Agile Coaches' Corner

This week, Daniel Vacanti is joining the podcast! Daniel is the co-founder and CEO of ActionableAgile, the world’s leading provider of predictive flow analytics for Agile processes. He is also the founder and CEO of Corporate Kanban, the premier Kanban training, coaching, and consulting partner who shows developers how to use their current software delivery processes to shorten software releases. They are among the world's leading experts in applying lean software solutions for all types of enterprises.   Today, Daniel Neumann and Daniel Vacanti will be talking all things Kanban. Daniel explains exactly what Kanban is, what it looks like in practice, the data side of Kanban and how it aids in making better decisions, the process of collecting data through Kanban, and the overall benefits of using Kanban. Daniel also gives a thorough walkthrough of how exactly to get started with Kanban starting right where you are.   Key Takeaways What is Kanban? Kanban is an agile methodology for managing the creation of products With a focus on continuous delivery, Kanban has an emphasis on getting tasks done while continually improving the process An important aspect of Kanban is to start with where you are at and not begin with making large changes right away Kanban is also about making incremental, evolutionary change rather than radical leaps The data side of Kanban and how it helps: The metric side of Kanban is a way to bring objectivity into otherwise subjective conversations Data is used to make better decisions by managing risk better, delivering value more efficiently, continuous improvement, and release planning The simple process of collecting data through Kanban: Define ending and starting points of the work process as a team or organization (to know when to start and end measurement) After that, all you need from a data perspective is the timestamp when an item crosses that start point and endpoint (through this, you can begin to calculate work-in-progress, cycle time, throughput, and start making predictions) To forecast data, Daniel recommends the Monte Carlo Simulation and cycle time scatter plot — ActionableAgile also does scatter plotting for you (all linked below) Longterm benefits of collecting data: Understanding how long it takes for an individual item to go through your process allows you to make accurate forecasts Benefits of using Kanban: Gives more accurate answers with a lot less effort than other methods Uses lay language, which allows you to more clearly speak to your customers How to get started with Kanban (in summarization): Start with a basic understanding of your workflow Define the points in which you consider work to have started and to have finished Take a timestamp for every single item that goes through this process Once you have that data, you can calculate cycle time, throughput, work-in-progress, all the flow metrics; and then put them into tools (such as the Monte Carlo Simulation or the cycle time scatter plot)   Mentioned in this Episode: Daniel Vacanti (LinkedIn) Corporate Kanban ActionableAgile Agile 2019 Conference Monte Carlo Simulation Cycle Time Scatter Plot The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty, by Sam Savage Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts, by Anne Duke   Daniel Vacanti’s Book Pick: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, by Richard Thaler   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!

Today, your host Dan Neumann is joined by AgileThought colleague, John Gravitte, the Director of Quality! John has been in the quality field for about 26 years. He started out doing the testing himself but became a QA Manager in ’99 and began to manage teams, which is when he realized he really had a knack for process improvement, streamlining standards, and efficiency. When he arrived at AgileThought, he was introduced to Agile and it was a perfect fit for his quality-oriented mindset!   In this episode, they will be exploring how testing is done on Agile projects; taking a look at some of the challenges, good practices, anti-patterns, and which standards and processes can really enhance Agile. John also provides many key insights and tips on how to go about leveraging quality and using that within Agile teams.   Key Takeaways How to address some of the challenges that come along with testing on Agile projects: Use shift left testing (i.e. doing some testing in the development environment to give quick feedback to the developers) Implement processes that support quick feedback Arrange meetings with developers to understand exactly what they need to know and get clarity on the acceptance criteria Have test case reviews and outline the test cases that need to pass prior to coding How standards and processes can enhance Agility: Having a process and a standard documented for a project helps individuals know what they are responsible for If the project grows and you have to bring on new talent, having standards comes in handy for pointing newcomers to — especially for younger talent It’s not a replacement for thinking; they’re guide rails The processes can always be updated when better ways are discovered How to ensure quality roles keep up with the rapidly changing codebase and evolving feature sets: Use test automation which enables those in quality roles to be able to keep up with the changes and rapid delivery QA leads should meet with the test engineers one sprint behind to automate the most relevant pieces first and put that into a ‘smoke test’ which saves time How does automation pay off? Risk really builds up if you don’t use automation because there’s no way you can manually verify everything, every time The amount of time and the coverage that you get from automation is worth the investment As environments get used, data gets cluttered up, so having automation to do the data setup can really enhance quality   Mentioned in this Episode: Swagger Postman   John Gravitte’s Book Pick: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek   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!

