Scrum Master = People Oriented Master

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.

Try it – and then Inspect and Adapt.

Ego Management – Challenges to manage Project Deliverables and Goals / Objectives

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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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:

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

How to maintain and sustain a Scrum Team – The Secret Sauce (Engage the Scrum Team Member)

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

Product Owner Needs to Master “The Art of Saying No”

One skill that a Product Owner should master is “The Art of saying No.” One does not have to please everyone and make a mess of the product and the value it provides to your customer.

Saying ‘No’ is an art, and it is not easy when you have management, stakeholders, sponsors, end users, and your Agile team as part of the game. You must engage them for all the right things to be done in the right way and the wrong things to be done in the right manner.

It is important to note that the primary responsibility of the Product Owner is to maximize the value, and to do this effectively, he needs to be empowered. 

The Product Owner should be like the CEO of an organization. Consider the product to be an organization and the PO to be its CEO. Remember, a successful product solves/resolves the customer’s pain areas or challenges, enabling the smooth functioning of the business. A good product evolves over a period of time, and features and functionality are not built in from Day 1. 

Visualize the current version of iPhone and its earlier versions like iPhone 5 or 6. It has evolved immensely. We cannot think of all the features and functions on Day 1; we learn and grow as we observe, use and get regular feedback.

You need to evaluate competitors’ products and evolving technology, think five years ahead of the current times to identify the needs of the future, and start to put them in our blueprint. You ought to lead the pack, not copy and follow others. Instead of focusing on Best Practice you should work on Next Practice, which would be the new best practice for the world.

There is a famous quote that states, “We should learn to say the slow Yes and quick No.”

To be a good CEO, one should know the needs and requirements of stakeholders and how to handle them. Do we treat all stakeholders equally and have a common communication strategy across the board? Do we consider the information required by our stakeholders, investors, and management when developing a communication plan? 

Designing the communication strategy would help you to more effectively say “No” when you understand the ‘Why’ and ‘What’ of your communication game plan. Product Owner should not be thinking about consensus every time. It may not always be a good practice and may hurt the product in the long run.

Saying ‘No’ is an art. You need to know how to phrase a sentence and what would form the most appropriate way to start the sentence when intending to say No. One could respond by:

• That is an interesting idea, however 
• I hear what you are saying and 
• I understand that this is important to you, however
• If I would say Yes to this, then 

Define and identify your approach depending on the stakeholder and current situation. You do not need a cookie-cutter strategy. Learn to understand the psychology of your requestors, and the impact that your response would have on them. Also, understand the product, the requestor’s behavior towards you, your team, funding, and support (it is all politics at the end of the day).

Remember, Product Owner’s thought process is not to say “No” to everything. The goal is to say No to good ideas so that you can say Yes to great ideas.

Different ways of saying “No”

Crystal Clear –This method of saying no is suitable when you have a strong relationship in place and there is enough trust between the stakeholders and the product owner.

Timing Based – This approach would be critically deployed when you are facing issues with deadlines and milestones, as per the statutory & regulatory needs. The ideas which are nice to have and do not meet the timeline criteria should be kept on the back burner.

Impact Management – Evaluate the impact of saying Yes vs. No. One person’s gain would be another’s pain. Before arriving at any decision, analyze the impact of your decision on the stakeholder, considering the product vision, market impact, competition, and so on. Compare the present request with other requests from different stakeholders and perform a CoD (Cost of Delay Concept) for comparison.

If-all-else-fail – Use this approach when all the other techniques have not yielded results or failed for you. This should be your last resort. Use this approach for stakeholders who fall under the category of High Influence and Low Impact. When using this approach, ensure that you have the backing of your key and important stakeholders.

Levels of Communication

When communicating with anybody, it is crucial to consider the following: 

1. Start with understanding your emotions and those of others
2. Analyze your relationship with them and their relationship with your product/service
3. Adopt the process
4. Construct your message
5. Communicate

Speaking about emotions, consider whether you are calm, relaxed, anxious, or upset. This process can make or break your approach. If you are comfortable with your emotions, move forward and answer a few questions. 

