high performing teams for every ... - experience agile · patterns include: social & task...

HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS FOR EVERY BUSINESS NEED

DIANA LARSEN, AGILE FLUENCY PROJECT

©© 2019 Diana Larsen & James Shore, Agile Fluency Project LLC@DianaOfPortland @AgileFluency

HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS FOR EVERY

BUSINESS NEED Diana Larsen

Co-Founder/Chief Connector Agile Fluency Project

AGILE HUMAN FACTORS, 2 Oct 2019

AGILE FLUENCY PROJECT

agilefluency.org@DianaOfPortland @Agile Fluency

HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS - AN EXPLORATION

UPCOMING: What contributes to team high performance? Good beginnings lead to good outcomesClear expectations



QUALITIES OF HP TEAMSTEAM MEMBERS SHARE

Deeper sense of Purpose and Mission

Ambitious performance goals

Complete approach to work

Mutual accountability, jointly held toward their purpose

Complementary skills J. Katzenbach & D. Smith. The Wisdom of Teams. 1999 (reprinted 2015)

History (added by Arlo Belshee)

@DianaOfPortland @Agile FluencyAGILE FLUENCY

PROJECTagilefluency.org

HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS LEAD TO HIGH VALUE

DELIVERABLESWhat the customer wants, accepts, & exchanges value for

That creates value for the business

In a timeframe that suits the customers’ needs

Easily maintainable and supportable after deployment

In a way that leaves team members ready and eager to work on the next deliverable!



RESEARCH AT GOOGLE: FIVE KEYS TO HIGH PERFORMING

TEAMS1.Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling

insecure or embarrassed?2.Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on

time?3.Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team

clear?4.Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally

important for each of us?5.Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re

doing matters?From “The Five Keys to a Successful Google Team” JULIA ROZOVSKY, ANALYST, GOOGLE PEOPLE OPERATIONSNovember 17, 2015https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/



TEAMS AS COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS, IN BRIEF

A Team is a Complex Adaptive Human System that Exists withinthe Greater Whole of the Program/Department/Division/Organization

Greater Whole

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😎😌😏 😕

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Team



HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS EXHIBIT GROUP COHESION

Group Cohesion arises when bonds (exchanges) link members (parts with differences) of a social group (whole) to one another and to the whole group (greater whole).

“Group Cohesion” wikipedia.com

Members of strongly cohesive groups are more inclined to participate readily (engage) and to stay with the group.

http://wikipedia.com



WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT COHERENCE?

Because system coherence matters. Whether in technical or social systems.Coherence creates unity, congruity, consistency, logical interconnections, an overall sense of understandability, AND higher performance.



COHERENT TEAMS GAIN:

UNITY Bonds link team members to one another and the whole team Predisposes team members to participate readily & stay with team

CONSISTENCYTeam members develop a code of interaction Patterns include: social & task relations, unifying acts, emotions



MODEL OF TEAM COMMUNICATION



TEAM LIFTOFFS & CHARTERING

Set the conditions & tone For your teams’ High Performance Right from the Start



Inspiring

Collaborative Dynamic

AGILE TEAM CHARTERING MODEL



InspirationSignificance Motivation Success



UnityTrust

CollaborationCommitment



See the SystemUnderstand FitRecognize Risk



Agile

Fluency™

Value

Transparency

Core Metrics

Reduce Risk

Achievement

Increase Productivity

Increase ROI

Alignment

Increase Productivity

Increase Satisfaction

Focusing

Core Metric: At least once per month, the

team shows what it’s working on and how it’s

progressing from a business value

perspective.

Reduce Risk: Management knows when the

team is building the wrong thing, or isn’t

making progress, and has the ability to

positively intervene.

Increase Productivity: The team regularly

reflects upon, tunes, and adjusts its work

habits to provide more value.

Increase ROI: The team focuses their effort

on the priority that they are told is most

important to the business.

Increase ROI: The team makes incremental

progress on business priorities every month

Increase Productivity: Collaborative

communication reduces

misunderstandings and hand-off delays

among team members.

Delivering

Core Metric: The team can release their

latest work, at minimal risk and cost,

whenever the business desires.

Reduce Risk: Systemic flaws in your

production lifecycle are revealed early.

Reduce Risk: The team provides useful

releasee forecasts for managers and

customers as needed.

Increase Productivity: The team has low

defect rates, so less time is wasted fixing

bugs and more time is invested in making

improvements.

Increase Productivity: The team’s codebase

has low technical debt, which makes

changes cheaper and faster.

Increase ROI: The team ships on the market

cadence, capturing value as often as the

market will bear.

Increase Productivity: Low defect

rates and technical debt are beneficial

to job satisfaction and morale,

improving retention and productivity.

Optimizing

Core Metric: The team describes where their

products stand in their market and how

they’ll improve their position.

Reduce Risk: The team coordinates with

leadership to cancel or pivot low-value

products early.

Increase ROI: The team delivers products

that meet business objectives and market

needs.

Increase ROI: The team learns from market

feedback to anticipate customer needs and

create new business opportunities.

Increase ROI: The team includes broad-

based expertise that promotes optimal cost/

value decisions

Increase Productivity: The team’s

broad-based expertise eliminates hand-

offs and speeds decision-making.

Increase Productivity: Mutual trust

between the team and its organization

leads to rapid, effective negotiation.

Strengthening

Core Metric: The team describes its work in

the context of the business’s other initiatives,

allowing products to be balanced against

each other.

Reduce Risk: The team raises, and helps

address, cross-organizational bottlenecks

and issues early.

Increase ROI: The team participates in multi-

team activities that optimize the

organizational value stream.

Increase Productivity: The team recognizes

when they can contribute to another team’s

work, and when that work is more vital,

redirects their effort to help them.

Increase Productivity: The team cross-

pollinates perspectives, context,

learning, and innovations with other

teams and other parts of the

organization.

© 2018, 2019 Diana Larsen and James Shore, Agile Fluency Project LLC. All rights reserved.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

AGILITY = HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS = FIT FOR PURPOSE

Our Vision: Agile is done well in every organization. All teams practice in a zone of fluent proficiency that meets the business’ needs.



FOCUSING?

DELIVERING?

OPTIMIZING?

STRENGTHENING?



THANK YOU

What is the Agile Fluency Project? For experienced coaches, consultants, change agents, and leaders, Who want to shift software development organizations toward more predictable success and greater business agility The Agile Fluency Project provides a pragmatic model for assessing teams’ fluent proficiency, supported by a suite of associated materials and training.

THANK YOU!

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