This session, about Redgate's journey with autonomous dev teams, was presented at Agile Manchester 2018 on 9th May by Chris Smith and Elizabeth Ayer.

1. How we broke and fixed
team autonomy
The 'A' Word
Chris Smith & Elizabeth Ayer
@cj_smithy @ElizAyer

3. What we wanted
•More engaged and motivated teams
•Teams feeling effective
•Product Development fit to scale

4. Why did we want autonomous teams?

5. 3 factors to increase
employee satisfaction and
performance:
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose

6. Giving control, not taking
control
Pushing decisions to the
information
Leader-leader model

7. We had the right conditions for
autonomous teams

8. We do our best
work in teams

9. Restructure
• Small teams:
• Technical Team Lead
• UX Designer
• 5 Software Engineers
• Coaching:
• Quality, Agile, Tech Comms
• Product Group Pairings:
• Development Leads & Product Managers

11. Chapter 1:
"Autonomy"

12. Not this.

14. “
”

15. “

16. Clear expectations

17. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_ho
w_great_leaders_inspire_action#t-128122

19. Chapter 2:
The Capability Gap

20. Building a set of principles for our teams

22. Owl
We learn about the users of
our products
Team members engage with our
users and strive to learn about
them and their world.
Team members understand the
domain in which their products
exists.
Teams use this knowledge to
make critical decisions and build
software that our customers love.

23. Development teams at Redgate enjoy delivering valuable, ingeniously simple
solutions with the help of six Fantastic Beasts
FANTASTIC BEASTS
With the power of the Porpoise
we stay focused on our
purpose
The agile Chameleon reminds
us to adapt as we frequently
inspect feedback and learn
from our situation
The transparency of the
Jellyfish keeps us open and
honest
The wise Owl focusses us on
learning about our users and their
world
The collaborative Meerkat
encourages us to listen and
be mindful of others
The proud Koala
maintains a healthy
balance between delivery
and quality

24. How the hell do we get closer to our users?

25. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod… user calls!!!”

26. It’s OK; we know agile. Right?

27. “ View into chasm known as Huntsman Leap”
by Colin Park is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The chasm between a
product’s strategy and a backlog

28. Chapter 3:
Developing
Leaders

29. Tech Leads at 1 month

30. Tech Leads at 6 months

31. Giving control, not taking
control
Pushing decisions to the
information
Leader-leader model

32. Tech Leads at 6 months

33. Too much delegation to Tech Leads
AND
not enough delegation from them

35. Superheroes Not Required

36. What leadership means to us

37. Attributes of a Redgate Leader*
1. Growing others
2. Courageous
3. Accountable and responsible
4. Encourage clarity
5. Value collaboration
* These WILL be different for your org.

38. Where we are now

39. •More engaged and motivated teams
•Teams feeling effective for the business
•Product Development fit to scale
Moved the needle on

40. Inertia

41. Lessons:
1. ‘Autonomy’ is an explosive word
2. Don’t introduce extra tension. Orgs have
enough.
3. Align on Purpose. Autonomy and
Mastery must support ‘why’.

42. Lessons:
4. Engage teams in their own improvement.
5. Capability assessment needs both team
and manager.
6. Leaders need to grow leaders who grow
leaders.

43. Resources

44. Resources
• The Spotify Model https://medium.com/the-ready/how-to-build-your-
own-spotify-model-dce98025d32f
• Start with Why https://startwithwhy.com/
• Fantastic Beasts https://www.slideshare.net/chris_smith1976/fantastic-
beasts-and-where-to-improve-them-agile-cambridge-29th-september-
2017
• Involving dev teams in user
research https://www.slideshare.net/ElizabethAyer/aitc2018-ux-impact-
elizabeth-ayer
• Delegation https://medium.com/ingeniouslysimple/how-to-get-more-
done-by-doing-less-f047d2f53d47

45. Questions?

46. We’re hiring!
www.red-gate.com/careers