What would you advise her to do?

Jenny is an Agile Team Leader in your organization that is having issues getting the Developers in the team to take ownership of the development. They always wait for her to make decisions, define their assignments, and directing their work.

What would you advise her to do? Select two answers.
A . Meet them and work with the team to align everyone’s expectations. Coach them if needed.
B. Reward members who self-organize and punish those who do not participate.
C. Set an incentive goal bonus to motivate team members to take more responsibility.
D. Assign a different person each week as the decision maker.
E. Explain Agile Values and Self-Organizing Principles to them and tell them to work with them from now on.
F. Make sure the team has a shared and compelling vision and product goals, or help them create and
set clear goals.

View Answer

Answer: A,F

Explanation:

– Developers may have some impediments to take ownership that limit delegation from the leader. Agile managers must set clear goals for teams and let them decide how to work.

– Assigning someone as the weekly decision maker is wrong, as Agile Teams are based on consensus and will cause confusion.

– Incentive plans can be helpful in some cases, but what this team really needs is guidance, not rewards and punishments.

– Simply explaining that Agile Teams self-organize is not enough to make team members comfortable taking ownership of the project.

Agile Leaders are primarily serving leaders who help their teams improve by supporting good agile working practices and, most importantly, interceding on their behalf when they need help to remove impediments. Agile Leaders empower Agile Teams.

Agile Leaders focus on three things:

(1) Create and nurture a culture in which experimentation and learning are embraced.

(2) Collaborate with employees (at all levels in the organization) to find common values to create a greater goal for the company and the teams.

(3) Create an organizational structure that reinforces the other two dimensions.