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Elastic Role Boundaries
Chris Priest & Katrina Clokie
How do you explain roles in
an agile team?
Let’s imagine a project team with
three roles
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
In agile, these roles are likely to
overlap rather than be entirely
separate
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Some tasks will belong to a certain
role while others will be shared
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Some tasks will fall outside the
bounds of any role
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
So someone in the team has to
stretch to pick this task up
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
As more of these tasks appear…
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
… the team will be stretched in many
different directions
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Now imagine the boundary of your
role is elastic
Once you have completed a task that
falls outside of your role
The boundary of your role snaps
back to its original shape
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Where we have stretched, our
elastic role boundary distorts
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
These distortions mean that when
the same task appears again…
…it may be easier for the same role
to stretch and pick it up
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
It’s not always easier for the same
person to stretch though
Imagine one role has a lot of tasks
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Then the stretch might come from a
role who has never completed that
task before
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
We may also stretch between roles
to help each other out…
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
…but the elastic always snaps back.
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
What happens when somebody
leaves the team?
A new person will join with brand
new elastic…
Business
Analyst
Developer Tester
New
Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer
New
Tester
…that may alter who is best suited to
stretch towards a task
Business
Analyst
Developer
New
Tester
Business
Analyst
Developer
New
Tester
Elastic boundaries highlight the
difference between tasks and
enduring commitments
Though we are flexible in taking
ownership of small activities…
…the elastic boundary reflects our
natural tendencies and
strongest competency.
Within our role we work
to increase our skills…
…to anticipate problems…
…and to be accountable.
“Without enduring roles
there are eternal amateurs”
James Bach
The idea for this presentation stemmed from collaborative discussion
at the fifth annual Kiwi Workshop for Software Testing (KWST5) with
James Bach, Oliver Erlewein, Richard Robinson, Aaron Hodder,
Sarah Burgess, Andy Harwood, Adam Howard, Mark Boyt, Mike Talks,
Joshua Raine, Scott Griffiths, John Lockhart, Sean Cresswell,
Rachel Carson, Till Neunast, James Hailstone, and David Robinson.
Chris Priest
@cbpriest78
Katrina Clokie
@katrina_tester
Get in touch via Twitter

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Elastic role boundaries