Agile soft skills suitecase - iad 2011

A soft-skills suitecaseopenware

Soft-skills Soft skills are interpersonal skills such as the ability to communicate well with other people and to work in a team.(Antonym: hard skills)

Suitecase A suitcase is a box or bag with a handle and a hard frame in which you carry your clothes when you are travelling.

Agile adj Someone who is agile can move quickly and easily.

What are Agile approaches?

Agile  adj mentally quick or acuteIf you have an agile mind, you think quickly and intelligently.

[from Latin agilis, from agere to do, act]

Agility means that things will bedone differentlyAgility does not mean ... To no longer do project management To be a chaotic organization that no longer respects its IT governance framework To no longer produce documents To leave the team to itself To do things partially To change every thing overnight That there will no longer be any problemsIt simply means to do things differently!

Agile adoption means Personal change A focus on delivery of value - early and often Understanding that people are different

Personal changeAgile adoption means personal change not just for developers, but for other folks across the whole organization. And by personal change here, we mean coming to see the world (and the world of work) from a different perspective.

Focus on delivery of valueAgile adoption means a focus on delivery of value - earlyand often By value we mean, things of value to stakeholders; and by early we mean within a few days or weeks (sometimes even, hours) of starting a new project.

People are differentAgile adoption means understanding that people aredifferent seeing people as individuals, and recognizing that a one- size-fits-all attitude to people has serious drawbacks.

Coaching is not Training While training and coaching both promote learning, they do so in different ways

Coaching is not Counseling Again, there may be a superficial similarity in that both of these activities are one-to-one conversations, but their tone and purpose are very different

Coaching is not Mentoring There are some superficial similarities between coaching and mentoring, as they are both typically one-to-one conversations aimed at facilitating professional development, but there are also significant differences.

Being an Agile Coach ischallenging in many ways

Agile coaching Balance many things as you work with different teams and stay true to your own values. Understanding of the social psychological and complexity aspects of team. Sense-making models for analyzing teams and situations. A method for designing non-intrusive interventions for changing team dynamics. Learn what’s really needed to get people to work together as teams.

Self-organization issues Self-organization of human beings is a tricky thing. Agile coaches are constantly challenged with how to motivate/persuade/trick their teams into doing things, without telling them what to do, but there is very little information or training on this topic. Allowing a team to self-organize along the lines of “oh well, they’re all adults, they’ll figure it out” is just as irresponsible as reverting to the command-and control school of management.

What skills are important to build for agile coaches?

Three categories Working with people Facilitating change Systems thinking

Working with people Listening giving feedback asking questions building trust and rapport

Facilitating change enlisting support reaching agreement spreading success learning from failure

Systems thinking seeing the bigger picture identifying levers for change communicating danger signals

Adapting yourAgile Coaching Style

Old NandsNew to Agile Team members

gives instructions Directive Non Directive asks shares experiences + mentorquestions Coaching style

Coaching Expertise AgileExpertise Coach/Consultant

Working with peopleAgile coach soft-skills categories

Working with peopleAgile Manifesto

Individuals and Interactions

Working with peopleValues

Working with peopleAttitude

Working with peopleNeuro Linguistic Programming

Working with peopleSet a goal

Working with peopleCommunication

Working with peopleLeadership

Working with peopleAgile Teams

Teamwork Forming Performing Storming Norming Tuckmans Group Development Model

Forming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Team is dependent on Forming the Leader

Storming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Forming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Leader mediates and Storming focuses Forming

NormingStorming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Storming Forming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Teams can regress when membership changes Norming Leader facilitates Storming Forming

Performing Norming Storming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Teams can regress when membership changes Norming Storming Forming

Team development model Teams go through four stages Teams can regress when membership changes A mature team may need no leadership Performing Leader delegates and overseas Norming Storming The Leader’s goal is to make the team self- Forming reliant and than move on

Self-sufficient teams produce best results People are more motivated when they manage themselves. People are more committed when they make their own commitments. Teams and individuals are more productive when they are not interrupted. Teams are improving when they solve their problems by themselves.

