In today’s competitive job market, organizations are inundated with a deluge of resumes for every open position. To streamline the hiring process and manage this influx, many companies have turned to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that rely heavily on keyword matching to screen potential candidates. However, this automated approach is not only inefficient but also unjustified, leading to significant drawbacks and missed opportunities in identifying the best talent for the job.
The Unjustified Reign of Keyword-Driven Screening
The use of ATS software has become ubiquitous in modern recruitment practices, with the promise of saving time and effort by quickly filtering through a large volume of resumes. These systems are programmed to scan resumes for specific keywords related to job requirements, skills, and qualifications set by the hiring team. Candidates whose resumes contain these keywords are then flagged for further review, while those lacking them are often discarded without human intervention.
However, this reliance on keywords overlooks the nuances of a candidate’s experience, achievements, and potential cultural fit within the organization. It fails to capture the full scope of a candidate’s capabilities beyond what is explicitly stated in their resume, leading to a narrow and incomplete view of potential candidates.
The Unintended Consequences of Keyword-Centric Screening
Keyword-driven screening can have severe consequences for the recruitment process and the future of the organization:
1. Ineffective Candidate Evaluation: Relying solely on keywords overlooks the nuances of a candidate’s experience, achievements, and potential cultural fit within the organization. It fails to capture the full scope of a candidate’s capabilities beyond what is explicitly stated in their resume.
2. Perpetuating Bias and Discrimination: Keyword matching can inadvertently perpetuate bias in hiring by favoring candidates who use specific industry buzzwords or have certain educational backgrounds. This can result in overlooking qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds or unconventional career paths.
3. Wasted Opportunities for Hidden Gems: Exceptional candidates who possess valuable skills or experiences not captured by standard keywords may be unfairly excluded from consideration. Creativity, adaptability, and potential for growth are often overlooked in favor of rigid keyword criteria.
4. Negative Candidate Experience: Candidates who feel their applications are being judged solely on keyword matches may perceive the hiring process as impersonal and dehumanizing. This can damage the employer brand and deter top talent from engaging with the organization in the future.
5. Identify incorrect candidates: This has been a recent experience, where in based on a few key words, the hiring team is short listing potential candidates, when reviewed / test evaluated / interview – these candidates are found lacking in their relevant skills as quoted on their problems.
The Need for a Holistic Approach
To address the shortcomings of keyword-driven screening and enhance the quality of candidate selection, organizations must adopt a more holistic approach to recruitment:
1. Define Clear Job Requirements: Instead of relying solely on keywords, hiring teams should clearly outline the essential skills, experiences, and qualities required for each role. This ensures that screening criteria are aligned with actual job needs.
2. Utilize Technology Wisely: While ATS systems can be valuable tools for managing high volumes of applications, they should be used as aids rather than substitutes for human judgment. Combining automated screening with manual review can help identify top talent more effectively.
3. Emphasize Soft Skills and Potential: Look beyond technical qualifications and prioritize soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and adaptability. Assessing a candidate’s potential for growth and cultural fit can lead to more successful long-term hires.
4. Implement Diverse Hiring Practices: Actively seek out candidates from diverse backgrounds and experiences to foster innovation and inclusivity within the organization. Encourage hiring teams to look beyond traditional metrics and consider a wide range of perspectives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the reign of keyword-driven candidate screening is not only inefficient but also unjustified. It leads to missed opportunities, bias, and subpar hiring decisions. By adopting a more balanced approach that combines technology with human judgment, organizations can improve their ability to identify top talent that aligns with their values and goals. Embracing diversity, emphasizing potential over checkboxes, and prioritizing candidate experience are key steps towards building a stronger workforce capable of driving innovation and success in today’s dynamic business landscape.
One of the main task for any Scrum Master is to manage and motivate the development team (do not forget the Product Owner) to deliver the best-in-class output with outcome to the respective end-users / stakeholders. Pure Agile / Scrum processes will not achieve this, A Scrum Master above all else should be a people person.
During the life of the product development, Scrum Master would enable / facilitate creating a range of tangible deliverables that are critical to the meeting of DoD and release to the production. These would include Impediment board, risks, teaming agreement, cadence of sprint and so on… The funny part of the story is that when the product is delivered all the tangible outputs that we are speaking about would be of no use (atleast to the end-user community). They have little or no value outside the life of the product.
It is important for us to understand that Scrum is all about people, who help to create beautiful and meaningful outputs that serve the needs of the stakeholders and market in general.
The main task for the Scrum Master is to ensure that the development team can deliver and all blockages that occur in the journey of theirs are removed or assisted to be removed.
Over next few paragraphs, we shall de-mystify the needs and requirements on what and how a Scrum Master should enact the approach.
Step # 1 – Get the basics right – Right People, Right Skills, Right Tasks.
As a Scrum Master, help, guide and assist / facilitate the development team to get the right skilled people -with adequate dose of attitude and aptitude. Do not focus on technical skills, focus on learnability, ability to survive in a tough environment, how to respect, being open, have the right level of commitment to the team and others.
There would always be some gap between your needs / wants vs. what talent is available. Remember a perfect match may not be available, try to manage this as a risk and work towards mitigating the same. Try to always get a balanced set of capabilities and skills, do not fall in the trap of choosing all the folks that favor you or you like. Infact look for people who can work with others and create magic for your customers.
Also find a balance between internal and external resources, several times you may be forced by the Leadership to take an internal person (in order to save on cost) but evaluate the person as you would when you take any external resource and ensure it fits in your culture band that you are building in your team.
Step # 2 – Go for Quality rather than Quantity.
More resources may not always be the right approach, but the right resources is what matters. Life and experiences have always suggested that a small set of motivated people have delivered far more than a much larger group of able people. Be the master negotiator with the leadership or the resource allocating person to get the best talent for your team, you may have to act as a salesman to get the right quality in your team (Scrum does not talk about this … but it is critical)
Step # 3 – Clear Roles and Responsibilities.
For any team and individual – we all look for clarity of our roles and expectations, how shall we be judged. Yes, there are no defined / allocated roles in Scrum, but it does not hurt to have pseudo approaches for the initial few sprints and then educate the team to self-allocate, self-define how they want to work out. Scrum Master is like parenting job, initially we would be required to do babysitting, but the as team grows, becomes more mature , our role should be limited to guidance and coaching.
Step # 4 – Building the team
Do not take for granted that Team is automatically built – You need to invest your sweat equity into it.
There is no right or wrong way to build a team, different cultures, different set of people will bond in different lengths of time. To build the team with right values, try these elements:
Ensure roles are clearly understood
Ensure communication channels are open between you and the team and amongst the team
Bring people together (More physically)
Give people time to know each other
Have the Product Owner address the team on the needs, vision, big picture, roadmap of the product in focus
Step # 5 – Focus on personal development of team members
It may not be the core objective of Scrum Master, but not focusing on the same would have adverse impact.
Face this task much earlier in the life cycle, ideally when people first get involved in the team, As a part of their initial induction have an understanding of their career needs and wants. The areas where they want to grow and contribute. If their expectations are out of line or un-reasonable, then put it straight on the record.
Help the Product Owner agree to have about 4-6 Hrs / Sprint (Assuming 2 weeks of Sprint cycle) to get it invested in growth, learning of new tools, more on the product development, team building, exploration of new ideas (like using Gen AI to help in the development) and so on … this is a bit of selling exercise with the PO and team (also!)
However, make sure that the training / workshops or getting people involved in specific things do not derail the product development, it should not deviate from the core objective with which the team was formed.
Step # 6 – Be aware of team dynamics and politics
When people work together, they develop their own style of communication. Working together, as a Scrum Master your ability to understand the team dynamics is going to become more critical and critical.