 Joining your host, Dan Neumann, today is his AgileThought colleague, Christy Erbeck. Christy is a Principal Transformation Consultant at AgileThought, with over 25 years of experience in domestic and international consulting, training, and coaching, working in both software development and non-product-focused environments, including manufacturing (discrete and process), distribution, and sales and marketing. On top of all that, Christy is also a Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator. Today, Dan and Christy will be discussing Radical Candor based on the fantastic book by Kim Scott of the same name. In her book, Kim courageously shares some of the missteps she has made as a manager in her career and how she created tools and techniques to help others not make the same mistakes she did. Radical candor is all about building new behaviors and new skill-sets that help managers and leaders to create a healthy environment for everyone to work in.   Tune in to get Christy’s insight on exactly what radical candor is, what it isn’t, how to begin implementing the radical candor framework and apply it successfully in your workplace!   Key Takeaways What is ‘radical candor’? Radical candor is the result of caring personally about people and challenging them directly Placing the ‘person’ before the business Radical candor shows how to be a successful leader while retaining humanity and creating a healthy environment for everyone to work in What isn’t radical candor? “Telling it like it is” — you’re speaking to a person directly but doing it in a way that shows you do not care about them Believing the idea: “If I’m not direct or mean you won’t take the feedback seriously” (AKA obnoxious aggression or ‘front-stabbing’) Ruinous empathy (which is when you care without challenging) What is the radical candor framework? It is a simple framework illustrated in Kim Scott’s book that teaches leaders how to build better relationships at work, as well as fulfill their three key responsibilities (which are: creating a culture of feedback, building a cohesive team, and achieving results you are all proud of) What are some important tenets within radical candor? Setting boundaries Establishing a relationship with the person you want to speak directly to Providing feedback right away in an honest, quick, transparent way Really understand the people that you work with, care deeply for them, and be willing to ‘dance’ with them (or, ‘be in the arena,’ as Brené Brown would say) Christy’s tips for beginning to apply radical candor in the workplace: Ask for feedback before giving feedback (show your people that you can take it) Take action where it’s appropriate (related to that feedback) Learn from the feedback you are given — you will grow from it   Mentioned in this Episode: Christy Erbeck (LinkedIn) Radical Candor, by Kim Scott Agile2018 Conference Sheryl Sandberg Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 25: “Talking Feedback with Christy Erbeck” SBI Model Brené Brown Agile Alliance Kim Scott’s ‘Radical Candor’ Agile2018 Conference Keynote on Agile Alliance Radical Candor on Blinkist Chris Shinkle at Agile2019 Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, by Annie Duke   Christy Erbeck’s Book Pick: The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You’re Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate, by Dr. Harriet Lerner   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 AgileThought colleague, Eric Landes, to discuss real vs. fake teams! Landes, who comes from a DevOps background, originally started out as a developer. Currently, he serves as a Senior DevOps Consultant, ALM Director, and Solutions Architect. In his roles, he helps clients deliver value to customers in their software delivery pipeline, and has extensive experience in leading organizations in adopting agile and lean frameworks, like Scrum and Kanban.   In today’s discussion about real vs. fake teams, Dan and Eric talk about what distinguishes between the two, the benefits to having a real team vs. a fake one, and how you can help enable teams to move from ‘fake’ to real. Tune in to hear it all!   Key Takeaways What distinguishes a real team vs. a fake team? Real teams collaborate while fake teams cooperate Fake teams are groups of individuals that are not behaving together and do not have a shared goal or outcome Real teams have a collective focus, they are catching defects before they happen, and there are code reviews happening in real-time Fake teams observe rather than code in real-time (so they end up with really delayed feedback) Fake teams generally have lots of individuals, working on lots of different problems at the same time (therefore, they’re not really building on each other’s ideas) Real teams have an interest in continuously improving together, whereas fake teams may have a rockstar or two who go after self-improvement where the rest don’t Benefits of having a real team: Faster delivery pattern with higher quality A real team collaborates and keeps the whole team’s focus in check It’s a lot more energizing than working in isolation Benefits of quality and speed and delivery The