June 11, 2019 by Beth McDonough 1 Comment

What Are a Scrum Master’s Roles and Responsibilities?

Three primary roles exist within the Agile realm of Scrum: Product Owner, Scrum Master, and the Team. According to Agile’s core foundations, the Scrum Master is meant to facilitate rather than dictate, focusing on empowering teams to be autonomous and to self-organize. Scrum Masters should encourage team members to endorse an Agile mindset, prioritizing individuals and interactions over processes and tools to create a powerful, iterative environment.

Let’s drive some clarity on what this means and break down the roles and responsibilities for this team-based servant leader.

A Scrum Master should:

Maintain the pulse of Team dynamics.

When a group of people works on a project, a storm of different styles and personalities interacting together can lead to varying or unhealthy Team dynamics. The job of the Scrum Master is to keep tabs on the health of these dynamics and jump in to facilitate conflict resolution and opportunities for growth where necessary. Scrum Masters don’t force change, they empower individuals to do their best work to help build a high-performing Team.

Remove obscuring obstacles from the path.

In order to make it to the finish line of a sprint goal, distractions need to be blocked and impediments alleviated to avoid stumbles along the way. It’s the Scrum Master’s responsibility to remove these roadblocks and maintain a focused path for Team members to reach their goals. Setting up the Team for success is a pivotal responsibility of the Scrum Master, and sometimes that can mean simply clearing the way for individuals to do what they do best.

Facilitate the flow of work within the team.

The Scrum Master’s primary role is to be a facilitator. Part of this general facilitation includes leading Team meetings, establishing clear goals, and assisting the efforts of both the Product Owner and the individual members of the Team. In assisting the Product Owner, the Scrum Master can help prioritize workload backlogs and manage project scopes to better align with the desired results and definition of the value of the current project. By challenging outdated processes, utilizing feedback from the team, and keeping best practices relevant, the Scrum Master enhances performance and flow for the team.

Protect each team and their work from external distractions.

Scrum Masters should act as representatives of their Team in Scrum of Scrums (SoS) meetings and other executive discussions. The Scrum Master collects and communicates information between Teams, and between upper-management and the Team. This coordination with outside parties creates a protective barrier which allows members of the Team to focus on their work and the project at hand without the concern of impending distractions that may cause delays or task expansion.

Coach team members on self-management.

A Scrum Master doesn’t exist to be “the boss”. Their goal should be to foster individual ownership and personal responsibility within each of their Team members. Accomplishing this might involve teaching specific techniques to the Team for problem-solving while equipping them with the capabilities and confidence to tackle and resolve issues themselves. Self-discipline is a pillar of Agile, and the Scrum Master exists to implement these values and practices.

To learn more about this role and how to empower your organization’s growth within Agile, sign up for a Scrum Master course or contact the team at beLithe for information.

March 5, 2019 by Drew Kincius Leave a Comment

Management 3.0: Empowering Better HR Through Agile

03.04.19 | Drew Kincius|

A typical business structure involves a manager in charge of another manager in charge of another manager in charge of a bunch of people, and so on and so forth. This approach is called “waterfall,” and one of its biggest downfalls (pun intended) is that typically, authority stems from titles and assigned roles, not from gaining trust and respect through work.

Management 3.0 is an incredible program created to address the issues that come with traditional “trickle-down” work environments. It unpacks and discards the classic excuse that holds back so many work environments:

“But we’ve always done it this way!”

I’d like to introduce Kari Kelly. She attended our latest session Management 3.0, and instantly upon shaking her hand, I could immediately tell that she shared the same fiery passion that we do for disrupting organizations that are continuing to assign leadership instead of letting it grow organically.

She’s now a licensed facilitator for the program. I’m happy to announce that beLithe and Kari’s company, Atypical Workplace, are co-hosting a two-day immersive Management 3.0 workshop in Cincinnati in mid-April.

In anticipation of our collaboration, I was able to chat with her more in-depth about what makes her so passionate about MGMT 3.0’s model of putting teams first.

What got you into Management 3.0?

I got into Management 3.0 because I wanted to get into Agile HR, and I noticed that many of my Agile HR connections on LinkedIn were Management 3.0 facilitators. Agile HR is very popular in Europe so all my Agile HR connections at the time were European. Upon performing a Google search for course options, I was excited to see that Management 3.0 had already made its way to the USA.

After a decade in the HR industry, I recognized a massive gap between the needs of today’s knowledge workers and HR’s ability to serve them. The gap I experienced was enough to compel me to leave my job in corporate America and look for answers. As a result, I started writing a book called Agile Tribes, which combines cutting edge behavior science, Agile frameworks and practices, and findings from research that studies human’s natural tendency to self-organize into tribes.

