We have to be agile, said the manager – and the employee thought, great, now I will have more freedom to organize my work in a way I think makes sense.
But was that actually what the manager meant? Here are some questions you can use to match expectations. Many want SCRUM and SAFe, because agility has a unique ability to deliver and create motivation.
We thrive, when we deliver and create results, and it has a self-perpetuating effect on our productivity.
In my experience, many organizations start using agility without an awareness about how the mindset behind Scrum and SAFe will affect how the organization perform leadership.
But was that actually what the manager meant?
Here are some questions, you can use to match expectations.
Many want SCRUM and SAFe, because agility has a unique ability to deliver and create motivation.
We thrive, when we deliver and create results, and that has a self-perpetuating effect on our productivity.
In my experience, many organizations start using agility without an awareness about how the mindset behind Scrum and SAFe will affect how the organization perform leadership.
Match your expectations
The agile transformation becomes more difficult than it needs to be, if there is not a matching of expectations between employees and managers and internally within the management group.
Different expectations about the degree of delegation can create misunderstandings and doubt in the relation between managers and employees for example so:
- Value and product development are defined on the basis of customer/user needs. Product Owner is responsible for communicating needs to team (what)
- Is the team self-organizing and responsible for finding the best approach to developing a product (how)
If you are to succeed in making your organization agile, you and your manager group should reflect and find common answers to following:
Top manager
- How is the management culture in your organization currently? Is it top-down managed, or are your employees used to a high degree of participation? Do you want to change the current balance?
- How do you ensure coherence between business strategy and development of your products, when they happen on the basis of direct feedback from the customers/users?
Middle manager
- The manager’s daily tasks change after the establishment of teams. Some tasks are solved by teams, including Scrum Master and Product Owner. What does this mean for the manager’s role going forward?
- How do you want to match expectations with managers and employees, so the matching of expectations happens continually and constructively and not as conflicts, where frustrations build and are conveyed unconstructively?
Personnel manager
- What are your tasks as personnel manager, when your employees are a part of self-organized teams, where prioritization of tasks are done by the Product Owner via the backlog?
- How can you take responsibility for your employees’ wellbeing, when teams are manned by employees from other departments than your own (cross-functional teams)?
So, dear manager – find your courage
You need to have the courage to ask questions and find answers with your management colleagues and employees.
As agile manager you achieve better results, more motivated employees, and more time to stay focused on the medium-term and long-term perspective.
You have skilled employees, who focus and deliver on the short-term within the mandate you have given them.