focus from the accountability you get from being on a team helps eliminate brain distraction Happier employees How to enable teams to move from “fake” to real: Making coding katas or dojos a regular thing for the team If you’re management and the team wants to hone their craft, help enable that Defining the goals for real collaboration beforehand with your team can help enable more effective collaboration Does the team have a goal that makes sense for them? If they don’t, then start there in establishing one When you do have a goal for the team, look at the product backlog and make sure it is structured in a way that enables collaboration In the retrospective, help the team see some things that might be opportunities for improvement that would encourage a collaborative focus   Mentioned in this Episode: Eric Landes (LinkedIn) Agile 2019 Conference Woody Zuill Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts, by Annie Duke   Eric Landes’ Book Picks: Training from the Back of the Room!, by Sharon L. Bowman How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority, by Clay Scroggins   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!

Today’s guest is Scott Riley, a colleague of Dan Neumann’s and a Delivery Leader at AgileThought. As a Delivery Lead, Scott wears multiple hats and is responsible for the successful delivery or implementation of projects. If anything goes wrong during a project, it is Scott’s job to be able to identify what that issue is and remedy it.   In this episode, Dan and Scott are discussing the challenges of bringing agile into a non-agile environment. They talk about the challenges they generally see in work environments transitioned to agile, misconceptions they often hear around agility, the concerns and struggles they often see as organizations are in their agile journey, how to overcome these challenges,  what makes for a successful agile organization, and how AgileThought works with organizations that are getting started on their agile journey.   Key Takeaways Misconceptions Scott often hears around agility: That being creative, quick, or clever is all it takes to be agile If there are no rules in place that means you’re being agile That agile should be implemented because ‘it’s just the new way of doing things’ rather than to solve a problem the organization is facing Challenges Scott sees in organizations that are in a place of pre-agile adoption: That there’s no foresight into scalability They’re not paying attention to how they can sustain things, longterm Challenges of bringing agile into a non-agile environment: Fear of change from the organization That they only bring in aspects of the framework without implementing it fully That the organization is confused about what is agility from having multiple consultants from different organizations How to overcome these challenges: Help the organization and its members to become extremely familiar with the principles of agile Make sure it’s the path this organization actually wants to go down, by asking the important questions (such as, “Why agile?” and “What problem are we addressing?”) Do the coordination but not to the detriment of people’s sanity Concerns and struggles Scott often sees as organizations are in their agile journey: Struggles with cross-team communication that turns into a game of telephone Building something with an assumption rather than the true knowledge of what it should be The uncertainty of self-organizing teams For a successful agile organization: It’s important to have a true understanding of the Agile Manifesto and all of its principles You need open channels of communications between business people and developers who work together daily Make sure that conversations don’t lead to misdirection Teach members how to collaborate and bring every decision into a team process How AgileThought works with organizations that approach them to have a conversation about their agile journey or to improve their agility: We help by facilitating conversations We determine where their baseline is and where they want to go We provide an assessment and then move forward with that   Mentioned in this Episode: Scott Riley (LinkedIn) The Agile Manifesto Eric Landes (LinkedIn) Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 19: “Eric Landes on Kanban Metrics in the Scrum Framework” Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 22: “The Role of Managers in Agile Organizations with Esther Derby” Agile + DevOps East (in Orlando, FL)   Scott Riley’s Book Pick: Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland, by Dave Barry   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!

Debunking popular misconceptions about Agile, Scrum, and Kanban. Discussing key myths such as considering Agile as a process, believing Agile is the only good approach, and misinterpreting Scrum as a methodology. Exploring the compatibility of Scrum and Kanban, debunking the myth that they are mutually exclusive. Explaining the values and principles of Kanban and providing guidance on how to implement it effectively. Inviting listeners to share their own myths and misconceptions about Agile, Kanban, and Scrum.