Self-sufficient teams produce best results Productivity is compromised when changes are made to the team composition. Face-to-face communication is the most productive way for a team to work and exchange

Working with peopleTeam roles

Team Roles The individuals who make up the team need a range of attributes that are complementary so that, to coin a well know phrase, ‘its whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. This is how teams achieve exceptional performance and, again, sporting analogies abound.

What are Belbins Team Roles?At Henley Management College whilst researching effectiveteamworking some years ago, Dr Meredith Belbin analyzed thecomposition of high performance teams and discovered thatthere were a number of behavioural attributes that werecrucial.

Shaper

Completer Finisher

Monitor Evaluator

Implementer

Team Worker

Coordinator

Resource Investigator

Specialist

Working with peopleThe 7 Habits

Independence or Self-MasteryThe First Three Habits surround moving from dependence toindependence (i.e. self mastery): Habit 1: Be Proactive Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind Habit 3: Put First Things First

InterdependenceThe next three have to do with Interdependence (i.e. workingwith others): Habit 4: Think Win-Win Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood Habit 6: Synergize

Self RenewalThe Last habit relates to self-rejuvenation: Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Working with peopleTime management

Getting Things Done (GTD) is an organizational method created by productivity consultant David Allen, described in a book of the same name. The Getting Things Done method rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them externally. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks.

First Things FirstThe book by Steven Covey asserts that there arethree generations of time management: first-generation task lists, second-generation personal organizers with deadlines and third-generation values clarification as incorporated in the Franklin Planner.

Urgent Not Urgent • Crisis • Preparation • Pressing Issues • PlanningImportant • Deadlines • Prevention • Meetings • Relationship building I IINot Important III IV • Interruptions • Trivia • Some mails • Some Phone Calls • Many popular • Excessive activities TV/Games

Abundance mentality

The Upward Spiral

Working with peopleCreativity

Lateral thinking

Working with peopleRetrospective

The prime directive says:Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job theycould, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.

Iteration Retrospective Set the stage Deliver product Gather data increments Generate Build product Insight Incorporate Decide what to experiments & do improvements Close Retrospective

Structure of a retrospective Set the stage Gather data Generate insight Decide what to do Close the retrospective

Facilitating changeAgile coach soft-skills categories

Facilitating changeManage the fear of change

Virginia Satir’s Change Model describes the change patterns she saw during therapy with families the patterns she describes occur with any group of people when confronted by change

Stage 1: Late Status Quo The group is at a familiar place. The performance pattern is consistent. Stable relationships give members a sense of belonging and identity. Members know what to expect, how to react, and how to behave. Implicit and explicit rules underlie behavior.

Stage 2: Resistance The group confronts a foreign element that requires a response. Often imported by a small minority seeking change, this element brings the members whose opinions count the most face to face with a crucial issue. A foreign element threatens the stability of familiar power structures.

Stage 3: Chaos The group enters the unknown. Relationships shatter: Old expectations may no longer be valid; old reactions may cease to be effective; and old behaviors may not be possible. The chaos stage is vital to the transformation process.

Stage 4: Integration The members discover a transforming idea that shows how the foreign element can benefit them. The group becomes excited. New relationships emerge that offer the opportunity for identity and belonging. With practice, performance improves rapidly. The members need reassurance and help finding new methods for coping with difficulties.

Stage 5: New Status Quo If the change is well conceived and assimilated, the group and its environment are in better accord and performance stabilizes at a higher level than in the Late Status Quo. A healthy group is calm and alert. All members provide feedback to improve the process.