Note: There is no right or wrong team working style or responding to team dynamics. Team dynamics will never remain static, it changes over a period – and when the team matures or new team members join, old ones move on, this can help you rebalance the approach for the team.
Implement PI (Predictive Index Assessment) for everyone on your team. Identify their personalities and ensure you and others in the team understand how to deal with a given personality. This is no rocket science, but not knowing how to deal with a Collaborative vs. Strategists can cause unwarranted losses and damage to the morale of the team and thereby to the product.
Encourage openness and honesty – when these elements are in place, then the team would have few barriers to open communications.
Remember to lead by example if you do not want politics in the team, then do not politic yourself. You want to be trusted by the team.
Final note on this one – Team is more important than any individual, In Agile it is the team that would deliver and not an individual.
Step # 7 – Managing Part time resources
At times, you may not get a fully dedicated person to work on your product development. You would have to work with Shared resources, when such a situation arises, ensure:
To get fixed and measurable time from shared folks
Make sure you have sufficient skills and talent and working hands, remember it is not the number of people in your team, but it is the amount time that these folks are ready to devote to you.
Recommend your team to build a little slack and inefficiency in the approach (this acts like a risk mitigation strategy)
Your approach to managing the time utilization (not saying to act like a project manager- but watch the game) would be critical to the success of the delivery
Step # 8 – Working with the Wider Organization
Remember your team, the product’s existence is never in isolation. There is always a requirement with some other function, department to get your product out of door, it could be the marketing or the sales team or the travel team (to book your tickets, hotels) or some other platform team whose output would be critical for integration and working of your product.
There is always to a need to manage relationships with the wider organization, and it would vary depending on context and content of the product as developed, Therefore as Scrum Master is it important to guide and assist the team to manage these relationship internally in the system.
Providing adequate and timely notice to dependency would help them plan their side of the work and provide sufficient time allocation for your work.
Step # 9 – Have a sense of humor
The ability to generate and enjoy humor is an extremely positive trait for a Scrum Master. Developing products / projects can at times be quite stressful – the ability to laugh and crack jokes (not on any individual) would help the team manage the stress.
If you are not natural at this … do not worry, just smile a lot. People love to see a smiling face, do not underestimate the power of a simple smile. A well-placed smile of yours can completely change the dynamics of the conversation, can lift an individual from a negative stance to a positive frame of mind.
These are a few ideas that has potentially given me the required results and mind you – it has always worked.
Ego, as defined in psychological terms, represents an individual’s sense of self-importance and self-worth. In project management, ego manifests as a personal need for recognition, power, and control. While a certain level of self-confidence is essential for effective leadership, an unchecked ego can lead to conflicts, communication breakdowns, and hinder project progress.
While having a healthy level of confidence and self-assuredness is generally beneficial, an excessively inflated ego can be challenging to handle and can have a significant impact on our work life.
In the realm of project management, achieving success requires more than just technical expertise and organizational skills. The human factor plays a pivotal role, and one aspect that can significantly impact project outcomes is ego management. Ego, often associated with self-importance and pride, can become a stumbling block or a catalyst for collaboration and success in project management. Today in this blog / article, we shall explore the concept of ego management and its critical role in project management, highlighting strategies to nurture collaboration and enhance project outcomes.
The Role of Ego Management in Project Success: Effective ego management fosters an environment where individuals can collaborate, share ideas, and work together towards a common goal. By minimizing egotistical behaviors, project managers can create a culture of trust, open communication, and innovation. Ego management is particularly crucial in project teams that comprise diverse individuals with unique perspectives, experiences, and expertise. When ego is managed effectively, it paves the way for improved decision-making, conflict resolution, and overall project success.
Based on past experiences of managing and participating projects, I have observed others, my bosses, leadership, Project managers on how they managed Ego to ensure their project success … I am listing based on my bets memory recall a few of those approaches:
Strategies for Ego Management in Project Management
Establish Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations helps minimize power struggles and conflicts arising from ego-related issues. When everyone understands their contributions and how they fit into the project’s overall objectives, it reduces the chances of ego-driven conflicts.
Foster a Positive Team Culture: Encouraging a positive team culture characterized by trust, mutual respect, and recognition of achievements helps diminish ego-related challenges. Recognize and appreciate individual contributions while reinforcing the importance of teamwork.
Implement Conflict Resolution Mechanisms: Despite efforts to manage egos, conflicts may arise. Implementing effective conflict resolution mechanisms, such as mediation or facilitated discussions, can address, and resolve conflicts before they escalate and impact project progress. In one of my earlier engagement, the Scrum Master implemented the concept of Team Agreement and Conflict resolution approach, She split the team into two and then asked the team to develop Team agreement (with one group) and Conflict resolution (with the other), Once it was done, then the teams were exchanged and asked to review and suggest chances to the data as written by the other team and finally come to an agreement – which then became the BIBLE for the team to behave and manage relationships internally
Promote Collective Ownership: Emphasizing shared responsibility and recognizing the team’s collective achievements helps to mitigate individual ego-driven tendencies. Celebrating team accomplishments rather than individual achievements creates a sense of unity and encourages collaboration. – This has been one of the major elements of implementation with one of my earlier managers – Approach was simple – celebrate the smallest of achievement – Even if that was a successful code review or a major bug fix found, or a Sprint Goal achieved.
Cultivate a Collaborative Environment: Project managers should prioritize building a culture of collaboration by encouraging open dialogue, active listening, and valuing diverse perspectives. By creating an atmosphere where team members feel heard and respected, ego-driven conflicts can be minimized. For instance in one of my previous organization, there was a process, where the Project manager would have at least 2 one on one with the team members daily and one meeting (called – “All Hand Meet”) – during this meeting – no project discussion, but more of personal touch, life discussions, general elements were discussed, this helped all the team members to know each other and value the skills and talent that others bought to the table.
Though we have a few interesting ideas for managing Ego, we also need to understand the reasons and challenges from the other side of the fence. Observations and better understanding after 3 decades of working gave me the following elements on Ego:
Intrinsic Nature: Ego is an inherent part of human psychology. It stems from our need for self-identity, self-worth, and recognition. It can manifest in various forms, such as the desire for power, control, or validation. Since ego is deeply rooted in individuals, managing it requires self-awareness and conscious effort. At times this can also happen due to our local environment at home or office
Lack of Self-Awareness: Ego management requires self-awareness, which can be lacking in individuals who are not introspective or reflective. Without recognizing and understanding their own ego-driven behaviors, individuals may inadvertently perpetuate conflicts, hinder collaboration, and impede project progress. Sometimes what a person does, may not realize that their actions are counter-productive, but they fail to understand & appreciate this
Resistance to Change: Ego often resists change, as it challenges our sense of self and disrupts established patterns of behavior. When confronted with alternative viewpoints, suggestions, or feedback, individuals with strong egos may feel threatened and resist adopting new ideas or approaches. This resistance can hinder collaboration and innovation in project management – This is a basic human nature to resist, we form opinions about things and do not want to change and this itself could be a showstopper in our life.
Fear of Vulnerability: Ego can serve as a defense mechanism to shield individuals from vulnerability. Admitting mistakes, seeking help, or acknowledging limitations can be seen as a blow to one’s ego. This fear of vulnerability can make it difficult to foster open communication and address issues proactively, leading to strained relationships and project challenges. This is the most dangerous part of the human character and nature.
Competition and Comparison: Ego often thrives in environments where competition and comparison prevail. When individuals feel the need to outperform others or maintain a superior image, collaboration and teamwork can be compromised. Project environments driven by ego-focused competition can undermine trust and hinder collective progress. At times this can be hugely negative element for the project and its team members – but at times it could be a savior in some manner.
Power Dynamics: Hierarchical power structures can exacerbate ego-related challenges. In environments where authority is concentrated and decisions are made unilaterally, individuals may feel the need to assert their own importance or protect their ego. This can lead to power struggles, lack of transparency, and diminished collaboration within project team.