Joining Dan Neumann today are Johanna Rothman and Mark Kilby! In case you don’t already know them, Johanna Rothman is known as the “Pragmatic Manager” and is the author of 14 books (and counting)! Through her management consulting, she helps managers and leaders create projects, teams, and organizations that work. Mark Kilby is an agile mentor and coach, playing many roles on the software and product lifecycle stage. His passions include serving servant leaders and building sustainable organizations that bring value to the people inside and outside the organization.   Recently, Mark and Johanna have collaborated on the book, From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams, that teaches how to create a successful distributed agile team and leave the chaos of virtual teams behind. This fascinating book will also be today’s topic of discussion! Johanna and Mark outline the differences between co-located, distributed, and dispersed teams; why the distinction between all three is important for agile teams; what is an agile team; key principles for these different types of agile teams; and nuggets of wisdom for managers of these teams.   Key Takeaways The distinction between colocated, distributed, and dispersed teams; and why it’s important: A co-located team is one that is collaborating and communicating in person (one that you can simply walk up to and have a discussion with) A distributed team is a group of individuals collaborating and communicating via communication technology (AKA a virtual team) A dispersed team is where some team members are in one space together while the rest are in another Mark has a simple way of distinguishing between these types through space analogies: A Satelite team: where the bulk of the team is located but you’ve got a small number of the team that is not co-located with each other The Clusters: where the organization has several clusters of people in different locations (i.e. co-located teams that have to coordinate the work) The Nebula: where everybody is distributed and works from different locations to collaborate as a team What is a team? And what is key specifically for agile teams? A team has a single goal (and one that is small enough to be able to actually collaborate together with) and has interdependent work The team has the capability and the hours of overlap to communicate and check-in with each other so that they have the right understanding of their collective progress and goal The team watches out for each other to make sure they’re collectively working towards their goal Key principles that will help your distributed team move towards better agility: Hours of overlap are crucial in allowing the teams to truly collaborate Flow efficiency for agile teams The team needs to create tighter bonds with each other Self-organizing and self-managing teams Critical for the teams to decide when the meetings occur and to outline their own working agreements Nuggets of wisdom and important qualities to uphold for managers that are leading distributed agile teams: The three important mindset shifts for managers (outlined in their book) are: manage for change, emphasize communication and collaboration, and use agile principles (not practices) Great managers have organizational expertise and understand how to get things done in the organization in order to set up the right environment for the teams Managers support teams in their continued growth Experimentation is key to managing for change What is Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and how is it an important tool? VSM is a lean management tool that helps visualize the steps needed to take from product creation to delivering it to the end-customer It’s especially useful for nebula teams that are completely separated from each other (to be able to see where the work is and how much wait time there is)   Mentioned in this Episode: Johanna Rothman Mark Kilby From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams: Collaborate to Deliver, by Johanna Rothman and Mark Kilby “Dispersed vs. Distributed Teams,” by Johanna Rothman Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep.5: “Exploring an Experimental Mindset with Adam Ulery” Value Stream Mapping (VSM)   Johanna and Mark’s Book (and TV Show) Picks: The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime Series) Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management, by Caitlin Rosenthal Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover   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!

