Collaboration – Go on now, collaborate

When we move toward a more agile environment rather than a traditional approach, we want to encourage a more cross functional, collaborative team environment. However, just changing our approach in methodologies doesn’t mean that our teams will just begin collaborating more. It may require a greater shift in the culture or people’s habits. We may encourage teams to work together and may even put them in the same room to collaborate more but how can we tell if its happening?

Finding a way to make patterns visible can help a team to see how they are working together. These approaches are intended for the team members to determine what area they want to focus on how they work together and reflect upon how that is working after an iteration. Its important to note that this approach is intended for use within the team and for the team, not for evaluation by someone outside of the team.

Fellow coach, Dan Neumann and I prepared a presentation for Agile 2012, Break down silos: Collaboration techniques for teams. We have facilitated this collaborative development workshop with several teams to share techniques that can be used on project teams to encourage more collaboration and cross team communication. Some of the techniques include ways for teams to make things visible regarding limiting work in progress, collaborative design, pairing and expanding T-shaped skills.

See the presentation live at the Agile 2012 Conference, August 13-17 in Dallas, TX. Enclosed is a link to the full slide deck.

Acceleration Through Trust

Trust. It’s the basis of so much, yet it can be absent in many of our interactions without us even realizing it.

Stephen Covey talks about the “Speed of trust” and how trust affects speed and cost; as trust decreases, speed decreases and cost increases (and vice versa). This makes alot of sense when you stop and think about it. However, when trust is present and things are going smoothly, not a lot of thought may be given to it, while on the other hand, when things aren’t going well, even though the root cause can be traced back to the absence of trust, it doesn't always raise to the surface.

When trust isn't present, think about how much longer it takes to get things done. What’s at the source of distrust – is it fear? What are we afraid of? Imagine if you stopped the cycle by demonstrating vulnerability and trust toward others, even when you haven’t gotten it back. Imagine the acceleration you would see.

Lets take a look at the behavior of leaders in organizations and the idea of encouraging a more masterly management style than a directive approach. It can be hard to let go sometimes; difficult to fight the urge to micromanage. It essentially comes down to ‘do you trust your people’. Setting guidelines and providing space can allow people to be more innovative and can remove bottlenecks while allowing the opportunity for them to think creatively and utilize their expertise.

Lets look at teams next. Imagine how much more effectively a team could work together if they really trust each other and if when problems arise, the environment were safe enough that they feel they can speak up and they trust that their feedback will not be met with defensiveness and other team members trust that the feedback is coming from a good place with the intent to better the team.

Aligned values and clear expectations can set a base for trust, but we need to demonstrate trust in how we interact with others. Then we can really begin to accelerate. 

Retrospectives - Dig Deeper

How often do you reflect upon how things are going and when you do, how often do you really analyze how things are working and incorporate specific changes for the future?

Retrospectives. If you don’t get honest, then what’s the point? Retrospectives are an opportunity to reflect on how things have been going and identify changes that can be incorporated moving forward. Taking the time to reflect throughout a project rather than waiting until the very end allows the team to leverage this reflection to make ongoing im…See moreRetrospectives. If you don’t get honest, then what’s the point? Taking the time to reflect throughout a project rather than waiting until the very end allows the team to leverage this reflection to make ongoing improvements. Don’t just go through the motions. Watch the dynamics of your team. Is everyone involved and given an opportunity to contribute? Are you getting to the root of the issues presented or staying on the surface level? Is action being taken?

When setting the stage for discussion, the environment needs to be safe. Getting honest usually starts with someone being brave enough to mention the nitty-gritty topics that others may be hesitant to bring up. Once you dig deep into real topics, others will usually chime in or feel safe contributing honestly as well. Go deeper than surface level discussion. Talk about how to really improve. Here are some ideas for facilitating effective retrospectives.

Level the playing field - Techniques such as silent writing allow for everyone to have a voice. Give everyone post-it notes and a marker and ask them to individually write down their ideas on what went well and ideas for improvement. Then have them put their ideas up on the wall and briefly discuss each item and affinity group similar items together. This ensures everyone has a voice as all ideas are acknowledged from each person. The team can then vote on which items they would like to address first.

Keep the format fresh - Don’t do the same thing every time. The format could get stale and participation levels or interest could drop. Introduce new retrospective approaches and ask questions in different ways to get the team thinking differently and actively engaged.

Follow up & check in - Don’t let the conversation end on the flip chart or whiteboard. Identify specific actionable items and keep them in front of the team throughout the next iteration. Check in and reflect upon how the team did on their last retrospective action items. Carrying forward specific items for the team to focus on is key for continuous improvement. Make these items visible and pick one thing to focus on at a time.

