Agile Coaches' Corner

Joining Dan Neumann today is return guest — and his colleague at AgileThought — Sam Falco! Sam is an Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Professional with an extensive background leading Agile development teams.   In today’s episode, they will be discussing coaching around resistance. Sam began developing this topic a couple of years back when he had seen some books and articles about overcoming resistance and how to defeat resistance. It had always struck him as kind of psychologically violent, very prescriptive, and not too collaborative. When he thought about his own experiences with resistance — both when he resisted some sort of change and his experiences coaching change — he discovered that it should not be thought as something to be overcome, but instead, as a useful red flag.   Sam further explains what coaching around resistance is, how to get people to talk about their emotions when they’re resistant, how to become an effective coach for leading changes or a transformation, and how to build the skills that are key to coaching around resistance. They also discuss the different levels of relationship that are important when coaching around resistance, the different types of inquiry you can apply in your coaching, and overall, what you should keep in mind while coaching.   Key Takeaways What is resistance? A natural reaction to an emotional process of adapting to difficult change What is coaching around resistance? It is when you act with empathy and help others to — not overcome or defeat something — but to work past what is blocking them Treating the underlying cause rather than ignoring it or bandaging over it How do you get people to talk about emotion (in regards to resistance)? Use humble inquiry (which is asking for information in the least biased, least threatening way which helps to build trust) Access your ignorance Ask in a neutral way Sam’s advice for being an effective coach for leading change or a transformation: Consider the relationship you have with this person (the four levels of relationship that Edgar Schein identifies are: ‘minus one’ relationship, transactional relationship, personal relationship, or intimate relationship) with the goal being ‘personal’ Have honesty about the mutual problem or the experience that is happening Honor commitments and promises Find that level of comfort where you both trust each other to be open and truthful Share information (which can help foster that personal relationship) Use relationship/team building exercises such as The Line Journey or Personal Maps Model the behavior you’re expecting from them Build a rapport so they’re open, transparent, and willing to share the true challenges that they may have Live by Scrum values (which helps to build the relationship to the right level) Use humble inquiry to build trust Use diagnostic inquiry, confrontational inquiry, and process-oriented inquiry at your discretion How to coach around resistance: Make sure to ask more questions Leave more space for the other person to talk Go beyond the mechanics; which includes the values of Scrum How do you build these skills? Start by trying them on/practicing with someone who you already have a good, trusting, personal relationship with   Mentioned in this Episode: Sam Falco (LinkedIn) Paul R. Lawrence Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, by Peter Block Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling, by Edgar H. Schein Humble Consulting: How to Provide Real Help Faster, by Edgar H. Schein The Journey Line Exercise Mind Map Personal Map Managing for Happiness: Games, Tools, and Practices to Motivate Any Team, by Jurgen Appelo The Four Forms of Inquiry Scrum Values The Situation Behavior Impact Framework (SBI Model)Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 27: “Deep Drive on Scrum Values with Sam Falco” Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation, by Rebecca Sutherns   Sam Falco’s Book Pick: The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage, by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham   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!

In today’s episode of the Agile Coaches’ Corner, returning guest and AgileThought colleague, Adam Ulery, will be joining the podcast!   Adam is a perpetually curious, continuous learner who is always willing to encourage others to try new things (as he very often does himself). He’s a Senior Agile Coach and investor in multifamily properties. He’s focused on helping organizations clarify and meet their business outcomes and loves to help companies become resilient, rediscover curiosity, and change their traditional approach to business.   Today they will be discussing Business Value Points (BVPs). Business Value Points are a way for for leaders, sponsors, and funders of a project to measure progress. It enables them to understand the progress being made towards building their product. Adam shares a more in-depth look at what BVPs are, why we should care, and breaks down what they measure! He also provides tons of practical tips and methods for generating BVPs for Product Backlog items.   Key Takeaways What are business value points? And why should we care? BVPs are a great way for leaders to measure progress against their investment Provides leaders, sponsors, and funders of a project a way to understand the progress teams are making towards delivering value with their product Compliments Story Points to give a more complete picture of the Product Backlog What do Business Value Points measure? BVPs measure the amount of value a feature or story is expected to deliver. The ratio between BVP and Story Points helps inform prioritization decisions The three factors of Story Points: Complexity, Uncertainty, Effort The three factors of Business Value Points: User Value, Time Criticality, Risk Reduction or Opportunity Enablement Adam Ulrey breaks down the three factors in BVP: User Value: the value of a particular feature to the business (or to the end user) Time Criticality (or “Cost of Delay”): How important it is that the feature is released right now Risk Reduction or Opportunity Enablement: Does doing this reduce the risk of future delivery? Is there value in the information we will receive? Will this unlock or enable new business opportunities in some way? Ways to generate Business Value Points for Product Backlog Items: Planning Poker Card Sorting   Mentioned in this Episode: Adam Ulery (LinkedIn) Planning Poker® Card Sorting Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation, by Rebecca Sutherns   Adam Ulery’s Book Pick: The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, by G. Edward Griffin   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!