Joining Dan Neumann today is Logan Butler, a Senior Software Developer and Scrum Master at AgileThought, who is currently working in a scaled scrum environment!   Today, Dan and Logan will be discussing conflict with civility. Conflict within teams is inevitable — but how you choose to manage the conflict within your team is entirely within your control! In Logan’s experience as a developer and Scrum Master, he has learned that approaching conflict with civility not only helps you maintain highly positive relationships but also puts you on the right path toward building a transparent and brave team. And, as a former high school teacher, Logan has plenty of experience with conflict management. In this episode, he brings his unique perspective from his days as a teacher to his current role as a Sr. Developer to the podcast!   Tune in to learn all about how to handle conflict with civility!   Key Takeaways What does it mean to handle conflict with civility? And what can be done to support it? Dealing with complex situations while maintaining highly positive relationships with the people that we work with Remembering conflict is not synonymous with angry or yelling; it is simply a problem that needs to be navigated Empower your team through communication Create a culture where everyone feels comfortable to speak up Keep good working relationships with everyone on your team so they stay engaged How to navigate conflict with civility: If someone doesn’t want to participate, don’t force them Lead by example and model what you want to see in your team Explore the conflict through going through SBI feedback model (Situation-Behavior-Impact) Utilize the Enneagram Personality Assessment tool to better understand a team member’s personality and perspective Why is it important for teams to be able to handle conflict well? Because conflict within teams is inevitable It is healthy to deal civilly with conflict by not becoming affected emotionally or leave with hurt feelings Logan’s three strategies for handling conflict with civility: Protect your team: Make sure everybody is treating everybody with respect, everyone is supported, and everyone is built up Don’t support misbehavior (i.e. ignoring jokes at someone’s expense) Have conversations to make sure everyone is included Set up your working agreement and ground rules as a team Look out with empathy: Consider others’ circumstances  Use group activities to help build empathy (such as retrospectives and the True Colors Exercise) Think from someone else’s perspective, then listen, and have a conversation Walk humbly: Choose to go in a situation and acknowledge you won’t have all the right answers Choose to be a constant learner and look at every opportunity as room to learn Always be willing to better yourself and go into conflicts looking for what you missed rather than telling the other person what should have been If you can do these three things, you have set yourself up to walk into a conflict with a demeanor that will ultimately lead to a better resolution and less baggage The mindset of a continuous learner: Be proactive in the way that you act humbly by choosing not to go down a path where you become a hero of the team If you see yourself going down the path of becoming a hero, you can choose to become a team player Don’t measure yourself on quantitative things; your value and contribution to the team is more than you can quantifiably deliver to the team   Mentioned in this Episode: Logan Butler’s LinkedIn Eckerd College Situation-Behavior-Impact Feedback Model (SBI) Enneagram Personality Assessment True Colors Assessment Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep.26: “How an Effective Leader Coaches with Joseph Carella” Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep.20: “Dr. Jeff Thompson on Values-Based Leadership” Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep.32: “Christy Erbeck on Courageous Leadership” Brené Brown: The Call to Courage (Netflix Special)   Logan Butler’s Book Pick: Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts., by Brené Brown   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!

What does it mean to be done in Scrum? This is something that gets overlooked frequently. The Scrum guide says that the heart of Scrum is a sprint — a timebox of one month or less, during which a done, useable, and potentially releasable product increment is created. So for something to be done means it’s either in production or it’s ready to go to production without any further work. And especially with new Scrum teams, this can be a major hurdle. It can seem like too much to ask.   Joining Dan Naumann today is AgileThought colleague and return guest, Sam Falco! Sam is an Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Professional with an extensive background leading Agile development teams. And today they’re highlighting exactly what it means to be ‘done in Scrum,’ why you should care about the definition of ‘done,’ how to go about shaping your team’s definition of ‘done,’ how to reach ‘done,’ and what you can do as a new Scrum team to overcome the hurdle of what ‘done’ is.   