Emotional Investment: Ego is closely linked to emotions and personal identity. When individuals become emotionally invested in their ideas, decisions, or positions, it becomes harder to objectively evaluate alternatives or consider differing perspectives. Emotional attachment to one’s ego can hinder rational decision-making and impede effective collaboration.
Last few words of wisdom:
Overcoming the challenges associated with ego requires a combination of self-reflection, open communication, empathy, and creating a supportive project environment. By promoting a culture of humility, self-awareness, and collaboration, project managers can address ego-related challenges effectively and foster an atmosphere conducive to project success.
To foster a healthier work environment, it is important for individuals to develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence, which can help them manage their ego and cultivate more constructive behaviors. Organizations can also promote a culture of collaboration, open communication, and continuous feedback, which can mitigate the negative impact of ego-driven behavior and promote a more productive and harmonious work environment.
Ego management plays a vital role in project management. By effectively managing ego-driven behaviors, project managers can create an environment conducive to collaboration, open communication, and innovation. Nurturing a culture of humility, respect, and shared ownership cultivates a high-performing project team that maximizes its potential for success. Embracing ego management strategies empowers project managers to navigate the complexities of human dynamics, ultimately enhancing project outcomes and achieving organizational goals.
It will always be the ownership of leadership to have the right environment and culture in the organization, This should also be reflected in our hiring practices, can we devise some approaches where these symptoms of Ego can be tracked and traced, this would help the organization and project at large in a long way post hiring of the candidate; but to have these ideas and thoughts implemented (at least on a pilot basis), it requires courage, forward thinking, ability to navigate thru a maze of negative and not so proactive thoughts and actions of people and finance (tools are not free)
Leadership / Management should see the writing on the wall before it is too late and the we miss the bus ….
See you later in some other thought provoking article ….
If you have ideas what you want to see me write – Pls let me know.
Work-life balance in the IT world / industry can be a complex and a difficult issue, as the nature of the work often involves long hours, tight deadlines, and high-pressure situations. While achieving work-life balance in the IT industry can be challenging, it is not impossible, work-life balance is an essential concept, it can sometimes be challenging to implement effectively in real-life organizational setting, but many organizations within the industry are actively working to create a more balanced environment.
I remember during the pandemic, when the entire (I would say about 98% of us) were working from home, It was very worrying for me, if someone called me and I was not in front of my laptop (could be a washroom break, or gone to answer the doorbell), it was assumed that I am not working, Where as when you are in office and people see you once and then you are not on the seat / or your place, it is acceptable – I can spend a whole 1 hr. chatting with someone in cafeteria and that would be considered just fine. My issues are a little different as people behave differently as the policies and the leadership approaches are erratic.
Why do we have challenges in maintaining the Work-Life Balances at our workplace, with my decent experiences of working across the globe and for different types of organizations, I have got some interesting thoughts here – which may resonate with you, Do check them:
Inadequate Project Management and Planning: Poor project management and planning can play a significant role in work-life balance. Unclear communication, unrealistic deadlines, and no proper resource allocation – all these aid to excessive workloads and the need for constant overtime. Prioritization and efficient time management are crucial in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The 1st principle for good work and time management – here goes for a toss.
Lack of Boundaries: In some work environments, there is a blurring of boundaries between work and personal life. With advancements in technology, employees may find it difficult to disconnect from work, as they are constantly connected to their devices and expected to be available outside of regular working hours. This lack of boundaries can erode work-life balance and lead to a sense of being “always available.”
Limited Support Systems: Despite having work-life balance policies in many companies, organizations may not provide the necessary support systems to help employees achieve balance. For example, inadequate childcare support or limited access to wellness programs can make it challenging for employees to effectively manage their personal commitments alongside their work responsibilities.
Cultural Expectations and Peer Pressure: In certain workplace cultures, there can be unwritten expectations that employees need to constantly be available and put work above everything else. Peer pressure and cultural norms within the organization may discourage employees from prioritizing their personal lives or taking time off, even when work-life balance policies are theoretically are existing. It is just a hoax to have such policies in the 1st place – Not sure how employee (including me) falls in such trap.
Long Working Hours Culture: A variant of the above mentioned point, many industries and organizations have a prevalent culture of long working hours, where employees are expected to work well beyond their designated hours. This culture often undermines work-life balance, leading to increased stress, burnout, and a lack of time for personal commitments or leisure activities. Organizational culture and expectations can make it difficult for employees to truly achieve balance as needed in life.
Demand for 24/7 Operations: The IT industry often operates in a 24/7 environment, particularly in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, and IT support (this is the nature of business). As we go global, the customer wants solutions and resolutions to their challenges and problems during their day-time – which could be off-hours for people working in different time zone. This can lead to employees being on call or working irregular hours, which can impact work-life balance. However, organizations can implement measures such as shift rotations, adequate staffing, and clear expectations around availability to help mitigate the negative effects. (I would state a few organizations have performed Shift approaches, extra cash, transport facilities and others to help their employees work effectively)
Final Approach:
It is important to note that while these elements as stated exist, there are also organizations that prioritize work-life balance and successfully implement policies and practices that support their employees’ well-being. However, the challenges mentioned above highlight the need for organizations to go beyond policies and actively create a culture and environment that values work-life balance, promotes flexibility, and supports employees in achieving harmony between their personal and professional lives.
While work-life balance in the IT industry may present unique challenges, organizations are increasingly recognizing its importance and taking steps to address it. By implementing policies and practices that support flexibility, well-being, and effective project management, the industry can create an environment that enables employees to achieve a healthier work-life balance. However, it is important to note that the extent to which work-life balance is achievable can vary between organizations within the industry, and it may require individual efforts as well.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape with many disruptions, new technology changes, digitization’s, certifications, Customers becoming more demanding and , agility has become paramount for organizations seeking success.
As Agile frameworks continue to gain momentum, the role of a Business Analyst (BA) is also transforming. Many Business Analyst aspire to take on more strategic responsibilities and broaden their impact within the organization, many of them would like to be associated with Agile teams, but business analyst is not even a role as recognized by Agile world.
One such transition that often comes to mind is moving from a Business Analyst to a Product Owner (it seems a natural movement). Is it so simple to migrate to the new role in new ways of working?, If you are as confused as I was a few days ago, then continue to read and explore the thoughts that I have jotted down here.
In this blog, we will explore how a Business Analyst can upgrade / migrate to become a Product Owner in an Agile environment.
Before we delve into the transition process, it is essential to understand the key distinctions between a Business Analyst and a Product Owner. While both roles involve collaborating with stakeholders, their focus and scope vary.
A Business Analyst primarily acts as a bridge between business stakeholders and development teams. They gather and analyze requirements, identify business needs, and ensure alignment between stakeholders and the project team. BAs are skilled in eliciting, documenting, and managing requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
On the other hand, a Product Owner is a critical role within Agile frameworks such as Scrum. They represent the voice of the customer and are responsible for maximizing the value delivered by the team. Product Owners prioritize the backlog, work with the team and the stakeholders (including but not limited to End users) to define user stories, and ensure the team understands the product vision.
To transition from a Business Analyst to a Product Owner, it’s important to identify and address the skill gaps. While BAs possess valuable skills, they need to acquire additional competencies related to product management and Agile ways of working.
Product Management: Business Analyst should develop a deep understanding of product strategy, market analysis, user research, and product lifecycle management. They need to think strategically, define product vision, and make informed decisions to maximize product value. You need to master more tricks in the game to learn how to negotiate, prioritize and formulate the product backlog.