Your host, Dan Neumann, is going solo this episode to explore the topic of cognitive bias. It’s impossible for us to logically process every piece of information we receive, so our brain has come up with shortcuts — simpler ways of processing information. Though this can serve us really well, unfortunately, to process information rapidly our brain has developed biases.   Today Dan covers many of the common cognitive biases, why they’re evolutionary helpful, and how they can affect agile teams. He also provides examples and gives solutions on how to combat these biases in an agile team. Some of the biases he covers are the anchoring bias, optimism bias, availability bias, illusory superiority, attribution bias, and the Dunning-Kruger effect.   Tune in to discover the cognitive biases you may not even know you had and learn how to combat them!   Key Takeaways What is cognitive bias? An error in the way our brain processes information It’s impossible for us to logically process every piece of information we receive, so our brain has come up with shortcuts; simpler ways of processing information Our brain has developed biases in order to process information rapidly Common biases: Information biases: errors in the way we process information (includes: anchoring, optimism, and availability biases) Ego biases: errors in the way we see ourselves (includes illusory superiority) Anchoring bias (where an individual relies too heavily on an initial piece of information offered to make subsequent decisions) Optimism bias (where we generally believe ourselves to be less prone to negative events) Availability bias (where we judge how important or how likely something is by how easy it is to think of an example) Illusory superiority (known as the “above average” bias; we consider ourselves) Attribution bias (where we tend to attribute our own successes to our innate abilities and our failures to bad luck, and others’ successes to circumstance and failures to incompetence) Dunning-Kruger effect (where unskilled people tend to be overconfident and overestimate their abilities and highly skilled people underestimate their abilities and become frustrated with others) How do cognitive biases affect agile teams? Anchoring bias over-weights the first piece of information presented Under pressure, anchoring can become even more pronounced Anchoring in a retrospective can lead the meeting to revolve around the first topic mentioned Optimism bias isn’t so helpful in a complex adaptive system, building software, and working in teams Availability bias can affect those design systems because when we’re not clear about the end user we’re targeting; we tend to use our own references How to combat and moderate cognitive biases: Combat anchoring with silent writing, planning poker, and by simply sleeping on it to remove the pressure Combat optimism bias by processing more complex information using the “beyond budgeting” approach: estimate, budget, and the expected outcome Combat optimism by considering the opposite, many alternatives, or alternative plausibility Combat availability bias by really doing your research; be aware you’re most prone to recall your most recent or most memorable event and conduct experiments to prove or disprove your bias Moderate ego bias by creating safety; model getting feedback, evaluate the work and not the individual, bring data, and broaden your perspective   Mentioned in this Episode: Anchoring bias Optimism bias Availability bias Illusory superiority Attribution bias Dunning-Kruger effect Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Review, by Norman L. Kerth Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 26: “How an Effective Leader Coaches with Joseph Carella”   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 excited to bring on an agile Thoughtleader from the Wemanity Group, a Chair-Elect of the Agile Consortium International, and co-author of The Agile Manifesto on today — Arie van Bennekum. Arie is incredibly passionate about agility. Originally, Arie came from a very traditional environment as a developer and technical designer, but later switched to RAD and DSDM and then got involved with communities and began publishing, training, and coaching. Now, as a Thoughtleader with the Wemanity group, Arie focuses on helping individuals and organizations adopt the agile approach.   Today, he and Dan will be discussing common misconceptions and interpretations of The Agile Manifesto. They discuss the context in which The Agile Manifesto was first authored, how to transform from a traditional company to a more agile one, important aspects of using the agile method, some fun additional facts about the creation of The Agile Manifesto, challenges around business value, Agnostic Agile, important pieces that are often forgotten when moving to an agile method, and much more.   Key Takeaways Facts about The Agile Manifesto: Authored at the Lightweight Methods Conference in 2001 It’s a distillation of values and principles behind several lightweight methods that were in use at the time Important aspects of using the agile method: Agility is a way to avoid waste Experimentation is at the heart of agility Do Scrum by the values and not just by the rules Empowerment of the team and great communication A hunger for learning is key “Perfection is not a state; perfection is an ambition” (you are constantly moving forward with agile) Intentionally practice the basics and make it a natural part of work Tooling is continuously changing in agile, so keep up that hunger Don’t become complacent or sloppy with how you do the discipline Implement improvement after retrospectives Innovate Face-to-face communication is the best way to convey information Alignment on how the team works and great team structure And of course: the four values and 12 principles of The Agile Manifesto What is Agnostic Agile? Being agnostic with agility (i.e. one size does not fit all, one framework is not the answer, etc.) Don’t be dogmatic Keep up with all learning Explore all the agile practices and methods   Mentioned in this Episode: Arie van Bennekum (LinkedIn) Wemanity Group The Agile Manifesto Agile Business Consortium Agnostic Agile Crystal Methods Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) Rapid Application Development (RAD) James Grenning Ward Cunningham Winston Churchill The Four Values and 12 Principles of The Agile Manifesto Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. Ep. 26: “How an Effective Leader Coaches with Joseph Carella”   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 and return guest, Sam Falco! Sam is an Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Professional with an extensive background leading Agile development teams.   