Anyone on the team can make suggestions for improving retrospectives and keeping the format fresh. Find the real areas for improvement and keep the discussions valuable. Select one thing to improve and foster real change one step at a time.

Aardvark

The need to call aardvark: A tool for meeting effectiveness

I was working with a team on a website redesign and our Product Owner was working with the design team to ensure they had the proper requirements. He began to pull in other stakeholders for input and was working closely with our web editor. After a few sprints, they pulled me in as a stakeholder to see the progress and give input to the aspects of the site that related to my work.

They invited me to participate in the online collaboration tool and I read as much as I could to get up to speed but many conversations had taken place on and offline prior to my engagement. Before the meeting with the design team began, we were discussing how to best use our time with the team effectively. I was aware that I may have thoughts or input on a topic that had already been discussed and didn't want to de-rail the conversation or waste time talking about something they had already resolved.

We agreed that we needed a code word of some kind to use in the event that we were getting off track. A few suggestions were thrown out, then out of my subconscious came "Aardvark". It had all the qualities of a good catalyst and seemed so appropriate with the perfect element of random arbitration. It was harmless, yet cunning and the perfect neutralizer.

We agreed upon Aardvark and we were able to utilize it soon enough. When a topic was a side track, aardvark was exclaimed and we were able to jump right back on target. We delegated a facilitator for the portion of the meeting that we were leading, but the second portion yielded many open ends and thus resulted in multiple rabbit trails. Aardvark was utilized regularly and it worked brilliantly every time. No offense was taken at the exclamation, rather side tracks were averted.

The design team chuckled a bit at the first use of the word, but did not question its use at any time. It was not disruptive and was an effective tool for prodding the conversation along while avoiding any hurt feelings or misinterpreted interruptions. Because we had set expectations for the usage and meaning of the utilization of our new catalyst to efficiency, we were able to reap the benefits to proceed as a higher performing team.

There was an instance or two where we did veer from the agenda and that was because a high level discussion led to another then to another outside of the focus of the work for the near upcoming sprints. It could have been that as the long afternoon transpired, some of the participants began to sink into a moderate state of complacency, drifting in and out of attentiveness. An "Aardvark" moment must be identified in order to be utilized effectively. An Aardvark will not be called out on its own.

We do recommend the use of Aardvark in conjunction with a facilitator for best results, although it can be used by a team that does not have a set facilitator as a group self facilitation method. The beauty of calling Aardvark is that it was derived by our team for our team and was the perfect arbitrary word to serve the purpose of keeping ourselves on track. We recommend that you try calling Aardvark as a way to keep your next meeting on track. 

you can buy your own aardvark here...

Getting Stuff Done: Back to the Basics

Have you worked in an office or for a large organization for an extended period of time and gotten caught up in the hoopla of the corporate merry-go-round. Where you one day realize that you didn’t really do anything but push a little paper around, have some conversations in email and maybe attended a few meetings. Volleying the ball out of your court to keep movement. My favorite is a round of 5+ emails to set a time for a phone call. 

I discovered an amazing technique for getting things done that can be referred to as “pick up the phone”. A seemingly long lost form of communication in our electronic media age. It can be surprisingly refreshing to see what can be accomplished by picking up the phone and making things happen. 

I encourage you to try it. The next time you are about to craft a carefully thought out email to volley back and forth some ideas, try picking up the phone and save the time delay of the electronic exchange.

Distributed Teams and Overcoming Geographic Constraints

It can be difficult to overcome geographic constraints, especially when your team is used to working with people face to face. There is alot of benefit to being in the same room with someone. You can read body language, interact seamlessly and most people are used to working together in person.

Although face to face communication is often preferred, I've worked with teams in different countries and timezones and operated very efficiently while doing so. It helps to have a single point of contact on each of the separate sites for coordination and setting recurring meetings and expectations up front is very beneficial. When coordinating with other time zones, you can essentially set up your teams to work 'around the clock' and gain momentum this way.

Technology allows for many collaborative opportunities that didn't exist in recent decades. We can video chat, share desktops, utilize collaborative online environments to create documents and interact.

The possibilities are quite remarkable. We've had great success with streaming real time video while running presentations, training and holding meetings with remote locations.

We are exploring virtual world collaboration for the next agile users group meeting at IRAUG and look forward to seeing the great possibilities of such an environment. Read more about this on the IRAUG blog

Success requires risk. Leverage your technology.