamwork

"It is amazing what can be accomplished

when nobody cares about who gets the

credit." - Robert Yates (NASCAR)

DeveloperDeveloperAnalystAnalyst TesterTester TechnicalWriter

TechnicalWriter

DeveloperDeveloper

TechnicalWriter

TechnicalWriter

TesterTester

ArchitectArchitect

AnalystAnalyst

ArchitectArchitect

Agile Team

Functional Team

43


Exercise: Self-organization

You are the ScrumMaster. Everyone on the team except John meets with you. They tell you that John is not doing his work, is offensive, is difficult to work with, and they want you to fix the problem.

What do you do?

44


Roles: Scrum Team Cross-functional team Has tasks on the Sprint

Backlog Self organizing, self correcting,

and decide best way to deliver Makes their own commitment

with the resources available, decides how best to distribute tasks to team members

Members are dedicated (as much as possible)

Create their own ground rules

45


Exercise: Scrum Team

You are the ScrumMaster and are heading for the team room. The functional analyst runs past you crying and the lead engineer runs past you enraged, both on the way to their functional managers’ offices.

You go into the team room. You can cut the tension with a knife it is so thick.

Apparently, the analyst has been writing specs and giving them to the engineers, who then change them as they see fit. Anger over this has been building for three weeks.

What do you do?

46


As a ScrumMaster, you will have to contend with…

The tyranny of the waterfall

The illusion of command and control

The belief in magic

The era of opacity

47


Exercise: Cross-functional team

You are the ScrumMaster at the first Daily Scrum. There are two programmers, a tech writer, and two quality assurance people.

The programmers report that they were in a design meeting and will continue today. The tech writer says that they are working on the table of contents. The quality assurance people report that they are setting up the test bed.

You ask the tech writer and QA people why they aren’t in the design meeting. They say they weren’t invited. You ask the programmers why they weren’t invited. They ask you what possible benefit these people would add to design?

What do you do?48


Agile Leadership

In most organizations,

more management

problems exist in the middle

than in the top or at the bottom

49


Good Leader Myths

1. The good leader knows at all times what is going on in the department

2. The good leader should have more technical expertise than any direct report

3. The good leader should be able to solve any problem that comes up (or at least solve it before the direct report does)

4. The good leader should be the primary (if not only) person responsible for how the department is working

50


Traditional heroic leadership styles

Technician The expert or master craftsman Technically focused on the job at hand Problem solver, the one people go to for answers Promoted because they were the best at their work

Conductor The central decision maker, nerve center, and

coordinator of activities Orchestrates all individual parts of the organization

into a harmonious whole Subtle and indirect manipulation to their solution

Source: Managing for Excellence, David Bradford and Allan Cohen51


Manager as Technician

Effective when… Manager has greater knowledge than direct reports Direct reports work is relatively autonomous and coordination is

minimal Emergency problems within manager’s area of expertise

Problems Often technology has moved beyond their learning Limits learning and growth of direct reports Focus on technical problems to the detriment of human factors

Behaviors “Work” is when people leave them alone They love their field of work

52


Manager as Conductor

Effective when… Situations are more complex There are many direct reports with interdependent work Coordination is a prerequisite for maximum performance Organization is very political and requires maneuvering

Problems Narrows the focus of direct reports to their own areas Conflict tends to push upward looking for the boss to fix Limits overall performance of the organization Emphasis on control is self fulfilling, continually requiring more

Behaviors Use systems and procedures to control organizational work Work harder and harder, without realizing full team potential

53


Heroic Leader Cycle Negative

reinforcing cycle Fails to make full

use of the knowledge and competencies of direct reports

Produces narrow and self-interest direct reports

Leader feels overresponsible

for coordination for answers for overall unit goals

direct reports feel overcontrolled

direct reports feel blocked, underused

direct reports feel committed only to

own subgoals

Direct reports feel lower commitment and sense of

responsibility

Source: Managing for Excellence, David Bradford and Allan Cohen


Move beyond Heroic Leadership

Post-heroic leadership style Change in orientation

Direct report-centric, rather than manager-centric Manager as Developer

Create a team jointly responsible for success Asks “How can each problem be solved in a way that further

develops my direct reports’ commitment and capabilities?”

Allows manager to spend more time managing laterally and upward

55


Profound Shift

While no part of this leadership model is unfamiliar, moving from a manager-centric view to a direct report-centric view is similar to Copernicus presenting a sun-centric world

56


Danger of language

Isn’t this just empowerment and participatory management?

It’s not the language - what really matters is how decisions are made and how responsibility is shared

“95% of American managers say the right thing. 5% actually do it.” – James O’Toole

57


Contrasting Language

Delegation Assigns responsibility to an individual rather than

allowing the team to sign up for and own it themselves

Control Is often exerted one-to-many, shared

responsibility creates a many-to-many control with more weight

58


Benefits of Post-Heroic Leadership

Increased direct report responsibility “Softer” and more ambiguous problems drive increased

ownership and responsibility Increased direct report motivation

Challenging jobs with responsibility are highly satisfying Opportunities for learning and sharing success drive

increased participation Increased quality solutions

Cross-functional collaboration bring better solutions to the forefront

A sense of responsibility and motivation for the whole

59


Leadership CharacteristicsLevel View of Leadership Agility in

ConversationAgility in Leading Teams

Agility in Leading Change

Technician- Expert

Tactical, problem-solving orientation. Believes leaders are respected because of their expertise.

Strongly assert opinions or hold back. Tend to avoid giving or requesting feedback

More supervisor than manager. Creates a groups rather than teams. Works one-on-on. Caught up in the details of their work.

Incremental improvements inside unit boundaries with little attention to stakeholders.

Conductor- Achiever

Strategic outcome orientation. Believes leaders motivate others my making it challenging and satisfying to contribute.

Primarily assertive or accommodative with some ability to switch. Will accept and initiate feedback if helpful in achieving goals

Operates like a full-fledged manager. Meetings to discuss important issues are often orchestrated to try to gain buy-in to own views.

Analysis of industry environment. Strategies to gain stakeholder buy-in using one-way communication and soliciting input.

Developer- Catalyst

Visionary, facilitative orientation. Believes leaders articulate an inspiring vision and bring together the right people to make it a reality. Empowers others and facilitate their development.

Adept at balancing assertive and accommodating styles. Likely to articulate and question underlying assumptions. Interested in learning from diverse viewpoints. Seek and apply feedback.

Intent on creating a highly participative team. Acts as team leader and facilitator. Provides and seeks open exchange of view on difficult issues. Empowers and develops the team.

Development of culture that promotes teamwork, participation, and empowerment. Engagement with diverse stakeholders

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Source: Power Up, David Bradford and Allan Cohen

60


The making of an agile leader

High-performing teams are the vehicle for moving to post-heroic leadership

Building high-performing teams requires…1. Building a shared-responsibility team2. Creating commitment to a tangible vision3. Enhancing power through mutual influence

Remember our saying… High listening High learning

High relatedness High performing Otherwise you just have a group of individuals

61


Sharing responsibility means sharing decisions

Autonomous Decision is made by the leader

Delegated Decision, within specified parameters, is made by an individual

or group Consultation

Decision is made by the leader after advice from team member(s). Decision is leader’s first choice.

Joint Decision is made by members and leader together through true

consensus. Decision is not always first choice, but everyone can actively support it.

The difference between leader having the last say and joint decision making is profound.

62


Team Development

Forming

Membership to the group - what is my role? Subgrouping with allies – veil conflict Universal jokes about meetings wasting time Discussions are like wading through molasses

Storming

This stage is the great divide – few teams make it Conflict and debate – differences inevitable and desirable to

avoid group think Must learn to deal with individual differences

Norming

Individual differentiation – no longer need to hide behind subgroups

Meetings are no longer time wasters People feel responsible for an area, respect others

Performing

Fully collaborate and share responsibility across team Share management of the group Members influence each other and hold each other

accountable to the goals of the team

63


Tangible Vision

What is it? Purposeful paradox – elusive yet tangible Direction to follow, but no final destination Required at every level of the organization

How to create one? Engage the entire team Connect it to the team’s tasks Seek compatibility with the wider organization’s vision

Why? Used to inspire, coordinate, and align people Decisions made every day by the team require a boundary to

assure proper alignment

64


Enhance power through mutual influence

Tell everyone what you expect Encourage disagreements with your ideas Encourage feedback on your performance Acknowledge that you are being influenced

65


Leader actions to support mutual influence

Leader Action Sample Statement

Tell members to challenge you when they believe you are wrong, not seeing important data, etc.

“I can’t know everything, so I’m depending on you to speak up when you see something we’re doing wrong.”