Agile Frameworks: BAs should familiarize themselves with Agile principles and frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban, and others. They must understand the iterative nature of Agile, embrace adaptive planning, and learn to collaborate effectively within cross-functional teams and not worry about ever evolving requirements, but learn how to manage the stakeholders, keep expectation management in scope and manage the risk of not meeting the commitments.
Stakeholder Management: As a Product Owner, relationship management becomes vital. Developing skills in stakeholder engagement, negotiation, and conflict resolution will enable smooth communication and alignment with stakeholders throughout the product development journey. Product owner needs to be decision maker. Understand the different stances of the product owner and know when to en-act which stand with stakeholders at the different durations and time intervals with the stakeholders / customers.
To upgrade to a Product Owner, Business Analysts should actively seek opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the role. Here are a few practical steps to consider:
Self-Study: Read books, articles, and blogs on Agile frameworks, product management, and the role of a Product Owner. Online platforms and communities offer a wealth of resources, webinars, and podcasts that can aid in self-learning, Participate in webinars, meetups, conferences, online sessions, review and listen to podcast – there is tons of data and information available in the industry – know the right source and the right place to acquire the available information. Again, a word of caution – do not read everything – follow some known Guru’s and experts from the market to get the right guidance.
Collaboration and Mentorship: Engage with experienced Product Owners, Agile practitioners, and industry professionals. Seek opportunities to shadow and collaborate with them, learning from their experiences and gaining practical insights. Try and seek a 1:1 session, exchange your queries and doubts, create situations and scenarios to gain insights into the thinking pattern of these experts – a lot of data to consume, filter the information for the right reasons.
On-the-Job Experience: Look for opportunities to take on Product Owner responsibilities within your current organization or in side projects. Start by actively participating in backlog refinement sessions, sprint planning, and user story development, at times participate (with permission) to only observe and see the whole flow getting worked out. – You may not be associated with the project, but by participating, observing one would gain tremendous thought process, which again should be harnessed by self-study and mentoring approaches
Training and Certification: Consider attending workshops, seminars, and certification programs that focus on Agile frameworks and product management. Certifications such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) can help validate your knowledge and enhance your marketability. Test your skills and knowledge via external validations, which can be easily done with different certifications from the industry, when you choose a training or workshop, evaluate the trainer, seek past feedback and references, do not evaluate over the cost.
Final element of this game should be to practice what we have gained, learnt or mastered, Transitioning to a Product Owner role requires effectively showcasing the skills and experiences gained as a Business Analyst. Highlighting these transferable skills will help demonstrate your readiness for the new role:
Requirement Analysis: As a BA, you have honed your ability to understand complex business processes and translate them into functional requirements. This analytical and problem-solving skill set is highly valuable for prioritizing features and defining user stories, Learn techniques such as Cost of Delay (CoD), MoSCoW, Force Field Analysis, Buy a Feature approach – these techniques would enable better management of the product backlog and meeting the needs and requirements of your customer.
Domain Knowledge: BAs often gain industry-specific knowledge through their projects. This domain expertise can be invaluable in understanding user needs, identifying market trends, and making informed product decisions. Understand the working of the industry, if the industry as you are associated with, is regulated, then learn about the issues, impact of decisions by the statutorily bodies on your product and services and how the requirements would evolve in the given situation and context.
Stakeholder Collaboration: BAs frequently interact with stakeholders, ensuring their needs are met throughout the project lifecycle. This experience in gathering and managing requirements and facilitating communication can be leveraged in the Product Owner role, this is no different for the Product Owner role, but learn to play the different stances of the product owner at different time to create the necessary impact on the product, its evolution.
Communication and Documentation: Business Analysts excel at clear and concise communication, as well as documenting requirements and user stories. These skills translate seamlessly into effective communication with development teams, stakeholders, and user groups as a Product Owner, Learn to communicate with minimum documentation, embrace the Agile manifesto and its principles – Interact with teams and stakeholders, have informal coffee chats. Get engaged with the people whom you work with or people who work with you.
Before you take the final call, be aware of these Anti Patterns when you move from Business Analyst role to a Product Owner one
Difficulty in prioritization: BAs often deal with multiple projects and requirements simultaneously, which can lead to difficulties in prioritizing features effectively. As a Product Owner, having a clear understanding of the product vision & strategy and the ability to prioritize based on user value, business impact, and market needs is crucial. Failure to prioritize effectively may result in a product that lacks focus or fails to deliver the most important features first. Remember Product Owner is a decision making role.
Lack of ownership and accountability: BAs typically operate within a structured framework and may not be accustomed to taking full ownership and accountability for the product’s success. As a PO, it is essential to take responsibility for the product, make tough decisions, and drive its overall direction. Without a strong sense of ownership, the product may suffer from indecisiveness or lack of direction. Remember in Nutshell PO = CEO of the product
Insufficient collaboration with development teams: BAs are accustomed to working as intermediaries between stakeholders and development teams. However, as a PO, close collaboration with the development team is crucial. Failing to actively engage and communicate with the team can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and suboptimal outcomes. The PO should work closely with the team, provide clarifications, prioritize features, and ensure the team’s understanding of the product vision. Note that the Agile teams work in clear autonomy approach, give them the product needs and requirements and allow them to function in a manner where in their creativity can emerge and provide the right value for the customer.
Requirement-driven approach: BAs often have a strong background in gathering and documenting requirements. However, it is essential for a PO to adopt a more holistic and strategic mindset, considering the overall product vision, market dynamics, user needs, and business goals. Look beyond the obvious and there is a wealth of information on needs and wants of the customer there to be address and resolved.
Lack of user-centricity: BAs sometimes prioritize the needs and wants of stakeholders over those of end-users. This can result in a product that doesn’t effectively address user pain points or deliver value to the target audience. A successful PO should place a strong emphasis on understanding user needs, conducting user research, and ensuring the product meets user expectations, use approaches such as “Gemba” or “HMW – How Might We”. Use thoughts and elements from Liberating Structures.
Resistance to change and agility: BAs typically operate within defined processes and methodologies. However, a successful PO needs to be adaptable, open to change, and embrace an agile mindset. Resistance to change can hinder the ability to respond quickly to market shifts, adapt to feedback, and make necessary adjustments to the product strategy. At times the product as developed could be required to be changed once the requirements are developed, this is an iterative approach, we work and act as we learn more about the users, their issues, pain points, technology capabilities and so on. Agility is all about responding to change.
It’s important to recognize these anti-patterns and address them proactively. By understanding the challenges that may arise, BAs transitioning into the role of a PO can develop the necessary skills, mindset, and behaviors to be effective in their new position. Continuous learning, collaboration, and a focus on user value are key to overcoming these anti-patterns and succeeding as a Product Owner
Last few words of Wisdom:
Transitioning from a Business Analyst to a Product Owner is an exciting journey for professionals seeking to expand their impact in an Agile environment. By identifying skill gaps, acquiring relevant knowledge, and showcasing transferable skills, BAs can successfully upgrade their role. Embracing continuous learning, collaborating with experienced practitioners, and gaining practical experience will empower Business Analysts to become effective Product Owners who drive value and contribute to the success of Agile team. Remember one key element – Product Owner is the Value Maximizer in the game.
The demand for Scrum Masters to also have project management skills can be attributed to several factors and trends in the industry. While it is not a universal requirement, some organizations may prefer or require their Scrum Masters to possess project management capabilities. Here are a few reasons as per me to why this demand is existing in the market?
Overlapping responsibilities: Scrum Masters and project managers share certain responsibilities, such as facilitating communication, removing obstacles, and ensuring the smooth progress of product development or execution of the projects. By combining both roles, organizations can streamline their processes and avoid duplication of efforts.