My ultimate goal is to create an introductory 2-day training based on the tools and methods I’m uncovering through research and interviews for my book. When I took Management 3.0, however, I realized that the course I’m creating already exists! Becoming a Management 3.0 facilitator was a natural next step to start bridging the gap between where HR “is” and where HR “needs to be”. The course I’m creating is now more focused on creating high performing, self-organized teams and Management 3.0 will serve as a great primer.

What aspect of the program do you feel to be particularly impactful?

What was particularly impactful for me was seeing how all the topics so naturally come together through a collection of games and other team structures. Many of the topics were already familiar to me through my research, so I enjoyed experiencing how someone from a technical background (Jurgen) wove these topics together in an enjoyable, Experiential way.

As leaders, we can send our people to training programs meant to increase emotional intelligence in a classroom setting, or we can provide our teams with engaging games that naturally provoke behaviors critical for healthy teaming, and have them learn on-the-job. I choose the former!

What are MOST impactful for the HR industry are the implications of the course content, starting with the move towards seeing people and organizations are co-evolving Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). Management 3.0 does a great job taking learners through industrial era assumptions and revealing how they don’t work in today’s complex, non-linear world. Everything builds off of the notion of updating our set of assumptions.

As an HR professional, I recognized the primary implication of these new assumptions is that Agile transformation has to start with HR. Shifting from the assumptions that “work is linear and predictable” to “work is nonlinear and emergent” is massive because functioning within a nonlinear and emergent system requires an entirely new set of behaviors, skills, and rewards.

An organization’s practices, skills, and prizes are all determined by HR. HR’s systems and processes ultimately drive the culture because they shape behavior through their compensation and incentive structures, recruitment processes, performance management systems, leadership and career development programs, leadership pipeline, and overall organizational structure. Optimizing only one part of the business through an Agile transformation without transforming HR is not sustainable, and research shows this. HR has to lead the way.

How are you using these concepts on a daily basis?

Every day I recognize how my thinking has been shaped by the industrial era assumptions that are still being made in education and most workplaces. And because I now understand the impact, I’m able to take steps to transform my thinking and therefore my life and work.

For example, consider the concept of SMART goals, which presuppose that we can merely identify a specific result, and under the right conditions, we can achieve it. This tends to work for results that can be obtained by solving simple or straightforward problems (like losing weight by eating healthy and going to the gym).

However, organizations like Google are recognizing that SMART goals don’t work for knowledge workers who solve complex problems in today’s complex world. They’ve moved to what is called OKRs, which stands for “Outcomes” and “Key Results”. In this new goal setting model, “Outcomes” are aspirational statements regarding a desired future state, along with a well-defined purpose.

The “key results” are measurable ways an individual, team, or organization can take towards that desired outcomes. These OKRs are regularly revisited, renegotiated, and revised based on ongoing feedback from internal and external customers, as well as the market. There is an inherent experimental mindset required for OKRs which is wonderfully consistent with Agile.

For someone who says waterfall is “working wonders”, what would you say?

I would invite them to map out their current process and then explore what could happen to net profit if we reduced the batch sizes and the number of steps in the process (through creating cross-functional teams).

Waterfall has institutionalized large batch sizes. In fact, waterfall encourages us to use the largest possible batch size. It says, “take all the work you’re going to do on a project, put it in a big box, and do ALL of the requirements for ALL of the work before you move that ENTIRE batch to the next station.” So we’re moving the MAXIMUM batch size through the system… and guess what? The theory of constraints tells us that we’re only going to move as fast as the slowest parts of my system. We know that batch size is directly proportional to cycle time. The maximum batch size, therefore, corresponds to the maximum cycle time, so what waterfall does is create the LARGEST POSSIBLE COST OF DELAY for the work that we are doing.

This is the difference between waterfall and agile. Agile works with smaller batch size so that we can actually move the work through the system faster. Smaller batch sizes lead to shorter cycle times. Waterfall does not do well at solving for cycle time. Cut the batch size in half, and cut the cycle time in half, which ultimately leads towards a higher net profit.

What are your greatest ambitions for implementing Management 3.0?

I launched a consultancy, Atypical Workplace, that specializes in Business Agility and the Future of Work. The greatest goals I have for my firm is to travel the world helping leaders cultivate adaptable, bold, and courageous teams that are inclusive and fun.

