agile cops and robbers - apln - jordan job · a brief history • situated learning: legitimate...

Agile CoPs and RobbersHow do you prevent status quo protectors from robbing you of the

benefits of change and improvement? Become a CoP.

Jordan Job - APLN Chicago - May 2017

Jordan Job• Managing Consultant with Responsive

Advisors

• Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org

• Previously: Scrum Master, .NET Web Developer, DBA

• Connect: • www.jordanjob.me • www.linkedin.com/in/jordanjob • jordan.job@responsiveadvisors.com

The Organization

• Transitioned to Scrum about 3 years prior

• 15+ Scrum teams distributed across 3 locations

• 15 Scrum Masters (only 3 of them knew each other)

Me

• Scrum Master / Agile Coach

• Hired by head of the PMO

• Directive: Reinvigorate stalled Agile adoption

Satir Change ModelMe

Communities of Practice

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and

learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

- Wenger & Trayner

http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

AKA… CoP

A Community of Practice Has…

1. Domain

2. Community

3. Practice

http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Why a CoP?

Grow a culture of continuous improvement

Getting Started

• Met with each Scrum Master individually to invite them

• Scheduled weekly meetups

• Asked an agile consultant to help out in the first few meetups

• Created a shared intranet page and invited Scrum Masters

Our Typical Meetup• Met over lunch for 1 hour

• Topic of focus determined at previous meetup

• Briefly reviewed agenda

• Round-table updates

• Discussed topic

So… What Happened?• Continued weekly Scrum Master CoP meetups for 1 year

• Reduced meetup cadence to biweekly after 1 year

• Built strong relationships among Scrum Masters and people who wanted to be Scrum Masters

• Shared a lot of organizational knowledge

• (some) Scrum Masters were excited about being Scrum Masters again

A Brief History• Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral

Participation (1990)

• Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice (1991)

• Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity (1998)

• Cultivating Communities of Practice (2002)

What does a CoP look like?

Wenger’s Indicators of a CoP1. Sustained mutual relationships – harmonious or

conflictual

2. Shared ways of engaging in doing things together

3. The rapid flow of information and propagation of innovation

4. Absence of introductory preambles, as if conversations and interactions were merely the continuation of an ongoing process

5. Very quick setup of a problem to be discussed

6. Substantial overlap in participants’ descriptions of who belongs

7. Knowing what others know, what they can do, and how they can contribute to an enterprise

8. Mutually defining identities

9. The ability to assess the appropriateness of actions and products

10. Specific tools, representations, and other artifacts

11. Local lore, shared stories, inside jokes, knowing laughter

12. Jargon and shortcuts to communication as well as the ease of producing new ones

13. Certain styles recognized as displaying membership

14. A shared discourse reflecting a certain perspective on the world.

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Etienne Wenger, 1998

What does a CoP look like?• Meetups?

• Colocated?

• Size?

• Leaders?

• Does it have to be called a CoP?

1. Building relationships

2. Learning from others’ experiences

3. Sharing problems and helping solve others’ problems

4. Finding new techniques

5. Establishing norms and good practices

What does a healthy CoP focus on?

https://jordanjob.me/2016/04/28/community-of-practice/

1. Build Relationships

• A CoP brings people together who wouldn’t otherwise interact

• Bridges gaps in the org chart

• Allows people to meet others who have common interests and struggles

• Allows people to quickly learn who to go to for advice on particular problems

2. Learn from Each Other’s Experiences

• Members should frequently share “lessons learned”

• These insights could be shared through multiple mediums, but face-to-face is often best

3. Share and Solve Problems

• Optimal place to solve problems since the most experienced people interested in a topic will be involved

• CoP != complaining session

• Solving problems is just as important as sharing problems

4. Find New Techniques

• Active CoP members frequently find and share new techniques and practices

• Often shared during CoP meetups

5. Establish Norms and Good Practices

• CoPs frequently inspect the way they work and find common patterns

• Patterns (or anti-patterns) are shared with the community

Getting Started• Identify the domain

• Identify coordinator(s)

• Identify a clear purpose and value proposition

• Determine meetup frequency and schedule meetups

• Determine membership qualifications

• Recruit members

• Decide how the group will communicate

Management’s Role

"The ambiguity of whether this is to be genuine empowerment or if the

management involvement introduces a new form of normative control may be

the key to why so many CoPs fail.”

- Andrew Cox

http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

– Richard McDermott and Douglas Archibald

“To be well integrated into the organization, communities, like teams, need strong, formal relationships with the organization's

top leadership.”

Harnessing Your Staff’s Informal Networks, McDermott & Archibald, March 2010

Making CoPs Last

• Focus on issues important to the organization

• Establish community goals and deliverables

• Provide real governance

• Measure value provided

Harnessing Your Staff’s Informal Networks, McDermott & Archibald, March 2010

Scaling CoPs

• Having multiple CoPs in an organization can result in siloed knowledge

• Finding ways to “link” CoPs can be helpful

When Does a CoP End?

CoPs exist only as long as they provide value*

Summary

Domain + Community + Practice = CoP

Questions?

Thanks!

jordan.job@responsiveadvisors.com www.responsiveadvisors.com

www.jordanjob.me www.linkedin.com/in/jordanjob