Hybrid approaches: Many organizations adopt a hybrid approach to project management, combining agile methodologies like Scrum with traditional project management practices. In such cases, having a Scrum Master who is also familiar with project management can be advantageous, as they can bridge the gap between the two approaches and facilitate effective collaboration (question: Are the organizations getting the monies worth by doing this approach – would love to see a few case studies and experience sharing from others)
Project coordination: In larger organizations or complex projects involving multiple teams, a Scrum Master with project management skills can help coordinate and align the efforts of different teams or departments. They can ensure that the work being done by various Scrum teams is in sync and aligned with the overall project objectives (but is this not the pure role of a Scrum Master – Have we ever given a thought and management / leadership understand the pure meaning of the role called – Scrum Master)
Stakeholder management: Project managers often deal with various stakeholders, including clients, executives, and team members. Having a Scrum Master with project management skills can enhance their ability to manage stakeholders effectively, ensuring clear communication, managing expectations, and resolving conflicts (but again here we had Product Owner to deal with the stakeholders and manage their expectations, for resolving conflicts within the team – Scrum Master can handle the job)
Career progression: For individuals working in agile environments, gaining project management skills can offer opportunities for career advancement. By acquiring a broader skill set, Scrum Masters can expand their roles and take on project management responsibilities, leading to increased career prospects within the organization (but when the world is moving towards Agile and Agile adoption is increasing by the day – Not sure if any Scrum Master would care to become a career project manager – any takers?)
It is worth noting that while the demand exists to have a combo offer of Scrum Master Cum Project Manager, not all organizations require Scrum Masters to be project managers. The specific requirements may vary depending on the organization’s structure, size, and project management approach. Agile methodologies like Scrum prioritize flexibility and adaptability, so organizations may choose to have separate roles for Scrum Masters and project managers, depending on their specific needs and preferences.
Have we ever heard that Organizations are looking for Project Manager Cum Scrum Master? You would say Yes ….if you notice industry is looking for Scrum Master Cum Project Manager – Mind you there is a see change of difference between the two demands that the market is looking out for.
When such demands are placed, It gives me a lot more food for thought … in terms if the organization really wants to adopt Agile and do the implementation or it is just a new card that the leadership wants to use in the organization.
Has the management thought on these lines:
Conflicting priorities: Scrum Masters and Project Managers often have different priorities and approaches. Scrum Masters focus on facilitating the agile process, promoting self-organization, and removing impediments for the development team. Project Managers, on the other hand, may prioritize adherence to schedules, budgets, and overall project objectives. Balancing these potentially conflicting priorities can be challenging – It is like Chalk and Cheese, we mixing two elements together – Are we aware of the reactions and impact it would have on the moral of the person and the approach of agile adoption.
Time management: Both roles require significant time and effort to fulfill their responsibilities effectively. Juggling the tasks of a Scrum Master, such as organizing and facilitating ceremonies, coaching the team, and ensuring adherence to agile principles, along with the project management responsibilities like planning, tracking progress, and managing stakeholders, can be demanding and time-consuming (when a SM acts like a PM then the whole concept of Self-Organizing, Self-Managed goes out of the window, there is no concept of team autonomy – Time management for me would be a secondary thought)
Role clarity and expectations: Combining the roles of a Scrum Master and a Project Manager can lead to ambiguity in responsibilities and expectations. Team members may become uncertain about whom to approach for specific issues, and there could be confusion about the boundaries of each role. It is crucial to establish clear expectations and communicate them effectively to avoid role confusion. More than the team, I believe it would utter confusion for the person to play dual role – This is also an indication that Leadership of the organization does not even understand the concept of Agile and have little or no clue on how the work of a Scrum Master is performed. For them we all are just resources available to get some job done.
Skill set requirements: Being an effective Scrum Master and also a Project Manager requires a diverse skill set. Scrum Masters need expertise in agile methodologies, facilitation, coaching, and team dynamics. Project Managers require skills in project planning, risk management, budgeting, and stakeholder management. Finding individuals who excel in both areas can be challenging, as the skill sets required for each role may not overlap entirely. This is an interesting problem to have … if this logic can be applied for Scrum Master and Project Managers … then the same logic should be applied for all roles in the organization, like COO and CFO could be same or COO and CIO could be the same individuals and similar more. I hope the management wakes up and smells the coffee.
Potential burnout: Taking on the responsibilities of both a Scrum Master and a Project Manager can lead to increased workload and potential burnout. Both roles can be demanding individually and combining them may intensify the pressure. It is important to manage workload effectively, delegate tasks when possible, and prioritize self-care to prevent burnout. – Now the important question that I would have is where the HR policies of “Work Life Balance”, are these concept confined to the policies and to be used when recruiting people, later they have little or no meaning
Conflict of interest: Scrum Masters are advocates for the team, ensuring that they have the autonomy and support needed to deliver value. Project Managers, on the other hand, may have obligations to meet specific project objectives, timelines, and stakeholder expectations. Balancing these sometimes conflicting interests can be challenging and may require careful negotiation and communication. Meeting the timelines should be everyone’s job in the project or organization, At times we do not right resources (meaning skills), tools are missing, dependencies do not respond, client behaves abnormally, team members at times are moved across projects, no proper or adequate KT is done for the new joiners to the team – and with all these challenges, one expects ON TIME Delivery !!!
With my hand folded, I request leadership and decision makers across the globe to carefully consider these challenges and assess whether combining the roles of a Scrum Master and a Project Manager aligns with their specific needs and context. It is important to ensure that individuals in these dual roles receive the necessary support, training, and resources to succeed in fulfilling their responsibilities effectively. In a better world – one would not combine these two roles.
A small query – How many of us on a daily basis would combine / mix our tea and coffee together and enjoy the same – Any takers – On a daily basis (not experiment)?
This article is based and drawn on my Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Agile Coach experiences over a period of many years across different domains and industries and not to forget the geographies that I have worked in.
Beyond my fundamental training on Scrum and Agile, I had the privilege of working with and learning from highly competent, ethical professionals who had provided me ample opportunities to learn, make mistakes, and re-apply my learnings. People with whom I have been associated have practiced “Fail Fast” and showed me directions on how to prepare for the future. They have guided me to deal with stakeholders who need to be managed at a different level (as each of them was a different personality – No One size that fits all)
Everyone wants to succeed, but regardless of many forms of success, one must also be successful in dealing with others.
While there are many attributes that contribute to the growth and behavior of an individual, I have listed down what worked for me and helped me in my agile coaching journey.
Positive personal effectiveness is achieved when we can ethically win confidence, respect, and cooperation in our dealings with others (they could be your Seniors or Juniors).
Scrum Master’s job is to work with others; they cannot delegate this nor can they avoid the required interaction. For Scrum Masters to be successful, they should practice the below mentioned nine people skills for ‘Self-Improvement and Effectiveness’.
Personal Ethics
Adaptability
Tact
Creditability
Intercommunication
Persuasiveness
Objectivity
Initiative
Self-Discipline
From the above one would spot over-lapping approaches across many skills like Intercommunication and Persuasiveness vs. Tact.
Personal Ethics
It is thefirst people related skill that any individual should develop, and it applies to a Scrum Master also. It is basic to establish and maintain a high standard of excellence in the practice, life and behavior. Good character, stemming from good ethics, is a quality of leadership and it distinguishes any leader from others. It inspires well-founded and reciprocal confidence and trust of others in you.
I learnt in my career that the best and most successful people at the top (like Ratan Tata) were those who displayed and practiced personal ethics and took personal responsibilities toward their own people, project, organizations, employees, and society at large.
Consistent reliance on personal ethics should be our guiding principle in our personal encounters, which would inspire others to follow the same pattern and principles.
This should be the default element of any Scrum Master and bare minimum traits to have. There cannot be any compromise on this front.
Adaptability
Not everything would always go as per plan. It is important for us to be adaptable, especially in our project environment, where requirements can change, scope gets impacted, estimates go for a toss, – and the delivery of the MVP is at risk. This is the place where adaptability as a people skill would help us bring harmony to our attitudes and actions in our dealings with the situation and economic environment.