• Have you spent time building your relationship?
• Has the stakeholder developed a close affinity with you and your product?
• Will they promote your product in all situations? 

When speaking about the process:

• Think about how you are constructing your thoughts, phrasing, and developing your sentences,
• What tonality you are adopting?
• What is your body language?
• And how controlled are your facial reactions? Have you used a common vocabulary?

When communicating, have you seen your environment and the people around the place of discussion? How do you start your conversation? Where and how do you pause? Do you provide adequate time for the message to be accepted? Is there any scope for further discussion?

Do remember, this article is not about saying No, but it is about developing approaches to have great value in your product. It’s a guide to prevent the unnecessary stress of developing something that would not add / create value to the outcome and no true ROI would be achieved.

The thought process here is all about understanding how to manage the various types of stakeholders that you would encounter in your product development journey. How do you ensure that all features and functionalities just do not land up in your product? While you should not undermine the importance of any feature or functionality, it is important to identify the source of the highest ROI. Analyze what creates excitement in your product, what features can move to the next release, and so on.

Efficient Product Owners should continuously try to evaluate the direction of the product, how things are shaping up, and what they must do next in the journey. Equally important is that as a Product Owner, you do your retrospective and find approaches to doing things better.

As a Product Owner, if you cannot protect your product and maximize its value, rethink your approaches and strategies and understand whether you are doing justice to the role of the Product Owner or acting as a glorified scribe (Only writing user stories) for the product backlog.

The choice is always yours. 

Indecisive – Use 2×2 matrix – A tool to narrow down options and help prioritize your ideas / Product Backlog

The 2×2 Matrix is a decision support technique where the team plots options on a two-by-two matrix.

Each axis represents a decision criterion, such as cost or effort. Each axis is divided into two sections (example: low cost/high cost and easy/difficult).

The matrix is drawn on a whiteboard, then the team plots the options along the axes. This makes it easy to visualize the options that are low cost and easy, and low cost and hard, for example.

The best results happen when the team defines the boundary between the quadrants. For example, if the horizontal axis represents the time it would take to complete a project, the boundary line between the Fast and Slow quadrants might be defined as 4 weeks.

Where is the value for 2×2 matrix in usage?

• It helps in quickly determining which ideas / thoughts or options should be pursed or rejected or parked for now
• Obtain a 1^st hand overview of ideas that have already have a certain qualification and maturity
• Carry out prioritization, innovations, identify market opportunities
• In cases where the problem statement is complex, it helps in breaking down the idea into individual components
• Use it when you have a decision to make

Use this tool in place of:

1. Kano Model
2. Dot Voting

Use this tool in conjunction with:

• Venn Diagrams for feasibility, economic viability and desirability
• Dot Voting for prioritization within a quadrant

This tool can be as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife (multiple purpose), It can be used across spectrums ranging from basic technical decisions to solution-oriented business models. Quantification in form a cost / yield chart can be of help, Sponsors are happy to use such a chart as a basis for decision making.

Steps to use 2×2 Matrix

1. Draw the 2 x 2 matrix and designate your X and Y axis as per your needs and requirements. Use opposite references such as High: Low / Important: Negligible / Cost: Savings and so on..
2. When evaluating for ideas, focus more on the benefits for the user and the feasibility and use measurable and tangible criteria for evaluation / opportunity analysis
3. Start with a board classification and question in which quadrant the idea should be placed
4. Place your current idea in relation to the other already existing ideas
5. Pay attention to the opinions of the team and try and find consensus
6. First take the idea and position it for X or Y axis, once a side is decided, then plan for the next axis, this approach would help in identifying the right or more suitable quadrant.
7. Repeat this process for all the ideas on the table
8. If there are several ideas in a quadrant, then select the top 3 for further discussions (do not attempt all)
9. Also check if there is any quadrant which are empty, they represent further opportunities and unfulfilled needs