A few episodes ago they discussed Scrum and empirical process control and today they’ll be doing a deep dive on Scrum values!   One of the problems many people tend to face with Scrum is that it can feel very mechanical. But luckily, there is a solution to that. There’s a statement in the Scrum Guide that the successful use of Scrum depends on people becoming more proficient in living by five values; the values that drive Scrum. These values truly put the heart in Scrum — and they’re exactly what Sam will be talking about today!   Tune in to learn what these values are, why they are so critical to the success of Scrum teams, and how to apply these values. Sam also gives some examples of where he’s seen the values be really present (and, where they haven’t) in a Scrum team and the effect that it has on the organization overall.   Key Takeaways The five values that put the heart in Scrum: Commitment Courage Focus Openness Respect Why these values are so critical to Scrum teams and how to apply them: You need commitment to stay on track with Scrum Openness and courage are key to having transparent and honest communication Stay focused on the work of the sprint and the goals of the Scrum team Stay focused on the sprint goal helps to eliminate distractions Don’t get distracted by side projects and focus on the main task at hand (Sam recommends using personal Kanban boards) Respect all members of the Scrum team to be capable, independent people Show respect by showing where you have dependencies with the Scrum team Show respect by not expecting everyone to know what you know With openness and courage: share the whys, share the issues you ran into, how you overcame them, and where you need to escalate them How to strengthen these values in your Scrum team: See where they’re present and figure out where they can be strengthened Bring it up in a retrospective and have some deeper conversations about it   Mentioned in this Episode: Sam Falco (LinkedIn) The Scrum Guide Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 23: “Scrum and Empirical Process Control with Sam Falco” Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 21: “Why Are Games Important to Agile? With Sam Falco” Agnostic Agile Kanban Guide from ProjectManager.com Personal Kanban Board Agile Manifesto Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson   Sam Falco’s Book Picks: The Servant as Leader, by Robert K. Greenleaf Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe   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 Joseph Carella — a Senior Instructor and Executive Coach of the Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. Joseph is also a practicing psychologist and Consulting Psychologist for the Orlando Magic NBA Team and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as the Senior Consultant for AvoLead, and the Principal Owner for Carella & Associates.   In this episode, Dan and Joseph discuss the ways that an effective leader coaches. Joseph highlights the differences between professional coaching and executive coaching, real-life examples from his work, what it means to hold somebody accountable, how good leaders can set up a positive environment to get the most out of their team, and how to provide corrective feedback. Joseph also provides his insights around both positive and corrective reinforcement through coaching and when you should hold yourself accountable as a leader when it comes to the “underperformers” on your team.   Key Takeaways What good leaders should do (and how they can hold their team accountable): Set the expectations for performance Provide instruction, guidance, and support Positively enforce correct performance Let the person know immediately when they’re not performing up to par and provide corrective actions Help your team with skill acquisitions Joseph’s insights around both positive and corrective reinforcement through coaching: Hold yourself accountable as a leader for creating an environment for your whole team to perform at their best Review your ideas around the traits you consider to be that of an underperformer (i.e. are they really an underperformer or are they just not matching your expectations?) Consider how you’re interacting with an “underperformer” — are you only identifying their weaknesses thus creating a demotivating environment? As a leader, find ways to understand your people and engage with them If there is truly a performance gap, identify the behaviors that are problematic and the impact that they have on the task at hand, and then allow that person to tell their story, and afterward ask how they’re going to effect this change   Mentioned in this Episode: Joseph Carella’s Bio Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute AvoLead Carella & Associates Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 25: “Talking Feedback with Christy Erbeck” Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 23: “Scrum and Empirical Process Control with Sam Falco” Adapt Framework SBI Model Painless Performance Conversations: A Practical Approach to Critical Day-to-Day Workplace Discussions, by Marnie E. Green Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister “Modern Agile,” by Joshua Kerievsky The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, by Milton Rokeach   Joseph Carella’s Book Picks: Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't, by Simon Sinek Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by General Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, and Chris Fussell The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance, by Steven Kotler   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!