The required degree of adaptability varies with the situation, at times it would be temporary or minor in nature and at others, it would cause a major impact in our dealings and thought processes.
Experience has taught me that however crucial the circumstances may be, adaptability with a cool and collected mindset helps in managing the situation better.
The product owner could be putting pressure on the team, teams may have internal conflicts and challenges to deal with, or the market situation may not be as per our needs or plans. To deal with all these situations, adaptability is required. There is no substitute for the same.
Every project would demand a certain amount of adaptability, as its needs and goals would be different than your prior experiences. As a scrum master one would play multiple roles in a day-to-day affair of the product development. Depending on the need, one would act as a wise counselor or demonstrate as an inspiring mentor or display compassion. Scrum Master should know that change is inevitable and would have an overarching impact. A Scrum Master who can adapt to these changing situations would be able to survive and thrive in the business.
Tact
Scrum Master needs to master the art of tact in dealing with the team, PO and stakeholders including the leadership and show genuine concern for their situation and feelings. Tact as an approach cannot work alone, it has to be used with other personal effectiveness traits and people skills.
Lacking tact can be a costly impediment to personal effectiveness. How can we avoid conflict with someone who takes a totally arbitrary posture of disagreement? Now look at these 2 statements –
“Please tell me a little more about how you came to this conclusion.”
“I don’t agree with you.”
The first one might prevent antagonism, but the latter one would more likely cause it.
This is what we call tact – an important parameter in our approach to dealing with people. Self-control under pressure is a powerful tool of discretion. Lacking tact as a skill could be a costly impediment to personal effectiveness. A practical guide to improving your handling of situations with “tact” should consider these three elements:
Perception
Discretion
Empathy
Tact is more about mutual respect for other parties involved in the situation or discussions.
Credibility
Credibility is an essential attribute that is built upon elements of Trust, Integrity, Reliability, and Commitments. Credibility lends its power to personal effectiveness as it helps you earn the genuine respect, trust, and confidence of others.
Imagine a Scrum Master with credibility issues. Will they be able to lead the team, or will the team respect such a person?
Commitment and promises are a necessity in every part and type of job that we do. Breach of these would have issues on credibility of the person, whether it is in the society, organization, project, or family. A person’s past performance creates a track record which builds up credibility.
Intercommunications
Intercommunication is a synthesizer to all the other elements as discussed in this article. Intercommunication capabilities create the power to use all the skills more effectively. A good communicator conveys messages, ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and intentions clearly and concisely, while displaying the reciprocal interactions – listening, hearing, and evaluating the comments and feelings of others. This is a common element of Scrum Master’s daily job.
The effectiveness of Scrum Master’s communication is always reflected in the responses they receive, whether in action or attitude or words. These responses are an excellent ongoing opportunity for evaluating the style of our communication. If the Scrum team’s performance matters, it needs to have excellent communication from Scrum Master. Scrum is a high-intensity team sport. Good communication is one of the essential elements to build a robust Scrum team. Lack of communication or poor communication will invariably cause your Scrum team to fall apart.
Signs of poor communication
Here are the most common indicators of improper communication that you as a Scrum Master should be careful about:
Using a monologue over a dialogue
Disregarding the feelings of others
Being subjective/vague
Resisting feedback
Lack of shared language of communication
Persuasiveness
It is an art of gaining approval, acceptance or agreement when presenting your thoughts, ideas, plans, suggestions, and opinions to others.
It is one of the most valuable skills for the scrum master to have, as it leads to gaining cooperation, and a greater success in our dealing with the situations and people.
Quite often, traditional managers can be very autocratic when they delegate their authority. Scrum supports empowerment. Self-analyzing and self-organizing teams decide the best course of action. At times, it becomes necessary to advise the team to follow the Scrum process or carry out a particular activity. Generally, the teams respond positively by listening to the scrum master and engaging with the task. However, if the team fails to respond in time, or fails to respond positively, it may be required to engage with the team so it can comply. This is where the attitude comes in – the Scrum Master can either instruct the team or discuss the issue and persuade the team to respond positively.
An autocratic attitude is frowned upon by the team, and at an individual level, it may become difficult to avail the team member’s cooperation. The servant-leader role suggests that a scrum master should refrain from delegating his or her authority. Instead, the person should persuade the team member to cooperate.
Persuasiveness forms an integral part of well-defined communication. It is derived from competence, convictions, and ethically driven behavior.
Objectivity
Being objective helps to evaluate the situation, data, information which would be un-influenced by emotions, beliefs, or any personal preference. For a Scrum Master maintaining objectivity – an unbiased perspective when dealing with others and doing so fairly – is vital to achieving personal effectiveness. Objectivity is closely linked to credibility.
For objectivity to survive, an open mind is required, or should I say, it is the bare minimum requirement. An open mind would allow the Scrum Master to have the freedom to evaluate possible choices. A closed mind would rob us of these advantages.
Scrum Masters should be careful about objectivity as per social science research. This is difficult and arises out of the adverse influences of the following:
Personal prejudices and bias
Value judgement
Ethical dilemma
Complexity of social phenomena
A clear objective of Scrum Master should be to focus on the development and dissemination of knowledge and skills which are required to exploit the potential of the latest technologies and have collaborative design and working environment.
Initiative
This is an approach or a skill, where the Scrum Master converts an idea into action. The focus is to find if the idea would work, and whether we should pivot or throw away the thought.
A good product is well-crafted when engineering practices are in place with good effect. Scrum Master should arrange workshops on coding guidelines, designs, tools, and different engineering practices. Arrange a workshop for the team members where you can discuss or try a new tool, current architecture, latest technology, build-process, and do much more. This can be implemented by reserving time for the workshop and organizing an arbitrator who can be from the team.
Never have a laid-back attitude with your team or product, or when dealing with the stakeholders. Play on your front foot and move forward.
Self-Discipline
It is the ability to control one’s impulses, emotions, desires, and behavior. Agile transformation is all about self-disciplined team members. When we find discipline is missing, we do not get the value flow from the team to the end users. Self-discipline is important because it gives the Scrum Master the opportunity to excel in their professional life. It helps establish a set work routine and holds one accountable for the goals by pushing them to pursue advanced job opportunities.
Self-control is discipline in the face of pressure from an immediate urge, desire, or compulsion. It relates to delaying immediate gratification of the senses. Its struggle is the conflict between intellectual knowing and emotional desiring. It is the choice between physical and psychological satisfaction now vs. the hope or expectation of something better later.
A Scrum Master is required and expected that they would maintain a high degree of self-control and discipline.
Because self-discipline is a learned behavior, Scrum Master should make the choice to develop it. It’s important to set clear goals and have a solid plan for how they’ll achieve them. Knowing where we’re headed makes it easier to stay focused and avoid distractions. Here are a few steps you can follow to become self-disciplined:
Know your current situation
Define your expectations and set goals for yourself
Push yourself to meet your goals
Measure your progress
Learn from the situation
Reward yourself when you accomplish it
Identify your areas of improvement
Repeat the cycle – have a defined frequency
Remember there is no magic – it is all about you, your behavior and ability to handle complex, difficult situations, when the career and aspirations of people are involved. It is a delicate balance and Scrum Master needs to walk the tight rope.
Always inspect and adapt. Be the servant leader that Agile expects you to be.
People engagement is a minimum expectation for any team, product, project, and organization. It is a never-ending journey, yet many projects or organizations go awry and lose the required focus. Many organizations fail to embark on that journey. As a result, they’re setting their people (and their bottom lines) up for failure.
Why is people engagement crucial? How do you measure it? Improvements can only come when you know what needs to be done and why, along with the relevant impact or desired change.