Key elements to be aware of:

• Keep ideas as simple as possible – complexity means confusion on the matrix
• Rewrite or split the idea into several ideas if it helps to clarify the positioning
• Experiment with different possibilities and adapt the axes to the problem statement and the objectives

This tool can be used for Product Backlog Prioritization, Involve your customers to do the 1^st level review and then involve your scrum team to perform the 2^nd level of review from a technical stand point

Use different approaches and mix and match to get the best and the optimum results for your product, customer, end users and the team Innovate yourself, to engage the customer and keep your scrum team motivated

The softer side of Agile – Neglected and unnoticed ….

The word agility is on the lips and tips of most business executives throughout the world as they try to increase their employees’ and organizations’ ability to anticipate change and respond efficiently and effectively.

Agile adoption requires all departments and functions to be aligned and think likewise, which includes the HR function.  However, many HR executives are clueless on the intent and the focus of agility in the current HR processes. Creating the Agile Organization turns its focus on agility itself and asks the question. What is the role of HR in the agile adoption in the organization, how and where and what should the HR folks contribute to make the organization Agile.

Well the answer: learning and performance management.

In fact, a major challenge is organizations are trying to move from a historical management approach that is highly structured and perceived as more safe to one that is less structured and perceived as more risky.

There are numerous elements that go into enabling employees and leaders to behave in a more agile fashion—and many of these elements are outside the influence of HR. To that end, HR should first establish a strong collaboration with senior leaders focused on evolving the organization to a more agile model before making changes to processes. Without this agreement, efforts by HR to increase organizational agility are likely to be mostly futile.

Assuming HR has this agreement, the question becomes, “Where should HR focus its efforts?” While many talent processes are important, our research indicates there are two levers of talent management that are at the core of enabling agile behaviours: learning and performance management

Learning enables individuals to anticipate changes as a result of constantly enhancing their understanding of the organization, its markets, and future opportunities and challenges. Further, learning also enables individuals to respond effectively and efficiently to those opportunities and challenges, if that learning can occur in the moment and in response to specific needs.

Traditional performance evaluations, which focus solely on individual performance, create a “chasm of disconnect” for agile team members. Because agile is all about team performance and trust, the typical HR performance evaluation system is not congruent with agile development.

Performance management enables agility by establishing clear goals and reinforcing and rewarding those who respond effectively and efficiently. If performance management does not reinforce the importance of acting with agility but instead emphasizes following the historical plan, then employees will not perform in an agile fashion.

Many companies shifting to Agile. But, most continue to use their existing performance evaluation methods! Agile organization with Traditional measurements will always behave and do the following:

• Rewards the wrong behaviours
• Creates/exacerbates the chasm
• Individual stature
• Promote myself
• Me first, team second
• Me versus everyone else
• Desire to become an SME

We like it or not, most executives love to measure and measure wrong things and have no linkage with the organizational goals and strategies. Most of the measurements in the SW industry has been due to the adoption of models and frameworks like CMMI and ISO’s of the world, which focus on the measurement driven system.

No, No, No, I am not against the measurement, but would have reservations against what is getting measured and why it is getting measured and the usage of these numbers in the system.

Measurements drive behaviour, why team measurement is important, what to measure, and what not to measure. Agile introduces tangible techniques for measuring agile team performance-end of sprint retrospectives, sprint and project burn down charts, peer reviews, and release performance reviews. To demonstrate Agile uses role plays to contrast traditional, dysfunctional annual reviews with agile-focused performance reviews. Take back practical knowledge, based on fundamental agile principles, about how to integrate team measurement techniques into your existing environment-whether the HR department buys in to this practice or not.

As Eliyahu Goldratt mentioned …. “Tell me how you will measure me and I will tell you how I will behave.”