In this episode, your host, Dan Neumann, is joined by a colleague at AgileThought, 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.   Today, they’re going to be talking about the topic of feedback. They discuss the importance of giving and receiving feedback, feedback fallacies, how to practice giving better feedback, how people respond to both poorly-constructed and well-constructed feedback, and how to give great feedback through the SBI model. Feedback is a big part of what Agile coaches are asked to do. Giving and receiving feedback is critically important and takes a tremendous amount of insight and awareness to both give and receive feedback in a positive way. Tune in to hear all of Christy Erbeck’s key takeaways on the topic of feedback!   Key Takeaways What are some feedback fallacies and challenges to giving and receiving feedback? The three fallacies from “The Feedback Fallacy” article are: the source of truth, how we learn, and excellence The idiosyncratic rater effect Humans are unreliable raters of other humans — we don’t have the capacity to do it well and our egos get in the way Confirmation bias and recall bias can come in to play Thinking you know better than the person you’re giving feedback to (which is not the objective truth) When someone perceives feedback as critical (especially from those who are not qualified in the specific area) they go into fight or flight When stakes are high or a conversation is emotionally-charged, people often unconsciously tell themselves a story that feeds their immediate (often negative) reaction to hearing feedback How to give and receive great feedback (and why): Use the SBI Model  (1. Situation, 2. Behavior, 3. Impact) Through the SBI model, it becomes easier to frame the feedback in a way that is safe to deliver and receive Using an SBI model can create psychological safety and gives feedback in a way that minimizes the potential that someone may have a flight or fight reaction to it Don’t refer to yourself as the expert when giving feedback; instead, focus on the impact it had on you Instead of looking at outputs look at outcomes Provide high-priority interrupt feedback (which is critical to reinforcing a positive response) Direct feedback is good, but don’t be tactless (be honest in an empathic way) Get feedback on your feedback   Mentioned in this Episode: Christy Erbeck Agile 2018 Conference in San Diego Radical Candor, by Kim Scott SBI Model Harvard Business Review Magazine “The Feedback Fallacy,” by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts., by Brené Brown Brené Brown: The Call to Courage (Film, 2019) Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 22: “The Role of Managers in Agile Organizations with Esther Derby” Joe Carella from Eckerd College 360 Degree Feedback   Christy Erbeck’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!

This week, your host, Dan Neumann, is going solo! He’s going to be talking about Agile assessments, and — using medical terminology — discuss whether it’s a helpful remedy or harmful toxin.   If someone is receiving the right medication for the right ailment, it can be absolutely lifesaving. But if you take that same medication and apply it to the wrong circumstance, it can be incredibly detrimental — such as a toxin, poisoning your system. Dan views Agile assessments in a similar way. They can be super helpful tools for organizations that are trying to understand their current state of agility, or, they can potentially be destructive to team safety and employee morale —  essentially becoming weaponized and destructive to teams.   Join Dan to explore this topic and learn how to properly leverage Agile assessments in your organization!   Key Takeaways Why organizations look to Agile assessment in the first place: To establish a baseline of performance To look at which teams are doing (or not doing) well To look for areas where help can be applied To validate assumptions The four categories of gathering assessment: Self-reporting Externally measuring Having an expert come in and observe what’s happening in the teams Looking at the inner workings Dan’s tips for a successful assessment: Having phases in the assessment and planning with intentionality Know your “why” Collect data and interpret the results in a collaborative way For planning, ask yourself: what do you hope to learn? And what decisions might this enable? Look to Agile survey tools for electronic data collection Look to people and interactions over processes and tools When receiving the assessment, create options for the teams Collaborate with the organization being assessed and those doing the assessment to figure out the next steps and how to move forward collectively Why an assessment may not serve an organization (AKA: the pitfalls): Help isn’t always helpful; sometimes teams just need to work through a problem and sometimes the intervention of an outsider is not particularly helpful The information is used to evaluate (i.e. ranking teams) Jumping to evaluation and looking to reward or punish How to go about interpreting the results of an assessment collaboratively: Use open space technology Bring the data Share observations Ask participants to organize around the data and observations and add their own perspective to what is happening Identify patterns and ask the team what they have the energy for turning into action   Mentioned in this Episode: Slideshare Visual Comparative Agility Lean Agile Intelligence   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!

