Agile Coaches' Corner

This week, the United States will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. In this first installment of our Thanksgiving episodes, Mariano Oliveti shares what he is thankful for.

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by two AgileThought colleagues, Alba Uribe and Michael Guiler, to explore the concept of User Story Mapping.   In this episode, Dan, Alba, and Michael are diving deep into different approaches to starting backlog; they describe the benefits of story mapping and explain why it is a great tool to achieve a shared understanding throughout the whole team. Listen to this episode to achieve a comprehensive understanding of Story Mapping with various examples that will help you put this concept into practice.   Key Takeaways ● Why is Story Mapping a great way to create a product backlog? ○ All the team can see the overall vision and what is in the mind of the product owner. ○ It is a way to identify the release strategy. ○ Story Mapping can be a helpful tool when change needs to be embraced. ● Mechanics about how to create a User Story Map. ○ Who? Story Mapping starts with the user. ○ What are the goals to achieve? A journey map for the team including all pain points. ○ How? Identify how to address those pain points. ○ Organizing left to right and top to bottom. ● Examples of Story Mapping and Minimum Viable Product (MVP). ○ Alba shares how she uses Story Mapping in her work as an artist. ● Story Mapping can go wrong. ○ Not knowing how to identify your MVP. ○ Having difficulty identifying opportunities for learning. ○ The what and the why need to be addressed for Story Mapping, not just the how. ○ Having someone with experience in Story Mapping is hugely important for the process to develop the best way possible. ○ There need to be conversations about how Story Mapping will be done.   Mentioned in this Episode: User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product, by Jeff Patton and Peter Economy Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition, by Lyssa Adkins Medical Medium: Cleanse to Heal, by Anthony Williams Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale, by Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky, and Barry O’Reilly   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by his colleagues at AgileThought, Ola Tunde and Lucy Lin. In this episode, they explore the true meaning of Agile Leadership. They dive deep into the core of an Agile Leader, someone who can foster a safe environment where a team feels free to speak up, innovate, and take action. Dan, Ola, and Lucy discuss the value of balancing the left and the right sides of the Agile Manifesto, as well as providing strategies for leaders to become more Agile. This episode contains lots of great analogies, real examples, and valuable book recommendations in the field of Agile Leadership.   Key Takeaways Agile thinking needs to pursue the understanding of what motivates individuals. A team must deliver value together in a different way, even though each individual is motivated differently. Motivate people prioritizing autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. A manager drives people to deliver work with the intention of intimidating them to deliver value, on the contrary, an Agile Leader inspires people in order to deliver value. Inspiration vs. drive; leaders are the ones who inspire others while managers drive people. There are assumptions that consider that leaders know all the answers and that they are who give good orders, but good leaders are those who let the decisions happen where the information is. Centralized vs decentralized leadership. There are certain practices that are better centralized, but when the practices involve creativity and innovation, decentralized leadership is of more value. A centralized environment is driven by command and control, no innovation is welcomed in this kind of scenario. In a decentralized environment, the team is allowed to make decisions and fosters innovation. Agile Leadership happens when the leader can celebrate the work of the team. An Agile Leader doesn’t blindly trust a team but encourages teams to create transparency to what is happening. Left and right sides of the Agile Statement: There is a need for structure but there is also a part that needs to welcome change. Agile Leadership marinates both left and right together for people to be able to deliver more. Embracing changes is a key aspect of an Agile Leader. How can leaders foster an environment where teams feel free to speak up? A safe environment is where people can be free to speak up and discuss and they won’t be punished or criticized for their opinions. A leader must be able to bring people from opposite views together, always manifesting being open to opposing views. How do you know if you are an Agile Leader? You are not the boss, you are the servant. A leader must be ready to sacrifice for the team. An Agile Leader is humble, coachable, teachable, and has the ability to inspire others to action.   Mentioned in this Episode: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel H. Pink Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, by Robert K. Greenleaf Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders, by L. David Marquet Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, by Simon Sinek Mastering Marketing Agility: Transform Your Marketing Teams and Evolve Your Organization, by Andrea Fryrear HBR Harvard Business Review: “For an Agile Transformation, Choose the Right People:  Identify Your ‘Hidden Stars’ and Other Vital Players”, by Rob Cross, Heidi K. Gardner, and Alia Crocker   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by six collaborators to this very special episode in which the third year anniversary of the Agile Coaches’ Corner is being celebrated! In this episode, Ola Tunde, Steve Sladoje, Adam Ulery, Erica Menendez, Andrea Floyd, and Quincy Jordan are sharing their experiences during this last year, they are talking about the challenges and discoveries of working remotely, and how the future looks like now that we all find ourselves living a “new normal” as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. Special thanks and appreciation to all listeners and collaborators who have been following and allowing Agile Coaches’ Corner to turn three years of age!   