It is human nature for people to modify their behaviours to match the evaluation system.

• A very important part of any agile rollout is to align the performance evaluation system (and other HR practices) with what Agile emphasizes.
• Not doing so causes dysfunction that will erode the team’s effectiveness.

As with any new approach, introducing an agile performance evaluation system will have its challenges:

• Resistance to change
• Fear – too revealing
• Deflates the general optimism
• Loss of control
• Cheese mover comfort zone, Etc.

Some final thoughts on this front ….

• It is human nature for people to modify their behaviours to match the evaluation system.
• A very important part of any agile rollout is to align the performance evaluation system (and other HR practices) with what Agile emphasizes.
• Not doing so causes dysfunction that will erode the team’s effectiveness.

My grand daughter, who is 5 year old, operates my Samsung note better than me. Contemplating on why is it so – I spend almost couple of hours on note everyday myself – I realized that what makes her better is her childlike curiosity.

This curiosity to learn something new, day after day, every day.   When was the last time you learnt something new?  When was the last time you took a conscious step towards self-development? Curiosity to learn something must be backed by an innate desire to improve oneself, to become the best version of ourselves. It is the only way to remain relevant in the hyper-competitive markets today.

The same concept should be applied in the Agile projects, we are always running after getting the user stories done and churned out for the product owner. Yes, this is required, but one should step back and take a different view, are we learning anything new, have we added value to our existing knowledge base, are we much better skilled as compared to the start of the sprint, can we proclaim that we now know a trick or two.

When speak of adding value to our customers, shouldn’t we not add value to ourselves, as we are the first customers to ourselves

We always talk and speak about the improvement in velocity and team work, that cannot happen automatically, the organization needs to invest in this area, by providing and allowing a time-box element to each and every member of the team, I recommend a time-box of 5-10% of the sprint time allocated to each team member of the development team (on a different thought, it should include the scrum master and the product owner also). If the sprint cycle is 2 weeks (10 days = 80 hrs.), then the minimum time-box would be 4 hrs. / sprint to a maximum of 8 hrs. / sprint.

Organization should be aware that providing this time to learning and development will reduce the velocity in near term, but there would be major impact in terms of quality, knowledge gain, productivity improvements, team collaboration.

This time allocation should be used by the team members to improve their skills in any area of their interest, which would ultimately help the product to develop and grow better and thereby improve the required velocity. It should be the task allocated to the Scrum Master to ensure that all the team members are using this time-boxed element in the most productive way. One also needs to understand that a Scrum master would also be required to improve and master the skills that are important to the role that he / she is playing to.

Each sprint , the team should have a dedicated time and name it as – ‘Learning with Agility’.
• Define a dedicated time slot. It would be a good idea to have a time slot of 4 hrs planned in the early part of the sprint cycle in week 2
• This week, every sprint, learn a new thing – pick up a functional skill from a colleague, or improve the product knowledge, master an automation tool, learn new elements of coding (do a little unsaid spike)
• learn about a behavioural skill

Learning is not about mastering the hard skills, it includes all those elements that make you a better team member, a team player and more so a better person

Your learning is in your hands and you are the product owner of the product that is you. Take advantage of the fact that you spend 8 hours every day most of the week in an organization that promises you learning opportunities. You have, at your fingertips, access to a whole host of behavioural learning through social media , hundreds of thousands of articles in web, , ride the huge wave of Massive Online Open Courses with the many courses that are available online freely – make use of all these resources to better yourself today.

The above mentioned are but a few of the avenues for learning. Such platforms are present everywhere – the internet, libraries, even in day-to-day interactions with colleagues, it’s you who has to take the first step.

At the risk of re-iterating, I’d say again – that the onus of your learning lies with you. No one can help develop you but you yourself. This week and for the ones to come, promise yourself a week full of rich learning.

The day you stop learning, is the day you stop practising Agile ….. So Learn each day and be agile every moment