In today’s episode, Dan Neumann is joined by Sam Falco once again! Sam is Dan’s colleague at AgileThought and is an Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Professional with an extensive background leading Agile development teams.   In a previous episode, Sam and Dan discussed games and why Scrum works for people from a gaming-standpoint and helps drive engagement. In this episode, they’re discussing empirical process control and how it makes Scrum work from a getting-things-done standpoint!   Sam shares some of the lessons he has learned as a Scrum master (both early and later in his career) and gives examples from his work. He also explains the benefits of empirical process control; how transparency is built; how Scrum events support transparency, inspection, and adaptation; and how to inspect and adapt in meaningful, healthy ways.   Key Takeaways What is empirical process control? A principle that emphasizes the core philosophy of Scrum based on the three main ideas of transparency, inspection, and adaptation The benefits of empirical process control: Provides thorough data to help make good decisions Without it, you’re relying on assumptions Gives you the ability to inspect each increment of the product every sprint and adapt the product backlog based on the feedback It builds trust between the Scrum team and stakeholders Gives transparency in the process Creates a feedback loop How transparency is built: Hold sprint review meetings and daily Scrum meetings Disclose defects of the state of the product so you can make good decisions about releasing it (or not releasing it) Create transparency around the technical debt Be honest about the issues around the product and around the work in the sprint Where one team has a dependency on another do more effective planning, scaling, and collaboration Minimize team dependencies when possible (by inspecting, adapting, and understanding/adjusting where the work is flowing) Clear communication during sprints and be transparent even with “bad news” and issues   Mentioned in this Episode: Sam Falco (LinkedIn) Empirical Process Control Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 21: “Why Are Games Important to Agile? With Sam Falco” Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 22: “The Role of Managers in Agile Organizations with Esther Derby” The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, by Frederick P. Brooks Jr. Lead True: Live Your Values, Build Your People, Inspire Your Community, by Jeff Thompson Agile Coaches’ Corner Ep. 20: “Dr. Jeff Thompson on Values-Based Leadership” Gundersen Health System   Sam Falco’s Book Pick: User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product, by Jeff Patton   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, Esther Derby joins the podcast! Esther is an Agile expert and the President of Esther Derby Associates, Inc.   Esther started her professional career as a programmer. She realized fairly early that work environments had a huge impact on whether or not someone could be successful. And that even though she was a coder, her real work was in changing the way people worked and supporting them through that process.   In 1997, she founded Esther Derby Associates, Inc. and has spent the last twenty-five years helping companies design their environment, culture, and human dynamics for optimum success. She helps teams and management understand what’s working and where there are contradictions that sap productivity and stifle innovation, as well as how best to maximize a team’s capacity for achievement.   In this week’s episode, Esther and Dan are discussing managers, teams, and Agile environments. They explore the manager’s side in the Agile, why having a manager is key within an Agile work environment, and what the manager’s role should be.   Key Takeaways Why having a manager is key within an Agile work environment: If you do not have one, improvement tends to get focused only on the team level and not the overall system Teams function best within a high degree of bounded autonomy What the manager’s role is: The manager’s role is one of looking at the environment and trying to continuously improve it “It’s not the manager’s job to get people to work hard; it’s to make it possible for people to work.” The manager’s job is to enable the team to work, and then, to enhance their work environment To make sure teams have enough contextual knowledge so they can make decent decisions on the front line of the organization It’s important for the team to: Bring systemic issues to the manager Distinguish which decisions they can make without consulting the manager, which decisions they should make with a manager, and which decisions are entirely up to the manager It is important for the manager to: Pay attention to the system Notice problems across the organization Be supportive Have conversations with the team on a periodic basis Build in learning time and a learning budget so the team feels that learning is a part of their job, not in their free time Challenges Esther has seen with managers within an organization: Not all managers get along and it may take an effort to get them to all collaborate When a business gets to a certain size, it becomes difficult to communicate across all the managers of different teams   Mentioned in this Episode: Esther Derby (LinkedIn) Esther Derby Associates, Inc. Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen Agile Manifesto Bounded Autonomy Tim Lister Tom DeMarco 7 Rules for Positive, Productive Change: Micro Shifts, Macro Results, by Esther Derby   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!