Clarify mixed messages “When I disagree with your idea, I don’t want you to immediately back down. Get more data and develop your arguments.”

Invite people to disagree with you “You’ve heard my views. Tell me what doesn’t make sense to you.”

Pick up on tonal and non-verbal cues “You’re looking hesitant. Do you have concerns?”

Check your understanding “I’m having trouble following your argument. Can you explain it another way?”

Ask about your own behavior “How am I doing as a leader? Am I inhibiting disagreements?

Encourage members to influence each other

“Are you satisfied with your colleague’s position? Don’t back off if you aren’t.”

66


Agile Leadership

High Performing Teams High-performing teams require quick adaptability Quick adaptability requires team self-organization Self-organization requires team decision making Team decision making requires boundaries Setting boundaries and a supportive environment requires

agile leadership Agile Leadership requires…

Engaging the team on decisions to critical issues relating to the organization

Letting go of control to gain more control through mutual influence

Requires exposing conflict to drive participation, ownership, accountability and responsibility

67


Understanding your Role in Scrum

1. Write each responsibility you did as a manager prior to Scrum on a separate note card (including things you wish you could do but don’t have time)

2. Separate into two piles “Stop doing with Scrum” and “Keep (or Start) Doing with Scrum”

3. Identify each pile by a single word that describes those responsibilities

4. What do you think about the two piles?

68


Team Dysfunction

69


Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Source: Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni

Absence of

Trust

Fear of

Conflict

Lack of

Commitment

Avoidance of

Accountability

Inattention to

Results

70


Identifying Trust

Teams with an absence of Trust

Conceal weaknesses and mistakes from one another

Hesitate to ask for help or offer help outside their area of responsibility

Jump to conclusions about the intentions and aptitudes of others without attempting to clarify them

Waste time and energy on managing behaviors for effect

Dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together

Trusting Teams

Admit weaknesses and mistakes

Ask for help and accept questions and input about their area of responsibility

Give one another the benefit of the doubt before arriving at a negative conclusion

Focus time and energy on important issues, not politics

Look forward to working as a group

Take risks on offering feedback


71


Building Trust

Human Resources approach Personal history exercise Team effectiveness exercise Personality profiles 360-Degree feedback Experiential team exercises

OR, commit to short focused goals where you focus on results and build trust through work Also, as a leader, support and show vulnerability

72


Identifying Conflict

Teams that fear conflict…

Have boring meetings

Create environments where back-channel politics and personal attacks thrive

Ignore controversial topics that are critical to team success

Fail to tap into all the opinions and perspectives of team members

Waste time and energy with posturing and interpersonal risk management

Teams that engage in conflict…

Have lively, interesting meetings

Minimize politics

Put critical topics on the table for discussion

Extract and exploit the ideas of all team members

Solve real problems quickly

Source: Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni 73


Fear of Conflict

Separate ideological from personal conflict Focus on concepts and ideas, not people and personalities

Purpose is to create the best possible solution in the shortest period of time

Acknowledge that conflict is productive Rather than allow issue to continually resurface

Leader must mine for conflict and draw it out Leader must create environment that supports

healthy disagreements

74


Identifying Commitment

A Team that fails to commit…

Creates ambiguity among the team about the direction and priorities

Watches windows of opportunity close due to excessive analysis and unnecessary delay

Breeds lack of confidence and fear of failure

Revisits discussions and decisions again and again

Encourages second-guessing among team members

A Team that commits…

Creates clarity around direction and priorities

Takes advantage of opportunities before competitors do

Aligns the entire team around common objectives

Develops an ability to learn from mistakes

Moves forward or changes direction without hesitation or guilt


75


Causes for Lack of Commitment

Attempting Consensus Dangerous to seek consensus Ensure everyone’s ideas are heard Rally around (buy-in) final decision

Lack of Clarity Dysfunctional teams hedge their bets and delay important

decisions Better to make a decision boldly and be wrong than to waffle Conflict underlies willingness to commit without perfect

information

76


Gaining Commitment

Review key decisions made in meetings Use deadlines Contingency planning

What is the result of a missed commitment?

Allow for, and review failure Practice!

77


Identifying Accountability

A Team that avoids accountability…

Creates resentment among team members who have different standards of performance

Encourages mediocrity Misses deadlines and key

deliverables Places an undue burden on

the team leader as the sole source of discipline

A Team that is accountable to each other…

Ensures that poor performers feel pressure to improve

Identifies potential problems quickly by questioning one another’s approaches without hesitation

Establishes respect among team members who are help to the same high standards

Avoids excessive bureaucracy around performance management and corrective action

Source: Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni 78


Gaining Accountability

Most effect way to gain accountability is through peer pressure

Create peer pressure through… Publication of goals and standards Simple and regular process reviews Team rewards

Management controlled accountability is a negative re-enforcing loop

79


Identifying Results

A Team not focused on results…

Stagnates and fails to grow

Rarely defeats competitors

Loses achievement-oriented employees

Encourages team members to focus on their own careers and individual goals

Is easily distracted

A Team focused on results…

Enjoys success and suffers failure acutely

Retains achievement-oriented employees

Minimizes individualistic behavior

Benefits from individuals who subjugate their own goals/interest for the good of the team

Avoids distractions


80


Achieving Results

Leader must set the tone with the focus on results Publicly declare results Create rewards for results

Avoid team or individual status Focus on status will distract the team away from their primary

goal Only evaluate status as information in meeting the goal

81


Scrum and the Five Dysfunctions


Absence of

Trust

Fear of

Conflict

Lack of

Commitment

Avoidance of

Accountability

Inattention to

Results

Sprint Review focuses on results regularly

The focus on results drives team accountability to achieve them

Accountability drives team commitment for each sprint goal

Individual commitment drives conflict when their objectives are

not aligned

Regular team commitment and results review builds

trust over time

82


Exercise: The Five Dysfunctions and Your TeamInstructions: Use the scale below to indicate how each statement applies to

your team. It is important to evaluate the statements honestly and without over-thinking your answers. 3 = Usually, 2 = Sometimes, 1 = Rarely

_ 1. Team members are passionate and unguarded in their discussions of issues.

_ 2. Team members call out one another’s deficiencies or unproductive behaviors.

_ 3. Team members know what their peers are working on and how they contribute to the collective good of the Team.

_ 4. Team members quickly and genuinely apologize to one another when they say or do something inappropriate or possibly damaging to the Team.

_ 5. Team members willingly make sacrifices in their areas of expertise for the good of the Team.

83Source: Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni


Exercise (cont)

_ 6. Team members openly admit their weaknesses and mistakes._ 7. Team meetings are compelling, and not boring._ 8. Team members leave meetings confident that their peers are

completely committed to the decisions that were agreed on, even if there was initial disagreement.

_ 9. Morale is significantly affected by the failure to achieve Team goals.

_ 10. During Team meetings, the most important – and difficult – issues are put on the table to be resolved.

84Source: Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni


Exercise (cont)

_ 11. Team members are deeply concerned about the prospect of letting down their peers.

_ 12. Team members know about one another’s personal lives and are comfortable discussing them.

_ 13. Team members end discussions with clear and specific resolutions and calls to action.

_ 14. Team members challenge one another about their plans and approaches.

_ 15. Team members are slow to seek credit for their own contributions, but quick to point out those of others.

85



Exercise - Scoring

Use the following table to score your results and determine which areas your team needs to focus on.

86

A score of 8 or 9 is a probable indication that the dysfunction is not a problem for your Team.A score of 6 or 7 indicates that the dysfunction could be a problem.A score of 3 to 5 is probably an indication that the dysfunction needs to be addressed.

Absence of trust Fear of Conflict Lack of Commitment

Avoidance of Accountability

Inattention to results

Statement 4 ___ Statement 1___ Statement 3 ___ Statement 2 ___ Statement 5 ___

Statement 6 ___ Statement 7 ___ Statement 8 ___ Statement 11 ___ Statement 9 ___

Statement 12 ___ Statement 10 ___ Statement 13 ___ Statement 14 ___ Statement 15___

Total ___ Total ___ Total ___ Total ___ Total ___



Five Dysfunctions Exercise (final)

Did your team score 6 or below on any dysfunction?