Humans are hardwired to self-organize into Complex Adaptable Systems that can evolve according to shifting needs and conditions. Creating bureaucratic structures stifle this self-organization and leads to antifragile organizations. I believe that organizations need to become a network of teams where the organizational culture is shaped by the unique subcultures of each team and aligned through shared vision, principles and values.

If someone has no idea about what Agile is, where do they start?

I love what Pia Maria, an HR Agilist out of Sweden, recommends to people who want a roadmap: (NOTE: These can happen in any order! )

Start with PRACTICES… so something little, like a retrospective or a daily planning meeting
Introduce new PRACTICES bit-by-bit… then EVALUATE and TWEAK
Find a common project or task to run in an agile manner
Do some training around Agile Principles… EXPERIMENT and LEARN
Gradually REMOVE old ways of working that probably have become
superstitions with time and a DEEPEN Agile awareness
FOCUS on value creation for the business
Involve the business in VALUE CREATION

Inspired? Catch us at our next Management 3.0 session, just one of our numerous offerings within our Agile training programming series VAULT, covering Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills, modern leadership, remote teams, and more.

Drew

Let’s connect.
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VAULT: dynamic, interactive workshops covering Agile methodologies, SAFe frameworks, soft skills, modern leadership and more.

January 5, 2018 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Career Path: Scrum Master -> Management

A few weekends ago, I conducted my first Management 3.0 #Workout class. Intentionally, it was a small group that I hoped would be open to the concept. The class went well, and I got some great feedback. Management is one of the few roles that there doesn’t seem to be a formal certification or process that signifies one know’s what to do. A management degree (MBA or Bachelors) can teach the basic skills of marketing, accounting, and operations, but doesn’t teach you the skills that you truly need. Skills such as servant leadership, communication skills, problem solving, and dealing with conflict.

I had a few moments the other day, and I started thinking about what attributes were possessed by some of the great managers I have worked for in the past.

One of the questions that I created for Pocket Prof revolved around the concept that “Scrum Master” is a management role. The correct answer for the certification is True. I have yet to see this as a requirement in a management job description though. What would happen if were to become a requirement? I think most of the managers I know would put up fight on this one. Heck, I would put up a fight before I understood what the attributes of being a Scrum Master.

I went back to the beLithe Scrum training deck and took at look at the attributes of a Scrum Master. All the attributes would be ones I would consider important for managers to possess as well as Scrum Masters.

Let’s take a look at the attributes and consider whether they apply to a management role.

Agile Expert – Expert may be too strong, but managers should be searching for tools, practices, and frameworks that can be introduced as required. Topics such as DevOps, Extreme Programming, Test Driven Development, and Automated testing are foundational concepts that should be known and explored by every manager. Being familiar with Scrum, Kansan, and Lean are important.
Servant Leadership – People who do the actually work are the ones who actually create value. Management’s responsibility is to create an environment where people can do the work. By adopting Servant Leadership, managers serve the people who do work by removing impediments and enabling them to do the work. The term manager should be replaced by Servant Leader. Terms such as manager or team lead have been damaged by overuse.
Communicator – Most of the challenges with teams and organization is a lack of communication. Managers should be effective communicators with their peers, customers, with their teammates, and with others in the organization. Manages that can’t communicate are ineffective, yet somehow continue to be managers.
Facilitator – For years, traditional managers would plan the work, assign the work, and then evaluate their direct reports. Recently, great managers have transitioned from hierarchical control to a facilitated self-organization approach. Self-organization requires trust. Managers have to trust their teams, and their teams have to trust their managers that the environment is safe.
Worthy of Trust – Being worthy of trust is the most important characteristic a manager can possess. If a team trusts that a manager’s intentions are honorable, the team will be tolerant of mistakes, and allow the manager time to learn. A manager without the trust of her team will never be a leader, but will be directing/dictating.
Coach – The primary job of the manager is to coach teams and individuals. As a coach, a manager has to understand what to do, why it needs to be done, and what the benefits and risks are. Combining coach with being an effective communicator allows management to change communication styles to ensure that each team receive.

These traits are vital to transforming an average manager to a skilled and effective leader. So why am I saying that the Scrum master role would be a great addition as a step to the career path for managers and executives? The Scrum Master role is unique in that, with no direct reporting responsibilities, the Scrum Master can’t rely on the implied threat of power and position. Not being able to rely on technical skills, when stepping from an individual contributor role into the role of Scrum Master encourages the utilization and refinement of other skills.

Most of us tend to fall back on the skills that led to our promotion when we are pressured or stressed. Many times those skills are a hindrance to us in new opportunities. In my experience, development managers are great technicians that have expressed an interest in being a manager. Often, though, they have not had mentoring in the skills required for the next level of responsibility. The Scrum Master role is a great way for the manager want-a-be refine those skills. What do you think?

