Sid, a senior leader, wants the benefits of an agile transformation. While he doesn't care about agility per se, he wants the organization to be more effective. His goals:
- Open new markets for their products.
- Gain new customers in those markets.
- Retain more current customers.
He suspects that if the teams release faster, the organization can achieve those goals.
But, Sid has several worries about this agile transformation. Specifically, he's worried about these three potential transformation problems:
- The teams will spend a ton of time in meetings. As Sid asked, “If everyone's meeting all the time, who's working?”
- If the teams constantly replan, how can the organization predict what the teams will deliver and when? Sid asked, “How will I know I'm getting the bang for the bucks I'm investing?”
- If people do work in self-managing teams, what do the managers do? Sid asked, “Do I get rid of all my managers?”
Let's take each assumption in turn, starting with the assumption that meetings are not work.
Meetings Are the Work
Successful agile transformations depend on collaboration at all levels. That's flow efficiency thinking. (See How to Start Thinking in Flow Efficiency for Better Teamwork & Throughput.)
When people collaborate as a team, they finish the work faster. Think of a musical performance, such as the symphony or a band. While geeky people like me might like to hear some of the individual players, everyone needs to be on the same page of music to create a satisfying performance.
That's why agile teams who plan and create and release together tend to be more effective and faster than teams where people work individually.
It's true, people can work separately and still create a great product. (As a musical example, see the 56 Trombonists playing Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. Each person played separately and relied on one person to integrate and release the product.) I bet you've seen that in your organization.
But there's a time cost when people work on “their” work separately from everyone else, in resource efficiency. For a software example, see Throughput: Why Salary Costs Matter Less Than You Think They Do.
Sid had to change what he called his “units” of thinking. For faster product development, he focused on teams as the unit of work, not individuals.
That means the more teams work together, sometimes called “meetings,” the faster they will go.
Then we discussed the replanning and prediction problem.
Dependability of Long-Term Predictions
In a no-nonsense voice, Sid explained he needed six months to a year's worth of prediction from the teams.
I asked, “What will you do with that information?”
He paused and looked out the window. Then he turned back to me and said, “With that much planning, I know I can depend on them to deliver.”
I asked him to answer these questions:
- Did he want to change his mind about what the teams would do more often than six months or a year? That included canceling features or projects.
- Did he want to change his mind about the sequence of the work more often than six months or a year?
- Did he want the option to start new things more frequently than just every six months? (never mind a year.)
“Of course I do,” he said. “But I also want to know when the teams will deliver work.”
“I would love to predict exactly what I'll work on three months from now, and I'm just a one-person company,” I said. “However, you can learn what you're getting from the investments you make if you see weekly or biweekly demos. Demos will show you and the teams what they're delivering.”
Planning helps us see what we might and might not deliver. However, reality always wins. Look for visible progress, not pretty plans.
That left the management discussion—what managers do with self-managing teams.
Managers Create the Environment so Everyone Can Succeed
Even if you don't need a particularly agile organization, these assumptions prevent everyone from being more effective.
Instead, consider how managers create the environment so the teams can succeed. First-level managers remove impediments and support the team. That helps the team learn how to be effective and deliver business value.
Mid-level managers work at a minimum of two levels. They either decide or help their managers decide on the project portfolio. And those mid-level managers support the people they lead and serve by addressing the career ladder and reward systems. If we want teamwork, we need career ladders that reinforce teamwork, not individual work. That also means we need to reward people who aid other people in getting better.
In many organizations, middle managers also ensure everyone has the training and tools to do their jobs.
I asked Sid if he wanted to do any of that as a senior leader. His answer was a firm “NO!” He explained that he needed to work with his peers, to continually iterate on the strategy. That way, they could integrate their customers' responses to the current product mix.
Managers Rethink Their Assumptions
After all this, Sid asked, “You're asking me to change a lifetime of management assumptions.”
“I am,” I said. “And your behaviors. It's a real challenge, because cost accounting will fight you all the way. But if you can, you'll create the culture you need. Besides, that's why you make the big bucks.”
You might not want or need an agile transformation. But most managers I know want to be more effective. The more collaborative a team, the more the team will meet—because that's how they work together. Beware of planning for too long in any environment—especially if you want or need to change your mind about the work. Finally, free your managers to focus on the environment, not what or how the team members work.
Our assumptions have served us well up until now. Don't let them prevent you from being more effective in the future.
This newsletter touches on topics in Successful Independent Consulting, Create Your Successful Agile Project, and all three of the Modern Management Made Easy books.
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© 2023 Johanna Rothman
Pragmatic Manager: Vol 20, #5, ISSN: 2164-1196