Culture and Ways of Working

You know the way your business works and its culture, the way it likes to get stuff done. Agile, by its very nature, may challenge some of these ways of working that your business has cultivated over the years. Don’t expect Agile to be implemented and for everybody to lovingly adopt it from the outset. Some people may find it confusing and view it only with dread and fear. Some people may openly refuse to engage in it. These are challenges and perceptions you must overcome. But in your early days, don’t go around waving the Agile stick beating anyone that won’t listen with it. That won’t build trust, adoption, or engagement.

I was a fan of waving big proverbial sticks once, and it earned me a lot of negative press. I turned it around, but not before suffering considerable pain first.

As you set out on your path of adoption, tread carefully, respectfully, and with empathy. If you’re in a creaking old traditional business, perhaps it won’t be the best approach to get the whole business aligned. Start small and incrementally earn respect and recognition. Start with your team only. Once you start delivering quicker software with better quality than ever before, people will start to notice and will want to come play your game. When they do, offer them the ball, take them out for a coffee, and ease them into your new world. Help them.

With your team, now that they know what the project is about and your plans for Agile adoption are agreed upon, let the team decide how they wish to behave and operate as a team.

· Guide your team to identify the Agile concepts, techniques, behaviors, and frameworks that you feel fits your collective needs.

· Take requests from your team members as to what requirements they have to help them perform as best they can. Some of these requests, you’ll be able to resolve immediately. Others, you may need to get budget or outside help. Do what you can to make it happen.

· These are your first steps to becoming a true servant-leader.

· Consider organizing some appropriate training in the concepts and techniques your team is choosing to adopt. This is the best way to ensure all of your team members, even stakeholders, are on the same page and get the same message. Work with a supplier organization that can tailor their offering to your needs.

· Be prudent. Nobody will be an Agile ninja after a few days in a workshop learning how to become Agile. Your path will be long. The word “become” is quite defining. Only when you truly embrace Agile will you see its value. It should excite you. If it excites you, then go excite others too.

· Now that your team has agreed upon the concepts and techniques, had their wishes fulfilled, and are in Agile training, turn your team’s attention to themselves and what they expect from you, the business, and one another.

· Define some ways of working (WoW) within and by the team helps build trust, relationship, and expectations. The WoW is no War and Peace. It should be short and to the point, between seven and ten bullet pointed sentences. These sentences state clearly how people behave, communicate, collaborate, support, deliver, and perform together. It should also state what the team expects from the business.

· Agile is as much a mindset as it is guiding principles and concepts. It helps you develop in the way you behave, think, negotiate, interact, communicate, perform, and improve. It relies on motivated individuals supporting each other to reach a common aim, together as one. There is an African proverb: