Awesome People Management with Agile

AWESOME PEOPLE
MANAGEMENT WITH AGILE
Agile on the Beach
Falmouth, Sept 2014
Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/3667608102/

I SPENT MY FIRST 10 YEARS OF MY
CAREER IN A BIG CORP…
… FAMOUS FOR INVESTING HEAVILY
IN ITS PEOPLE
AND FOR DEVELOPING LEADERS

MATURE PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
Everyone had:
– A workplan
– A personal development plan
– A career plan, complete with skills matrices
– A manager (most of whom did give a crap)
– A coach and often a mentor too
– Monthly 1:1s, quarterly reviews, annual reviews
– 10 days a year to spend on training, etc etc

THE GOOD

THE BAD

THE UGLY

YOU CAN ADJUST THIS KIND OF
APPROACH WHEN YOU WORK
IN AN AGILE WAY …
BUT IT STILL DOESN’T FEEL
QUITE RIGHT

SOME WOULD ARGUE THAT WE
DON’T NEED MANAGERS AT ALL
IN AGILE.
I ARGUE WE NEED GOOD
MANAGERS, AND TO BANISH
BAD BOSSES

WE ALL HATE BAD
BOSSES
WE DESCRIBE THEM AS
• Clueless
• Empty suits
• Pointless
• Seagulls

https://twitter.com/Caterina/status/6715084157

GOOD MANAGERS ARE
BULLSHIT UMBRELLAS.
BUT THEY ARE ALSO A LOT
MORE THAN THAT.

Traditional management beliefs
are a pile of crap
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_Dung.JPG

Sooo….
WHAT DOES WORK?

Across industries, across
countries, the best
performing teams
answer certain
questions positively

Predictors of High Performance
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials & equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a
person?
6. Is there someone at work who cares about my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is
important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last 6 months, have I talked with someone about my development?
12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?

UNDERSTAND
MOTIVATION
• Purpose
• Autonomy
• Mastery

MOTIVATION =
+ PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?)
+ AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?)
+ MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?)
- ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT

Predictors of High Performance (remix)
PURPOSE
• Does the
mission/purpose of my
company make me feel
like my work is
important?
AUTONOMY
• Do I know what is
expected of me at
work?
• At work, do my
opinions seem to
count?
MASTERY
• Do I have the materials & equipment I
need to do my work right?
• At work, do I have the opportunity to do
what I do best every day?
• Is there someone at work who cares about
my development?
• Are my co-workers committed to doing
quality work?
• In the last 6 months, have I talked with
someone about my development?
• At work, have I had opportunities to learn
and grow?

And What Else?
OTHER FACTORS:
• In the last 7 days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
• Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a
person?
• Do I have a best friend at work?
ESSENTIALLY, AM I RESPECTED & REWARDED
HERE?
CAN I BE MYSELF AND SUCCEED HERE?
I CALL THIS INCLUSION.

Your job as a manager…
CREATE SPACE FOR YOUR PEOPLE
TO BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE

Maybe you’re not a manager. As an individual, you
need to…
FIND & SHAPE SPACE WHERE YOU
CAN BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE

https://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/8451589322/in/set-72157633230231221

SPACE TO BE AWESOME =
+ PURPOSE (Do I believe in WHY?)
+ AUTONOMY (Do I get a say in WHAT?)
+ MASTERY (Am I proud of HOW?)
+ INCLUSION (Do I BELONG HERE?)
- ANY NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT DETRACT

REMINISCENT OF AGILE MANIFESTO?
Individuals and interactions over processes and
tools
Working software over comprehensive
documentation
Customer collaboration over contract
negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
http://agilemanifesto.org/

VALUE INDIVIDUALS & INTERACTIONS
Do great 1:1s
Make them more like personal retrospectives
They are about the individual & their skills, growth
& development. Not a status update.
Care about the whole person. Everyone needs to
be themselves at work.

CULTIVATE INCLUSION
Help people to succeed as themselves.
Best predictor of recruitment AND retention?
Someone’s ability to agree with:
“Someone like me can be
successful here”

“OK, BUT HOW ARE YOU GOING
TO BEND ‘WORKING SOFTWARE’
TO BE ABOUT PEOPLE, MERI?”

WHY DO WE VALUE
WORKING SOFTWARE OVER
COMPREHENSIVE
DOCUMENTATION?

To horribly misquote Joni Mitchell…
WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE
WANT ‘TIL IT’S DONE.

WE NEED THE FEEDBACK LOOP.
WE HAVE TO ITERATE AND
LEARN.

DELIBERATE PRACTICE
• You must be motivated to attend to the task and exert effort
to improve your performance.
• The design of the task should take into account your pre-existing
knowledge so that the task can be correctly
understood after a brief period of instruction.
• You should receive immediate informative feedback and
knowledge of results of your performance.
• You should repeatedly perform the same or similar tasks.

Ask yourself…
IS YOUR WORK DESIGNED IN A WAY
THAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE
DELIBERATE PRACTICE?
CHALLENGING? FEEDBACK?
LEARNING?

AGILE MANIFESTO
Individuals and interactions over processes and
tools
Working software over comprehensive
documentation
Customer collaboration over contract
negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
http://agilemanifesto.org/

PUT DOWN YOUR SWORD.
YOU ARE NOT A ROMAN GENERAL.

VALUE THE WHAT OVER THE HOW
Know when people need telling what to do
(Hint: it’s not often)
Help them get what they need the rest of the
time (Hint: not just someone else telling them what to do)
Learn coaching skills
(Hint: start with GROW:
http://blog.geekmanager.co.uk/2014/01/20/stealing-from-sports-really-useful-
coaching-dareconf-mini/)

CLUE / SKILLS MATRIX

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8250578@N06/8625641442/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/provoost/2246718091/

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

https://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/9613972159/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/8642795506/

AGILE PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
• Do awesome 1:1s = personal retrospectives
• Cultivate inclusion
• Help make work  deliberate practice
• Figure out where people are on the clue/skills
matrix, and help accordingly
• Learn to coach
• Remember the bigger picture, help people
have a fulfilling career

GO!
FIND/SHAPE/MAKE SPACE
BE AWESOME
BE INCLUSIVE
And thank you for listening  Any questions?

Awesome People Management with Agile

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Awesome People Management with Agile

Ähnlich wie Awesome People Management with Agile (14)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Awesome People Management with Agile

Hinweis der Redaktion