What is People engagement?
Many Scrum Masters recognize that engaging the team members plays a critical role in Agile success. But far fewer can define engagement and why it’s so important. What is the so-called engagement? What is the role of Scrum Master in this front?
Team Member engagement is the measure of how motivated a person is within their job, team, and organization. When someone is highly engaged, it means they’re invested in their work, energized by their peers, and committed to their product and/or company’s long-term mission and vision.
Put simply, engagement measures an employee’s level of satisfaction at a given point in the employment lifecycle. The higher the level of engagement, the greater the likelihood that the person is enjoying a positive experience. By engaging your hard-working folks and low-performers alike, you ensure your people can come to work energized—and deliver their best.
Why is an engaged Scrum Team important?
Flip this question on its head: What happens when your team or a few members of the team are not engaged?
When team members feel disconnected their work begins to suffer which ultimately impacts the product / increment delivery. Team member is less likely to go the extra mile for their others and is going to do the bare minimum to stay afloat in their role. And when they decide their organization can no longer support their growth (professionally, monetarily, or otherwise), they’ll leave for a company that can.
Now imagine that effect multiplied across an entire workforce, and the dangers of disengagement become amply clear.
An engaged Scrum Team is critical to productivity—and, by that definition, it would impact your profitability and customers (directly).
We do not even count the losses that we have made by hiring the wrong person or backfilling the position. If we start to calculate the amount of time, effort, and energy that is wasted, more so from the management level, our growth in terms of EBITA would be going north. But, alas, it is considered an element of doing business. No doubt that people would leave, but by retaining them for a longer duration, you are increasing your margins, as well as customer satisfaction.
Improvements to the employee experience can also carry over to the customer experience. If you’re taking steps to improve employee satisfaction, chances are your customer satisfaction ratings will get a boost, too.
Habits of engaged employees and companies.
Engaged team members would have some habits you simply won’t find in other employees. They show up to work with energy and often a genuine smile. They go the extra mile in their role—by working late occasionally or offering to help employees with too much on their plate. Above all else, they’re excellent teammates who contribute to a healthy team dynamic.
Benefits of engaged team members.
When a team member is engaged, that inner fire tends to spread. Others feel the energy. They spend more discretionary effort and aspire to be better team players. Given are a few of the many benefits of engagement:
Higher productivity
Greater profitability
Lower employee turnover
Fewer safety incidents
Stronger customer loyalty
Lower employee absenteeism
Consider this list of benefits, and the takeaway is clear: Employee engagement can transform your business.
Make no mistake: A ping-pong table and office snacks aren’t enough to entice today’s talent. More than ever, people want a fail-safe environment—one where they can be their authentic selves, and work in a way that’s both stimulating and sustainable.
The different levels of engagement
You may know an employee is highly disengaged, but unless you know what is driving disengagement, how are you supposed to take action?
There are four drivers of employee engagement:
Job fit: Alignment between an employee’s responsibilities and their natural tendencies and career aspirations
Manager fit: The relationship between the employee and their manager.
Team fit: Chemistry with teammates, and overall team cohesion
Organizational fit: connection to senior leadership and the company culture
When a team member achieves fitment across all four factors of engagement, they’re more likely to be engaged overall. By contrast, when one or more factors are lacking—a person doesn’t gel with their team, the culture, etc.—they’re more likely to become disengaged over time.
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to engagement. Job satisfaction may look wildly different to one team member as compared to another—it all depends on each person’s natural behavioral drives. By understanding how to motivate your scrum team members based on their unique needs, Scrum Master can ensure that they are taking an active approach to prevent disengagement and improving the experience.
Don’t try to boil the ocean. When in doubt, look for ways—even if seemingly small—to improve one or more of the four drivers of engagement.
Here are some examples of ways to improve engagement:
Have regular career pathing discussions with your team members.
Build awareness as a Scrum Master and address relationship gaps.
Encourage a healthy work-life balance (and lead by example).
Build trust by leading remote-friendly team-building activities.
Recognize your Scrum Team Members for a job well done, or when a Sprint has gone well (more so publicly than privately).
Write personalized “thank you” cards for your team members.
Embrace hybrid work by allowing people to choose where they work (as long as the work is getting done, the goals and objectives are achieved of the product/sprint).
Once the Scrum Master discovers effective employee engagement best practices, it’s time to think about the bigger picture with the strategy. Scrum Master should take a proactive approach by surveying the team members about their experiences with the project/organization. Identify the biggest opportunity areas, so one can swiftly act on their feedback.
Investing in and measuring engagement
Investing in engagement today can pay dividends in the long term—but only if you know how to measure your progress.
Collecting employee feedback has always been important, but now it’s mission critical. Organizations live in a post-COVID world—one dominated by discussions about mental health, social equity, and personal freedom. Throw economic uncertainty into the mix, and you could make a strong argument that employee engagement is in a recession of its own.
The impact of managers and leadership on engagement
As a Scrum Master, you have an outsized impact on engagement. It’s incumbent that you don’t just listen to your people, but that you advocate and fight for them.
Taking action is a collaborative process. Give your people the forum to voice their opinions and propose ideas for change. Once you’ve agreed upon a plan of action, see to it that you follow through on that plan. Lead by example and encourage other leaders / Scrum Masters across the organization to follow suit.
The role of engaged employees in your hiring process.
Engagement doesn’t just make for a great employee experience—it makes for a great hiring experience, too.
One of the best ways to create a world-class onboarding experience is to involve existing employees, preferably high performers already in the role. Doing so can help accelerate a new hire’s training while providing invaluable mentors they can lean on in their first 30 days.
By having engaged team members, you ensure new hires are exposed to the very best your organization has to offer. By contrast, if you let disengaged team members run the show, you risk discouraging new talent before they even wrap up their first day.
Identifying disengaged employees at your workplace
A proactive approach to engagement isn’t without its flaws. Employees can still fall through the cracks and become disengaged.
Put simply, the four factors of engagement can double as “four forces of disengagement.”
You can probe for these negative forces with the right conversations. If you sense morale is low among a group of employees, bring it up privately during your next one-on-one meeting. Consider asking the following questions:
Are you enjoying your current role?
Do you feel supported by the team?
In what ways can I improve as a Scrum Master?
How do you feel about the state of the company?
Disengaged employees are never a lost cause. Equip yourself with effective tools—and a positive mindset—and you’ll ensure you’re setting up your people for success.
Look forward for your feedback and comments … your personal experience on this front, we all can share and learn from each other’s experience
Scrum Teams are made up of people with different life experiences bringing together many valuable and different perspectives. Diverse groups are better able to recognize problems and offer more creative solutions than group of people with similar experiences.
But what if some team members don’t feel comfortable speaking up? What if they’re afraid to share their concerns or resisted asking challenging questions? What if they avoid suggesting innovative ideas because they’re worried about rejection? – this is an indication of Technical Debt (in our Environment – Not in our code, remember to refactor your working environment also)
A lack of safe environment at work has major business implications. When employees do not feel comfortable talking about initiatives that aren’t working, if the organization does not listen to these conversations, then it isn’t equipped to prevent failure. When employees aren’t fully committed to your new project or ideas or initiatives, the organization has lost an opportunity to leverage the strengths of all its talent.
People need to feel comfortable speaking up, asking basic questions, and disagreeing with the way things are in order to create ideas that make a real difference.
This also means as an employee we embrace conflict and speak up, knowing that your team has your back, and you have their backs.
Defining Safety at Work
Fail Safe environment is a belief that nobody would be punished or seen down or insulted for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
When we have such safety in our projects and organization, one would feel comfortable being themselves. Employees would bring their full-selves to work and feel okay laying all of themselves on the line.
How to create a Fail Safe Environment in our Scrum Teams?