Key Takeaways What does it mean to be done in Scrum? According to the Scrum guide, it means: during a sprint a useable and potentially releasable product increment is created (meaning it is either in production or ready to go to production without any further work) This definition of ‘done’ applies to the increment you’re creating each sprint Everything has to be working and working together What can you do as a new Scrum team to overcome the hurdle of what ‘done’ is? Make sure your items are broken down small enough Make sure an increment is doable Remember that it’s better to deliver a small piece of value than a bunch of stories or backlog items that are not ready How to reach ‘done’: Work together toward a common increment Build a strong enough sprint goal that is aimed at creating a solid product increment Do integration testing “If it hurts to release, do it more often” Consider: what can you do to automate it and make it easier to release? If, as a team, you feel your sprint is too short, consider the possibility that you’re perhaps trying to do too much Identify undone work in the increment Use the retrospective to frequently inspect your team’s definition of ‘done’ Sam’s tips for how to go about shaping your Scrum team’s definition of ‘done’: The team should create it with the product owner Brainstorm as a team by considering the question: what does it mean to get work into production? Align with your company’s developmental standards if they exist There has to be a common definition that everyone agrees to and adheres to Why should someone care about the definition of ‘done’? Builds trust between business and IT Helps the team manage batch sizes by helping them to determine what they can do in a sprint Helps the Scrum team be clear to the business about what they’re going to receive Helps you minimize technical debt Continual attention to technical excellence enhances agility Key takeaways around the concept of ‘done’: Start with what you know that you need to do to get to ‘done’ Don’t obsess about having the perfect definition of ‘done’ (especially if you’re a beginning team) Make sure that you have useful guidelines that will help you communicate what is ‘done’ Remember that this can eliminate the cost of technical debt and make your organization more nimble   Mentioned in this Episode: The Nexus Scaling Framework Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep.33: “Nimble Facilitation with Rebecca Sutherns, PhD” Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation, by Rebecca Sutherns   Sam Falco’s Book Pick: The Enterprise and Scrum, by Ken Schwaber   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, Rebecca Sutherns is joining your host, Dan Neumann, on the Agile Coaches’ Corner Podcast! Rebecca Sutherns is a strong strategic analyst and Certified Professional Facilitator, trained in numerous facilitation methodologies. She has conducted community consultations, strategic planning, research and evaluation exercises for a range of clients in Canada and internationally. She is an Instructor of a Facilitation Skills course within the Conflict Management Diploma program at the University of Waterloo, the CEO of Sage Solutions (where she bring her expertise as a professional facilitator to help purpose-driven leaders align what’s important to them with what they actually do), and the author of her new book, Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation.   In this episode, Rebecca and Dan are focusing on all things related to nimble facilitation! Though her background is not in Agility, her insights around nimble facilitation greatly align with the Agile value of “responding to change over following a plan,” and apply to what Agile coaches do daily.   Tune in to get Rebecca’s insights on what facilitation is, what separates a good facilitator from an average one, how to bring a meeting back on track through nimble facilitation, what facilitation should look like after a meeting, her tips for creating psychological safety, and all about her new book, Nimble, and the key lessons about facilitation from there as well!   Key Takeaways What is facilitation? Giving people a structure by which to get things done as a group What separates a good facilitator from an average one? A good facilitator is someone who can adjust in real time to what’s going on in the room The ability to respond to change over following a plan Knowing yourself well and knowing how you work under pressure By not being the “Oblivious Facilitator” (Example: If you’re not going to adjust based on the feedback that the group is giving you, don’t ask for the feedback) How to bring a meeting back on track through nimble facilitation: Set expectations at the beginning (both in your own head and for the group) about what constitutes being on and off track Understand that things will go differently than you thought Give people starting and end times but not detailed agendas (because that can stress some people out) Plan for multiple scenarios Break down your main objective into smaller objectives What should facilitation look like after a meeting? Ask yourself how it went and how do you know how it went Follow-up with people whose opinion matter to you Become a reflective practitioner and update your plans In Rebecca’s book, Nimble, facilitation is broken down into these three phases: In advance: Anticipation In the room: Agility Afterward: Absorption And below that, there are four facets to each of those phases: People, Purpose, Place, and Process Rebecca’s pro facilitation tips: Good process and good facilitation is the best antidote to a heckler or nay-sayer Part of skillful facilitation is self-regulation and having the mental discipline to not let distractions bother you Always have your plan A, B, C, D, etc. ready to go Do whatever prepping you need prior to the meeting to make yourself the most relaxed that you can possibly be Rebecca’s tips for establishing psychological safety: As a facilitator, give roughly equal airtime (because if only one or two people dominate, others may feel like they don’t have space) Set norms for respectful behavior Make your shared purpose very explicit Let people put their own thoughts up on the board or ask for clarification; don’t edit their words   Mentioned in this Episode: Rebecca Sutherns Sage Solutions Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation, by Rebecca Sutherns The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth, by Amy C. Edmondson   Rebecca Sutherns’ Book Pick: New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World — and How to Make It Work for You, by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms   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!