Key Takeaways ● Thoughts about remote working. ○ We lived in a virtual world that now is turning hybrid. ○ Sometimes pivoting and changing can be challenging, but the faster you adapt to the changes, the better. ○ There is no replacement for in-person interactions, but seeing people on camera is better than just voice. ● Is the remote nature impeding Agility principles? ○ Face-to-face interaction also includes video. ○ You can still be engaged with customers and stakeholders by being visible and present, they need to know that your productivity hasn’t declined. ● What does trust look like in a remote work situation? ○ Being trusted in remote working is directly related to how you manage expectations. ○ To promote trust increase communication and make sure that your calendar matches it too. ○ Forge relationships with people. ○ Trust is an essential foundation for enabling teams to be self-organizing and self-managing. ● The Agile Manifesto states that the most effective communications are the ones that happen face-to-face, how has this changed in our current reality? ○ Nothing beats the richness of communicating face-to-face, but effective communication can be achieved if we are flexible. ○ There is a need to relook at ways of successful communication, we need to use preexisting enablers and get more creative. ● How have videos helped to enable better communication? ○ Not everyone can use video and still effective communication can be reached. ○ The constant use of screens can challenge our abilities to stay focused and really be present. ● Finding the right place to work remotely can be a challenge. ○ Everyone should have their own designated space to work. ● Where can things go from here? Are we going back to the “traditional” collaboration tools? ○ The technology that was developed and put into practice during the pandemic can be incorporated into the work back at the office. ● How can leadership embrace the “new normal”? ○ We should not hurry into going back to the office since there are plenty of advantages in remote working; communication, collaboration, and effectiveness are reached without the costs, risks, and expenses of working from the office.   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by Hal Hogue and Erica Menendez, colleagues and consultants at AgileThought.   In this episode, they are delivering a Scary Stand Up as a special edition for Halloween. Get ready for a unique, funny, and terrifying show where they are diving deep into how frightening certain aspects of an Agile life can be, from Daily Scrum to Sprint plannings. Dan, Hal, and Erica are sharing valuable examples and giving great tips and suggestions to enhance the daily work and move towards the set goals in an authentic Agile way.   Key Takeaways ● Facilitating Daily Scrums can be scary! ○ When the Scrum Master is leading a meeting people tend to just focus on them. ○ Understanding the “why” behind the Daily Scrum is crucial. ○ The Scrum Master needs to give the team space. ○ Respecting the time box is necessary. ○ Collaboration needs to take place throughout the day, not only during Scrum meetings. ● The Chickens and Pigs metaphor is outdated, stop using it! ○ There is a danger in using the chickens and pigs metaphor since it creates walls and barriers to collaboration. ○ It has not been in the Scrum Guide for about a decade. ● Instead of too much chattering, a board can be used as a visual tool to help coordinate the plan for the next 24hrs in a Daily Scrum. ○ Remember that a board cannot replace a conversation. ● Scary Sprint Planning! Boooohhhh! ○ Stop bullying someone for a task that is carried over, it is the whole team’s responsibility in the first place. ○ The Scrum values should be embodied all the time. ○ The team is really working towards the Sprint Goal, is not a really big deal if one task is carried over. ○ Remember to define the Why, the What, and the How. ○ Being remote makes the work even more challenging. ● Sprint Reviews can be horrific! ○ A short Sprint Review does not mean it is a good one! Are you considering the reason behind it? ○ Sprint Reviews are great opportunities for feedback, don’t waste them! ○ What is the Increment like? Where does the team want to go next? ○ Everybody should be together in a Sprint Review. ● Embrace your scary stories, this is how you learn and improve!     Mentioned in this Episode: Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition, Lyssa Adkins   The Scrum Fieldbook: A Master Class on Accelerating Performance, Getting Results, and Defining the Future, JJ Sutherland   The Reengineering Alternative, William Schneider   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by two AgileThought colleagues, Andrea Floyd and Hal Hogue.   In this episode, Dan, Andrea, and Hal are talking about the books that have been influential to them and what they learned from them. Continuous learning is a crucial piece of the work at AgileThought, and this is why today, you are invited to this special space called The Book Club.   Key Takeaways Books that bring new ideas to the practice: A fairly common book that you should not take for granted: Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders, written by David Marquet. This book brings a great opportunity to reflect on your own role as an Agile Coach, it also delivers an important message on leadership and serving others. Another book referring to work as a servant leader is Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by General Stanley McChrystal. This book shares crucial practices to be more effective with our teams. Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win, written by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, Kim Spafford (a business fable with some great suggestions to the state of growing software companies to scale). The nature of the challenges has changed over time; businesses are seeing more value in being flexible while responding to change and The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done, by Stephen Denning, is a number one must-read book for people experiencing Agile transformations, for them to be considered as holistic opportunities for an organization to create and sustain a shift in its cultures. Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber, is a great tool that explains the rules and practices for Scrum. The Rational Unified Process: An Introduction, by Philippe Kruchten. The Scrum Guide has some interesting references; this guide has been modified and updated over the years, which is the best proof of the constant need for flexibility and adaptation that lies in the core of Agile Teams. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek. This book is a great one to help teams and leaders recognize the reasons and purposes behind what they are doing. Your Daily Scrum is a YouTube series where you can find (in 10 minutes or less) the answer to a question from the community related to Scrum which is the trigger for an insightful conversation about that topic. Ted Lasso on Apple TV brings awesome content about leadership and humanity.   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by Justin Thatil and Mariano Oliveti, both AgileThought colleagues. They are addressing today a very important topic, which is how to successfully address individual behaviors that might threaten your team’s performance.   In this episode, they dive deep into three efficiency killers: procrastination, avoidance, and delay, while providing strategies and ways to treat these individual behaviors to effectively achieve teams’ goals and objectives.   Key Takeaways When individual behaviors impact team delivery You can’t solve individual behaviors from a team’s perspective. Disruptive individual behaviors can be procrastination, avoidance, and delay. Build to perfection can contribute to delays in delivery. How do you spot efficiency killers? A procrastinator might be someone who is very busy but not with meaningful tasks that will help to achieve the sprint goal. Does someone have difficulties sticking to a productivity system? The daily Scrum is a useful tool to spot disruptive behaviors. Make sure there is safety within the team to call on someone who is struggling. Which are the strategies to treat efficiency threateners? Identify the root cause. If your to-do list is too long, you can split it into the specific goals you want to accomplish in a day. Prioritization is key! Ask yourself: Is this something I need to do right away? Can it be automated? Do the hardest thing first. What happens when it is not clear what needs to be done or what the outcome is? Not starting to work until you have an exact idea of what needs to get done could be a trigger for procrastination. There are intermediate steps too; you do not have to look at the entire journey at once. How to seek continuous improvement? True conversations have to take place, especially when there is a failure in delivery. Inspect the process of the work on a continuous basis. Who can solve the problems that are being encountered? Assign responsibilities. Tackle the problems first. The whole team has to work together.   Mentioned in this Episode: Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success, by Rory Vaden Learn more about Life Coaching vs Agile Coaching: “Coaching and Agile Coaching: Same Same or Different?” “Agile Coaching vs. Professional Coaching” “Are Agile Coaches Really Coaches?”   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by Chris Pipito, Agile Coach, to talk about Scrum cling-ons and culture shift.   In this episode, Dan and Chris are talking about the aspects that cling to the Scrum framework and really impede organizations’ ability to shift cultures from where they were to a point where there are more Agile stands using the Scrum structure. Dan and Chris dive deep into the roles of Scrum, the struggles faced when trying to achieve a culture shift, the real purpose of sprint reviews, and how to narrow stories (instead of splitting them) among other valuable inputs on the matter.   Key Takeaways ● The three roles of Scrum: The Scrum Master, Developers, and the Product Owner. ○ Product and Portfolio managers do not exist in Scrum. ○ For anyone who does not fit into these three roles, there is a need to find a place in the organization where the employee’s skills can be applied and are valued. ● What is really a culture shift? ○ The team sizing is an important matter as well as not having the team departmentalized bureaucracy. ○ The necessary organization needs to be in place for different departments to work together. ○ In most organizations, people don’t even read the Scrum Guide and they work with people who don’t have the proper certifications either, then, as a result, the entire experience with Scrum and Agile is not that satisfactory. ● The cling-ons make it easier not to change behaviors. ○ Is the team clear about the reasons why they are building something? What is the goal that the team is looking to achieve? Standardized forms sometimes do not contribute to the overall goal of a project. ○ Are you talking directly with your customer? ○ What is really the point of the Sprint Review? To inspect the increment and respond to the new information. ○ Teams who work on properly-sized stories check on the customer to make sure they are on the right path; this is much better than assuming they are right. ○ Narrowing stories is different than splitting them; you need to keep the overall objective you are trying to achieve as well as all the different things that you will be able to do, then narrowing that to a “happy path” to build it, without missing the core functionality of what you are trying to reach. ● What are the challenges to be confronted in order to make a shift towards Agility in an organization? ○ Regarding departments, the teams’ sizes need to be appropriate. ○ Make sure you look for the skill sets that are needed in each team before just assigning one. ○ Assess the resource allocation fallacy: It’s not about “getting the maximum utilization out of the fungible resources” ○ Tip to try in bigger organizations: One group could be separated and treated as if it is an entire organization and show them the results of what is coming up. Sometimes this might mean keeping “management” out.   Mentioned in this Episode: The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter Senge Mob Programming: A Whole Team Approach, by Woodie Zuill and Kevin Meadows   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!  

