Many enterprise Agile adoptions begin with a CIO on a stage announcing a Call to Agility. Coaches are engaged, teams respond enthusiastically and the executives eagerly await the promised benefits. When reality hits and things aren’t changing fast enough, the finger pointing starts, and more often than not the frozen middle are caught in the crossfire. To add insult to injury, when an organisation introduces Scrum, middle management is often left wondering what their role is and how can they contribute? Many Agilists have suggested we should get rid of them. In my view, you need to embrace them as they do have a role to play, and an important one at that. In this session, we will explore techniques for harnessing the energy of managers at any level: frozen or otherwise! We will help them accelerate their journey towards becoming agile leaders. The presentation was given at Scrum Australia on 29th April 20166.

1. Em Campbell-Pretty
Partner, Context Matters
@PrettyAgile
www.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@contextmatters.com.au
Thawing the Frozen Middle:
The role of Managers in
organisations using Scrum

3. Time for
a quick
exercise
Source https://flic.kr/p/gnCJbG

4. Source: https://flic.kr/p/gnCJbG

5. Source: http://www.solutionsiq.com/what-is-an-empathy-map/
NOTE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE EMPATHY MAP

6. What about me?

8. Source: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-05-25/

9. Source: https://flic.kr/p/cEJMpW

11. Source http://www.implementingscrum.com/2006/09/11/the-classic-story-of-the-pig-and-chicken/

13. Three wise monkeys?
https://flic.kr/p/9kMGrP

14. Source: https://flic.kr/p/fQuSnS

15. Source: https://flic.kr/p/iyKfj1

16. Source :https://flic.kr/p/8qCCLW

17. Source https://flic.kr/p/67nNta

18. Source https://flic.kr/p/do7GmV
Beware of
wolves in
coach’s
clothing

20. Source: http://trackmaven.com/blog/2015/07/8-takeaways-from-life-as-a-trackmaven-intern/

21. Source: https://flic.kr/p/9P42Xu Source: https://flic.kr/p/9NAEu9

22. https://flic.kr/p/9kMGrP

23. https://flic.kr/p/efNfHY

26. ”Those who can
read and don’t, are
only marginally
better off than those
who can’t.”
-Verne Harnish

27. Source: https://flic.kr/p/a6rwJ7

28. GO TO THE GEMBA
"Farming looks mighty easy
when your plow is a pencil and
you're 1,000 miles from the
corn field."
— Dwight Eisenhower

29. ENCOURAGE TEAM TO USE PHYSICAL WALLS

32. Source: https://flic.kr/p/bi2Tga

33. “The vulnerability paradox:
It's the first thing I look for in you
and the last thing I want you to
see in me.”
- Brené Brown

36. BUBBLE UP

40. The role of management
is to support the people
who do the work.

42. Source: https://flic.kr/p/987JDV
COMMUNICATE THE VISION

43. PROVIDE TRAINING TO EVERYONE
Source: https://flic.kr/p/fJ5esB

44. Source: https://flic.kr/p/5YWuWk
FUND TECHNICAL ENABLERS

45. CARVE OUT TIME FOR INNOVATION
Source: https://flic.kr/p/iQwCqW

46. PROTECT THE TEAMS
Source: https://flic.kr/p/7NzjGg

47. LET GO & TRUST THE TEAM

48. Source: https://flic.kr/p/7CvwdN
• Tap into your empathy
• Be a friendly ear
• Encourage and enable learning
• Help them display vulnerability
• Facilitate their transition to their new role –
Supporting the people that do the work
THAWING THE “FROZEN MIDDLE”

49. “…they are people too, they are just
stuck in the system”
– Jim Benson on Middle Management

50. Em Campbell-Pretty
Partner, Context Matters
@PrettyAgile
www.prettyagile.com
au.linkedin.com/in/ejcampbellpretty/
em@contextmatters.com.au
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Check out my blog:
• Advice for coaches on “dealing with” management: http://bit.ly/FrozenMiddle
• Book Clubs at work - Are you serious? http://bit.ly/AgileBookClub
• Leading Through Vulnerability: http://bit.ly/LeadingVulnerability
• Bubble Up: http://bit.ly/agilebubbleup
• Lean Coffee: http://bit.ly/AgendalessMeeting
• An Agile Team of Agile Leaders: http://bit.ly/AgileTeamOfLeaders
• Train everyone: http://bit.ly/TrainEveryone
Note: all links are case sensitive