Brainstorm some ideas as to what you think you might be able to do about it

Be prepared to share your answers to the group

87


Scaling Recommendations

1. Correlate team organization to subsystems or modules with minimal dependencies

2. Implement development infrastructure to support concurrent multi-team integration and testing

3. Develop coordination & communication mechanisms for multiple teams

4. Develop shared standards, guidelines, training courses, templates, and frameworks to minimize inconsistency

5. Ensure each team has sufficient resources and carefully consider shared resources

6. Implement ways to develop a common culture across teams

7. Create Transition/Adoption team…

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Dispersed Team Recommendations

Co-locate team as often as possible, especially at inception and key milestones, and rotate members around

Invest in (and plan for) tools that provide a shared environment and plan to experiment

Establish a single global instance of project assets, easily accessible by all

Try virtual team building (team wiki w/bios & photos) Establish known hours, with as much overlap as possible Apply high cohesion and low coupling to allocation of work to sites Develop a shared team vocabulary Don’t let anyone go dark Apply Scrum-of-Scrums concept when mass remote meetings

unproductive

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Scrum will expose problems

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What Can Cause Adoption to Fail?

Slipping time boxes Not responding or inability to respond to

feedback in the retrospective Failure to attend to infrastructure required Non-disciplined ScrumMasters Unavailability of the Product Owner Too many Product Owners A culture that does not support learning Embracing denial instead of the hard truth Team dysfunctions

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Transition Required

Change is situational - Transition is psychological Acknowledge losses Recognize opportunities and frustrations Experiment, reconceive, innovate

© 2003 Managing Transitions, William Bridges92


Transition as a Project

Establish an Agile Transition Team Cross-functional involvement Cross-level involvement

Create a transition backlog Run monthly iterations

Commit to a sprint goal Meet weekly Review with executive stakeholders

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Scrum Transition/Adoption Team

Transition/Adoption requires organizational buy-in Create a cross-functional transition/adoption team Focus on the highest priority items and deliver results Create one month sprints with weekly Scrums

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Scrum Adoption Team

Application Teams AdoptionBacklog

AdoptionSprintGoals

AdoptionMeeting

AdoptionDeliverables


Transition/Adoption Backlog

Communication, surveys and feedback Project assignment and assessment Role support Initial portfolio and cross-project/team support Address organizational impediments Coordinate learning

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Agile Transition…

Is not a one-time event, it is aprocess of ongoing improvement

Where change is not the exception,it is the norm

And creates an environment of insecurityin our organizations constantly

Which Requires Agile Leadership

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Adapting from Scrum?

How do you know when you have adapted away from Scrum? Use the values: commitment, openness, focus, respect and

courage Is the team engaged in daily communication? Is the team committed to its sprint goals? Is the team working together to accomplish them? Are the goals and progress towards them visible? Is the team delivering finished product frequently? Is the team reviewing its product deliveries with external

customers and stakeholders? Is the team reviewing its process/approach and learning from

mistakes and accomplishments?

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Further Reading

Agile Software Development with Scrumby Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle

Scaling Software Agility: Best Practices for Large Enterprisesby Dean Leffingwell

Lean Software Developmentby Mary & Tom Poppendieck

Managing for Excellence & Power Upby David Bradford and Allan Cohen

Leadership Agilityby Bill Joiner and Stephen Josephs

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team & Death by Meetingby Patrick Lencioni

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Other Resources

Scrum Alliance (http://scrumalliance.org) Control Chaos (http://controlchaos.com) Mike Cohn (http://mountaingoatsoftware.com) Jeff Sutherland (http://jeffsutherland.com) Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org) Agile Alliance (http://agilealliance.org) Scrum Gatherings twice yearly Agile Conferences yearly Scrum Yahoo! Group – scrumdevelopment

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http://scrumalliance.org/

http://controlchaos.com/

http://mountaingoatsoftware.com/

http://jeffsutherland.com/

http://agilemanifesto.org/

http://agilealliance.org/


Scrum Alliance Certification

ScrumMaster (CSM) Education-based program focused on the process and core

leadership skills and competencies required Scrum Practicing (CSP)

Experienced-based program focused on applying Scrum in an organizational project context

Scrum Coach (CSC) Skills and competency-based program for those helping

organizations adopt, transition or implement Scrum Trainer (CST)

Skills and competency-based program for those teaching others about Scrum and how to apply it

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Welcome to the Scrum Community!

Now what do I do? Engage, educate and prepare your team Practice Scrum Inspect and Adapt Don’t expect it to work out of the box Don’t expect to have all of the answers Present your team the problems to be worked out Learn from and contribute to the Scrum Community Expect resistance from traditional mindsets Submit your practicing application after you have

gained experience with Scrum101


Any Questions?

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Documents

Role of the ScrumMaster Notice: Much of this content is courtesy of and copyright of Pete Behrens, Agile Organization & Process Coach