Satir’s Change ModelStage Description How to Help Encourage people to seek improvement information and 1 Late Status Quo concepts from outside the group. Help people to open up, become aware, and overcome the 2 Resistance reaction to deny, avoid or blame. Help build a safe environment that enables people to focus on their feelings, acknowledge their fear, and use their 3 Chaos support systems. Help management avoid any attempt to short circuit this stage with magical solutions. Offer reassurance and help finding new methods for coping 4 Integration with difficulties. 5 New Status Quo Help people feel safe so they can practice.

Facilitating changeFight a Blaming Culture

Facilitating changeDon’t escape from problems

System thinkingAgile coach soft-skills categories

From a Hierarchical Model …Organizational structure

Command & Control

… flow of Command …

… and Control

… to a Social Network oneOrganizational structure

Kaizen Kaizen a Japanese term which means “continuous improvement” by doing little things better and setting and achieving increasingly higher standards The exact translation is: Kai = change Zen = better It is a Japanese philosophy that originally comes from Japanese culture and Japanese practice of management.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Rooted in the two thousand-year-old wisdom of the Tao Te Ching

Kaizen Kaizen is the art of making great and lasting change through small, steady increments. Kaizen is the tortoise versus the hare.

7 Small Steps How to Think Small Thoughts Take Small Actions Solve Small Problems and more … How to perform mind sculpture-visualizing virtual change so that real change comes more naturally. Small rewards motivate better than big rewards.

Plan Do KaizenAct Check

Evaluate Assess Continuous ImprovementImplement Design

Succeeding with Kaizen Programsand Events Avoid common implementation mistakes Find the right champion and establish an effective steering committee Create timelines, select teams and leaders, and define objectives Use kaizen events to implement 5S, standard work, Kanban, and new line designs Includes a chapter-length case study from a real manufacturing firm

Agile LeadershipSoft-skill suitecase

How will we proceed? We are coaching rather than commanding or controlling. We create environments promoting collaboration to foster team work. It is ideal to reorganize the physical location, but this goal could be reached gradually. We involve business people right from the beginning in order to promote commitment. We create communities so people can communicate and improve themselves. We use tools to disseminate information

QualityManagement Performance

What will change?

What does it mean to managers?LEADERSHIP• Definition of the objectives and performance management• Management and leadership style ENVIRONMENT • Work environment and organizational culture PROJECT TEAM • Self-sufficiency and accountability • Collaboration and teamwork • Communication and knowledge sharing • Skills and professional development • Continuous improvement e and organizational learning • Processes and tools

208Managers are also impacted bythe transition from a traditional toan Agile approach Transfer authority and responsibility to the team so it can do its work adequately Avoid interference and micromanagement Promote collaboration and teamwork Support learning and not systematically penalize failures Review best practices in order to adapt them to changing realities Make adjustments to the facilities so the environment facilitates the execution of Agile projects Adapt the management style to the context of the team

Managers will be supported byorganizational coaches As members of the expertise centre, organizational coaches:  Offer training courses to groups of managers (e.g. Agile for managers)  Participate in steering committees of pilot projects (ETC)  Individually support the managers that are related to pilot projects in order to go from a traditional management style to a more Agile one  Provide individual or group coaching in order to address fears, challenges, and resistances and to provide appropriate support

How managers are beingsupported?

Characteristics of a Agile organization Management Pyramid is inverted Greater Liberty and Freedom to accomplish the task at hand Constant Learning, Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Sharing A More Enjoyable and Humane Work Environment A Hyper-productive Cooperative Work Mode Emergent Planning, Architecture and Requirements New values that generate a cooperative culture The Quality of Life

Conclusion A transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one is not an IT project, it is rather an organizational change. An Agile approach highly impacts project teams but it also impacts managers and their management style. When this type of transition is successful, it gives a competitive advantage to the organization. Supporting managers is critical to the success of this type of initiative.

Credits Stock photo: 123rf.com Original photo: Giulia Armani Music: “Ladies of Ireland” » Mike Oldfield “Mirror” » Fabio Armani

f.armani@open-ware.org

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Agile soft skills suitecase - iad 2011

by Fabio Armani

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