Six behaviors you can consider when hiring/adding people to an agile team, and the questions you might ask to detect whether those are the right people.

1. Six Behaviors to Consider for an
Agile Team
Johanna Rothman
New: Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
www.jrothman.com
jr@jrothman.com
781-641-4046

2. Behaviors, Not Practices
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3. Six Behaviors
1. People who can collaborate
2. People who can ask for help
3. People who are willing to take small steps and get feedback
4. People who are will to do something that is good enough
for now
5. Adaptable people
6. People willing to work outside their expertise
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4. Collaboration
"Think back to a recent project. Give me an example of a
time you had to work with other people to make sure
that you could finish something. What happened?"
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5. Asking for Help
"Think back to your most recent project. Tell me about a
time you did not understand something. What did you
do?"
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6. Small Steps and Ask for Feedback
"Tell me how you like to work. Think back to the last
feature you worked on. When did you ask for
feedback?" ... "Why?"
"When you work on your projects outside of work, how
do you work? Give me an example."
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7. Do Something Good Enough For
Now
"Tell me about a recent time you did not know everything
at the beginning of the project. What did you do?"
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8. Adaptable
"Tell me about a time when you did not have the
conditions you would've liked for your project. What did
you do?"
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9. Willing to Work Outside Their
Expertise
"Tell me about a time you took on work to help the team. What was
that like?"
If that’s too difficult to answer, try this:
"We work on things we may not be comfortable with in order to
finish a feature for an iteration. Have you ever been in that position?"
Or, try this:
"Tell me about a time you did something you thought was not in your
job description. What did you do?"
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10. Arigatou Gozaimashita!
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11. References and Resources
There’s more on http://www.jrothman.com/blog/htp
I’m @johannarothman
Visit http://www.jrothman.com to read more or sign up
for my email newsletter. Or give me your card. Or fill out
a yellow form.
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