Better Software - December 2008 - (Page 26)

ligent and relevant questions that hone not only their own thinking but also that of their customers. Team members still need coaching to improve their technical, interpersonal, and collaboration skills. Managers of self-organizing teams still meet with sion. When members are encouraged to broaden their skills rather than deepen them in specific areas, managers need to help team members see how their crossfunctional and collaboration skills will fit into the future of the organization. (And managers may have to influence the pos- of work flowing into the team. The second job is to eliminate unevenness in the work load—to create a steady flow. One way to do this is by using team velocity to allocate work (velocity is a measure of the work a team can finish within a specific time period). “The first job of management is to reduce overburden. In manufacturing, overburdened machines break down. In knowledge work, overburdened people make mistakes, fall ill, or burn out.” people to coach, address HR issues, and facilitate career development. They help by providing context, developing skills, and helping people see new options. I’m a big believer in one-on-one meetings. But with a self-organizing team, the timing and focus are a little different. For example, on one team, a team member distressed another team member by listening to his voice mail on speakerphone—even when the messages included intimate details of his relationship with his girlfriend. The manager used a one-on-one meeting to coach the team member to give feedback directly to the offending colleague. Beware of discussing task progress with self-organizing team members in one-on-one meetings—unless you are coaching on how to accomplish tasks. Monitoring progress in a one-on-one meeting sends a mixed message. It conveys that team members are still making performance commitments to you and not to their teammates. It says you don’t really trust the team to manage its own task accomplishment. With self-organizing teams, weekly one-on-ones usually aren’t necessary unless there is a specific coaching issue. With self-organizing teams, monthly or bi-monthly meetings seem to be about right. Because self-organizing teams are cross-functional and most organizations have functional career ladders, members often struggle with career progres26 BETTER SOFTWARE DECEMBER 2008 sibilities for that future by working with HR to change the way people are compensated and promoted.) Work on the Process Edwards Deming describes an approach where staff works in the process and management works on the process—using the detailed knowledge of the people doing the work. Managers of self-organizing teams work on improving the organization’s processes so that everyone can perform better. Functional organizations tend to focus on specialized skills and excellence at the detail level. Managers of cross-functional, self-organizing teams see their organizations as systems of interdependent parts. An overall system view leads to improving the entire system, rather than focusing exclusively on individual performance. Companies still need to hire competent and skilled people, of course. And managers need to make sure that those competent and skilled people are supported— not hindered—by organizational structures, policies, and procedures. Lean manufacturing suggests three things a manager of a self-organizing team should do. The first job of management is to reduce overburden. In manufacturing, overburdened machines break down. In knowledge work, overburdened people make mistakes, fall ill, or burn out. So help the team hold to a sustainable pace by managing the amount www.StickyMinds.com Create an even pace by allocating work in timeboxes based on measured ability to complete work. Over time, as the team matures, velocity may naturally increase. Even flow of work means predictable delivery. Finally, managers need to eliminate waste. Anything that does not directly add value to a product is considered waste. Extra processes, task switching, and partially completed work are examples of waste in software development. These three things—reducing overburden, eliminating unevenness, and eliminating waste—work synergistically to increase the capacity of the system to produce software. When managers focus on eliminating waste without attending to reducing overburden and eliminating unevenness, they may actually do damage by eliminating slack. When slack is eliminated, people cannot respond to unexpected events and things fall apart. Managers of self-organizing teams have plenty to do. People will still want to develop their skills and further their careers. And you’ll work to improve the organization and the process to enable teams to deliver software. Manager, your work has just begun. {end} http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - December 2008

Better Software - December 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles What's a Manager to Do? Six Thinking Hats for Testers The Key to Good Interviewing 2008 Salary Survey Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About … The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - December 2008

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