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by two AgileThought colleagues, Andrea Floyd and Buyi Kalala, to explore the topic of diversity in teams.   In this episode, Dan, Andrea, and Buyi talk about some of the challenges they have encountered in regards to diversity, sharing their observations, and experiences in regards to how diversity can enhance the work of a team but also highlighting the real challenges that come with it.   Key Takeaways Diversity: benefits, challenges, and how to promote it. People often make assumptions about looks, accents, and other traits, these are many times not only incorrect but can also hurt and create distance between individuals. Inclusivity is showing people who belong to minorities appreciation and awareness of their unique experiences. Be patient, practice active listening, and find a meaningful way to engage. Active listening is the key to promote diversity. Do you really understand what someone just said? Did you give them the space and time to express themselves? Are you working together towards the expected outcome? One trick: While listening, write down the topics you want to reply to, this way you will avoid interrupting the speaker and can also concentrate on what is being said. There is a growth opportunity in highlighting the achievements (instead of focusing on what is still pending or can be improved). Some strategies to alleviate the concern of a team member in regards to feeling worthy (especially when belonging to a minority group) Go slowly, you are unique, and your strength relies on it. Every moment can be an opportunity to forge your way. Be aware of where you are in your individual journey as well as in the organization and the team. Diversity is a catalyst for innovation. Most innovation can be originated only in a safe environment. People have to feel comfortable to be part of the conversation. Create a pattern in the way you are communicating where people start noticing you, how you speak and engage is important. Techniques to create safety in the workplace Make sure each person knows you care about them as human beings, not as functional resources who help to get the process going. Use creativity to create a space where every “who” is valued, respected, and invited to the conversation. Empower teams by encouraging them consistently.   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

This week, Dan Neumann is joined by Ola Tunde, who is a principal consultant in AgileThought Company. In today’s episode, Ola and Dan discuss the topic of psychological safety and psychological danger; they dive deep into the meaning of these two concepts, providing valuable and practical examples.   Psychological safety needs to be promoted by leaders to foster innovation and to create a better atmosphere where employees can express themselves in an authentic way without fearing failure, but on the contrary, embracing every mistake as a learning opportunity.   Key Takeaways What do psychological safety and psychological danger mean? Psychological safety is the ability to be transparent and to be honest without the fear of danger. Psychological danger is the inability to admit I am wrong or a failure. Innovating is only possible when leadership allows failure, and most of the time when trying something new you will fail many times before achieving success. Every team member should be able to admit a failure or better called a learning opportunity.  The concept of personal agility and its bond to trust. If a team member does not trust a colleague or someone he or she is working for, there is bitterness that will result in a lack of innovation. Trust is needed to go over the fear of failure.  What are some strategies that could increase psychological safety? Show people how much you care. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Care about how you make people feel, wisely Maya Angelou stated, “People will forget what you say, do, or give to them but they will never forget how you make them feel.” Care about the human being, not the resources. Bring your humanity to work; share something personal and create personal and authentic connections. Have aligned values and aligned perspectives.  How can a manager or a leader foster psychological safety? Leaders should come to the place where the work is done, participate in ceremonies, engage with the employees, and know about them and what is going on in their lives. Treat people so right that they don’t want to leave your company.   What are some strategies that team members could provide for creating more psychological safety? Regardless of the outcome, believe everybody on the team was doing their best given the variables they were exposed to.  Make sure that the people who don’t know about a certain subject, can learn about it. Baby steps are important! Psychological safety happens gradually and it is a place of a continuous journey, not a destination. Leaders should use metrics to create conversations not to evaluate.   Mentioned in this Episode: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Follow Them, and People Will Follow You, by John Maxwell   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!