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

January 4, 2018 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

Exciting News for 2018!

Dear All,

I want to share some exciting new! At least it’s exciting for me. For those of you who don’t know, Home Adviser acquired Angie’s list on October 1st. Since October 1, I have been participating in the transition working with Angie’s list Product group. My last day at ANGI Homeservices Inc. (fka Angie’s list) was on 12/29/2017.

To some that doesn’t sound too exciting. To me, it is a blessing. I have decided to follow my heart. Today (January 2, 2018) and going forward, I am going to devote all my efforts to furthering beLithe LLC as the premier Agile and Software Development company in Indiana.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with beLithe LLC, I’d like to tell you more. Over the last few years, Tana Linback and I have been teaching and evangelizing Culture, Scrum and Agile in our full time jobs to anybody who would listen. We created beLithe LLC as a vehicle to teach, and have trained over 300 students including TechPoint xTerns, TechPoint Bootcampers, Eleven Fifty students, college students at IU, IUPUI, and Purdue. I believe the time has come for me to take a swing and see if I can actually take this side gig and turn it into a startup company.

Being an Agile company, beLithe LLC offerings will initially be the following services:

Training
- Scrum Master Certification training
- Scrum Product Owner Certification training
- Advanced Scrum Master Training
- Agile Management Training
- Software Development Management Training
Professional Services
- Individual, Team, and Corporate Coaching
- Corporate Culture Transformation
- Corporate Agile Transformation

I am anticipating that some of our offering will change over time as we iterate as a company.

Thank you for playing a part in my journey so far. I want to share the experiences I have gained along the way to benefit those who want to grow in their professional development in the business and delivering software.

I’ll admit it, I am excited and scared, but that is part of what makes this fun. I hope you will continue to participate in my journey.

Thanks for coming in today.

Chris

May 9, 2017 by Chris Daily Leave a Comment

5 Qualities Leaders Need to Create an Agile Environment

You want your business to always be one step ahead of your competitors, adapting to changes in the market quickly and easily. You need to be flexible to take advantage of whatever comes your way, and the best way to do that is to build an agile environment for your business.

It is your responsibility to act as a leader, creating the agile environment your business needs to thrive. So how can you do this?

This article will tell you the five most important qualities a leader needs to create an agile, adaptable business.

1. Strong Communication Skills

Communication skills are absolutely essential to be an agile leader. You need to be able to get your ideas across clearly the first time.

Any miscommunications can lead to mistakes that will slow your business down.

With good communication skills, you will be able to make sure everyone in your organization knows the company’s current goals and strategies. You will be able to persuade team members to work together and inspire them to give it their all.

From being able to understand body language, careful listening skills, strong written communication and more, strong communication skills are essential to be a good leader. You are taking the first steps to building a company culture that inspires your employees.

Just make sure that you are being genuine, not cheesy!

2. A Talent for Innovation

Strong innovation skills allow you to create unique solutions to challenges. With innovation skills, you can turn a potential problem into a new opportunity.

This can mean listening to customer concerns and finding a way to solve their complaints that improves your business overall. Or, using new technologies in useful ways.

It means that you are not afraid to take calculated risks. You are always working to improve your business, evaluating what works and finding ways to make it better.

3. Enthusiasm

If you aren’t enthusiastic about your company mission, why would your team be?

You need to bring the energy to every meeting, and every day in the office.

When you’re enthusiastic, your employees will be more motivated to perform and motivated employees have higher productivity.

4. Delegate, and Trust Your Team

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself?”

This is the worst motto you could have when you’re trying to build an agile environment.

To be an effective agile leader, you need to know how to delegate tasks to your team.

It is important to know your team and everyone’s skills. This will let you know when you can hand over a task, and when someone might need a bit of extra guidance and training.

But you need to trust that your team has the talent and skill to get the job done without your constant supervision.

This will make them feel valued, and free up your time to focus on your own work.

5. A Cool Head

Even with the best team and a great strategy, things will not always go as planned.

The way you respond to problems will define you as a leader.

A true agile leader doesn’t panic when things aren’t going as planned. The worst things you can do are to lash out at your team or make reactive business decisions.

Instead, you need to be able to stay calm under pressure, thinking through how you will solve it.

Start Building Your Agile Environment

With these tips, you can make sure you are acting like an agile leader. This is the first step towards creating an agile environment for your business.

Do you want more help making your business agile and adaptable?