On-boarding Experiences, Lessons, and tactics from Prowareness Software Development Center Bangalore by Marudhamaran Gunasekaran. Screen recording at - https://vimeo.com/gmaran23/HowToKickStartANewScrumTeam Event Details @ http://www.agileacademy.nl/event/?eventtitle=agility-hr&utm_source=CustomMail&utm_medium=LeesMeer&utm_campaign=LeesMeer

1. What we have learnt..
Agility & HR, Jan 2016
@
Delft, Netherlands
How to Kick Start a New Scrum Team
Screen recording of the presentation at - https://vimeo.com/gmaran23/HowToKickStartANewScrumTeam

2. Marudhamaran Gunasekaran @gmaran23
• Agile Coach / Security Specialist
• Agile coaching
• Scrum training
• Onboarding
• Scrum Kick-offs
• Ethical hacking
• Secure Programming Practices
• Compliance (ISO 27001)
Who’s presenting?

3. Employee Employer relation
Job
seeker
Prospective
candidate
Selected
and offered
candidate
Employee
• New
Employee
• ..
• ….
• …..
Alumnus

4. Employee Employer relation
Employee
•New Employee
•..
• Flag Bearers
•…..

5. What’s your challenges?
in onboarding

6. To manage complexity or to control chaos –
Splits time into slices (Iterations) and provides opportunities (Events) to
compare reality with expected outcome (Feedback)
• Frequent Inspection and Adaption based on transparency
Agile and Scrum

7. For complex and adaptive software development
A framework of principles, roles and rules that thrives on people doing Scrum
Is very much about behavior, much more than it is about process
Is hard and disruptive
Scrum

8. Is it about finding the right people?
Or
Is it only about finding the right people?
Scrum, people, behavior, and company culture

9. Interpersonal skills

10. Cultural fit – does not need convincing

11. Moral – define personal character
Ethics – standards of behavior expected by a group / Culture
Moral and Ethics

12. Our experiments & lessons

13. Courage
Openness
Respect
Focus
Commitment
Scrum Values
https://ullizee.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/scrum-values.png

14. Transparency
Teamwork
Quality
Accountability
Passion
Prowareness Values & Culture

15. Gamify the onboarding
Build an onboarding
• around the values of the company
• around the values of Scrum

16. Training helps – but;
Is it tangible?
How to quantify or validate someone’s learning?

17. Build an onboarding – How?
Set expectations - define boundaries, define goals together
Intensify the feedback cycles - as frequent as possible
Create team environment - bring them together on a common purpose
Equip with the tools - they are comfortable working with
They like to be challenged - give them one & leave the room, however be available and approachable
Create roles (Scrum) within the team - and hold them accountable
Validations for learning - quiz, assessments, real software itself, recap, homework

18. Set expectations: ProX – Prowareness Experience
before they join, call them for an office tour
facilitated by the existing employees and the recruiters

19. Set expectations
1 month – what’s the expected outcome from the team of 6-9 members?

20. Intensify the feedback cycles
At least once per day
Transparent feedback
Based on evidence
Direct feedback
Facilitate feedback circle within the team

21. Transparent feedback – from the facilitators

22. Transparent feedback – Self Evaluation
Remember: Feedback is about providing information

23. Transparent feedback – Progress in 3 months
After the one month Pro-Seed (Induction) program, meet with them every
fortnight

24. They like to be challenged
Engineers like to design, create and build systems
Create a backlog of challenges that software could solve
(Operations automation, POC for a new business idea, … )
Real world challenges – identify them or ask other software teams
that do not have time to work on some dream features
Throw a challenge at them, and visit after a couple of hours

25. A team’s outcome in 90 minutes

26. Create team environment
A dedicated team room
No individual cubicles that impede communication in the name of privacy
Make the team accountable for a software creation
Create Scrum roles
Product Owner
Scrum Master
Cross functional Development Team

27. Form an alliance between the members

28. “Pair programming is a social skill …... You are striving for a cooperative way to
work that includes give and take from both partners regardless of corporate
status”
Pair them
http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/pair.html
“The best pair programmers know when to say
"let's try your idea first." ”

29. Equip with tools
Computer configuration with their preferred operating systems (Windows or
Linux)
High resolution dual monitors
Software and frameworks access
IT person and Scrum Coach at their disposal
tactics and cheat sheets

30. Tools, tactics, cheat-sheets

31. Scrum Coach
Coach them at their Scrum Events
Facilitate tip and tops, instill it as a habit
Always be available and approachable

32. Validations for learning
Assessments (Not the Yes or No type)
Assessments with open ended questions that require descriptive
answers
Provide some homework
Recap the next day
Let them teach

33. Learning experience
Facilitate, Instruct, Teach sometimes, and let them teach back

34. Learning tactics - validation questions

35. Learning tactics – presentations – make them the
tutor
If they are uncomfortable doing it, it is even better – they just spotted their area of improvement

36. Gamification – Daily score card based on company
values

37. Sample 2 week Agenda

38. If you don’t want to work with us – let’s chat
Cash reward for choosing not to work with us

39. Celebrate & Socialize often
* Also train & converse outside of the training room

40. After the 3 months probation period
Graduation Day

41. Training & Coaching Team

42. Dankjewel!
tot later