When a scrum team is characterized by interpersonal trust and a climate of respect, members feel free to collaborate and they feel safe taking risks, which ultimately enables them to implement rapid innovation.
A fail safe workplace begins with a feeling of belonging. Like all theories of human needs — which shows that all humans require their basic needs to be met before they can reach their full potential — employees must feel accepted before they’re able to improve their organizations.
Step 1: Inclusive Safety
Inclusive safety satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong with peers and superiors. In this stage, you feel safe to be yourself and are accepted for who you are, including your unique attributes and defining characteristics.
Step 2: Learnability Safety
Learnability safety satisfies the need to learn and grow. In this stage, you feel safe to exchange in the learning process, by asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and making mistakes. None should feel that any questions are non-value add.
Step 3: Do-er Safety
Do-er safety satisfies the need to make a difference. Each person should feel safe to use their skills and abilities to make a meaningful contribution.
Step 4: Challenging Status Quo Safety
Challenging any status quo inspires the need to make things better. One should feel safe to speak up and challenge the status quo when you think there’s an opportunity to change or improve or you believe something is not done the right way.
How can Scrum Master and Product Owner create a Fail Safe approach in their respective teams?
Think about it in terms of making incremental changes that yield incremental wins. Scrum Masters can set the stage for incremental change by facilitating the Scrum Team to set expectations for factors that contribute to safety of thoughts and ideas. Doing so will help encourage innovation and radically different thought process.
With your team, discuss the following questions:
How will team members communicate their concerns about something that is not working?
How will you respond to failure or bad news?
How do we raise sensitive issues?
What are the norms for managing conflict with in the team?
Are you willing to accept creative, out-of-the-box ideas that are not well-formulated?
How can developers nurture Safety at Work?
While Scrum Masters and Product Owners play a role in shaping their team’s culture, it’s up to each team member to contribute to a fail-safe environment.
A culture is defined by “the way we do things around here” and we all have a role to play in how we do things at work — both on our teams and in our organization.
Developers can take the following steps to promote productive dialog and debate:
Ask powerful, open-ended questions, and then listen actively and intently to understand feelings and values, as well as facts.
Agree to share failures, recognizing that mistakes are an opportunity to learn and grow.
Ask for help, and freely give help when asked.
Embrace expertise among many, versus a “hero” mentality.
Encourage and express gratitude, which reinforces team members’ sense of self.
Most importantly, positive interactions and conversations between individuals are built on trust. Show empathy in the workplace by giving your team members the benefit of the doubt when they take a risk, ask for help, or admit a mistake. In turn, trust that they will do the same for you.
Scrum Masters should be investing in strengthening the quality of dialogue across the team and the organization. Remember, better conversations will lead to a better culture. Improved conversational skills, combined with a fail-safe environment, will yield employees who are more willing to share unspoken reservations and proposed solutions that are stress-tested more rigorously before implementation.
What happens when the Work Is Virtual?
At first, it may seem that it’s harder to promote fail safe approach when employees are working remotely. How do you establish trust when interpersonal conversations have to be scheduled in advance and conducted through a screen?
On a LIVE virtual call, one has the ability to look intently at people, not just listening to their words, but seeing and feeling their emotions. In many cultures, it can be awkward to stare at someone for 30 seconds or certainly minutes at a time. But on a LIVE Virtual approach no one knows who you’re looking at, and your ability to apply your emotional intelligence can be enhanced.
Conclusion:
Remember, the goal is to create a safe place to work where team members aren’t worried about feeling rejected for speaking up. When that’s the case, not only does interpersonal risk-taking become the norm, but team members are also more adaptable in the face of change. In other words, they understand the challenges and opportunities that exist throughout the organization — and they see their role in making it a better place.
Scrum Masters – Take a lead in creating such an environment … Product Owners need to be supporting the Scrum Master to nurture such an environment … remember a team that is encouraged to take risk, speak freely, keep innovating without worry about failures, will produce the value that your customers would love. Leave the concept of improving your velocity (seems like this is the only metrics and KRA every one in life has – I mean all agilists), rather focus on the environment, culture, collaboration, communication (I know these are dirty and bad words – but believe me they will help you in your journey towards excellence) and would help you improve / increase our required throughput / cycle time / velocity
All of us experience stress to some degree regularly, but stress on a leader is comes from unique situations, limitations, demands of the system, environment, the behavior of the stakeholders, lack of control of the environment or just some personal insecurity.
Research has shown the Scrum Master experiences same level of stress from different sources e.g. Product Owner, Stakeholders, Development teams or other Scrum Masters, but reasons for the stress that they feel would differ, as this would typical depend on the source of the stress.
Why Scrum Master Role is full of Stress?
By definition, Scrum Master role requires you to be out in front of the people, rarely there would be a standard path or approach that one could follow. There are no readily available answers to the acute problems as faced by them. Scrum Masters often would be required to make critical decisions based on the limited information and just as often the customers, PO, Development team, sponsors or the management would hold them accountable for those decisions.
Lack of control – By definition the SM role does not have any authority or control on the people issues (meaning all the HR related matters). SM’s often have to negotiate with the stakeholders, directors or sponsors and try to use their own power of influence, all of these are recipes for stress.
Every good news or a achieved success is a source of stress, reason: expectations are set, Bar of performance has risen and the whole universe now expects day-in and day-out that you and your team would be delivering improved results every sprint – A new source for stress.
Building relationship, show the traits of Servant Leadership. Role of the SM requires them to coordinate and collaborate with different stakeholders, each of them brings unique challenges due to their individual characteristics. Managing conflicts takes different forms. No standard approach or technique can be applied. It again depends on the situation right personal disputes to political games (mind you organization have major politics) – All of these are sources of stress.
Scrum Masters must shoulder a high degree of expectations from various elements of the organization. Each of them expects results in the form of success since failure is not an Option (all of management forgets that Agile is all about FAIL FAST and INSPECT & ADAPT). Scrum Masters often feel the pressure of having to know all the answers and make all the right decisions and also be ready to face the consequences of the decisions that they make.
WHEN STRESS IS WHO and NOT WHAT
Scrum Master has to start recognizing that it is not important to define what is stress about, but to identify WHO is the source of stress? If you feel that your boss does not show his support to your decision or respect your authority, then this will contribute towards elevation of stress. So, BOSS could be a source of stress
One of most general source of stress is your peer community. A competitive environment and lack of cooperation from your peers is going to induce new levels of stress (quite different then ones you get from the Boss). Think about your relationships with your peers, do they:
Compete rather than collaborate?
Focus on their own individual outputs rather than the group’s achievements?
Act overly about who gets the credit for getting the job done?
Lack of inclusion and Trust
Your team would be the next in line. Think about your relationships with your team, do they:
Lack commitment?
Resist changes?
Expect you to solve all the problems / issues / impediments?
Fail to implement plans or complete their own tasks?
It may be worth noting that not all stress is bad. The problems associated with stress arise when demands put on you outweigh the resources and coping strategies you have to meet those demands. The key as Scrum Master is to know which stress is which, how to judge your reaction to situations and how to manage the negative type.
Handling the pressure in the job of Scrum Master is necessary. One needs to know what signs of stress to look for, and have a strategy for increasing your resources so that you can manage the leadership stress that comes your way.
Managing the stress is the new skill that Scrum Master would be required to acquire. Stress is now a part of everyday life, but consequences of stress can be serious. By understanding the nature of stress, once can find ways to adapt and thereby be more effective in their career. Things you can do to better manage your stress include knowing the signs / signals, taking breaks, setting boundaries between work and home, building a support system, organizing and streamlining your work, building in recovery time, exercising and creating positive eating habits.
Finally – Implementing Agile or Scrum or anything new, requires courage, that would require in turn learning to manage the “NEW STRESS”, that comes along with it.
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