Working from home, or working remotely, has been an increasing trend for years. Technological development, globalization, and sustainability, are adjacent trends that have led to the increase in remote working. We are increasingly saying goodbye to traditional office gardens and are going to work flexibly or even ‘activity based’. However, this involves the necessary preparation.
That luxury of good preparation is not there now. Working from home with the entire Agile team from one day to the next requires the necessary adjustments and creativity. How do we deal with this challenge and how to Manage Agile Your Remote Team in this new reality?
Where we are going to focus on a ‘one-and-a-half meter economy’, ingenuity is skyrocketing. How do we turn today’s challenges into learning moments for later? It’s an excellent opportunity to innovate. To respond to this new reality. To show that when the need is high, and the successful physical collaboration structure is eliminated, Agile teams also continue to function remotely successfully.
In this blog, we describe a number of practical tips to effectively organize remote working for Agile teams based on our own knowledge and experience, as well as the experiences of our customers.
One of the first things that fall away is ad hoc and nonverbal
communication. The lines of communication are longer and it is no longer clearly visible how your interlocutor receives the information. More effective and efficient communication is therefore extra important and one of the tools of good and productive cooperation. How do we put this into practice?
1. Make clear agreements:
First of all, cooperation and/or velocity, not to suffer from any other way of communication. We see, also with our customers, that when teams are already well attuned to each other, especially the use of good tooling, for example for, using Agile spreadsheet, video calling . A good internet connection sometimes aside. We see that these teams also know how to find each other in these times when necessary.
When teams are less responsive to each other, this requires a more structured adjustment. Think, for example, of teams with new colleagues, or teams where Agile working has recently been introduced. In addition to the use of tooling, the structure of working from home, such as a clear set of agreements, for example, a recalibration of the existing communication moments and the team agreements, and the redesign of a number of Agile ceremonies, for example, a different way of performing the retrospective, is essential for effective collaboration. We’ll go into this later.
2. Have faith in the team:
The quality of the final product and the value that this product delivers to the customer is managed by the product owner (PO). Close coordination with stakeholders and effective cooperation with the development team is of great importance. Walking by the stakeholders, for an explanation of the value of the final product, or additional explanation of the priorities of the backlog at the agency is no longer there. Of course, the interpretation of the role does not change in these times, the way in which it does.
What role you do not want to take as PO is that of the micromanager. This is a hindrance to both productivity and morale. As a PO you are responsible for the prioritization of the product backlog and not the sprint backlog. This is the responsibility of the development team itself. Trust the team. The development team was also responsible for the independent execution of the sprint for the forced measure to work from home. The development team should have the opportunity to be successful in this situation as well. At the end of the sprint in the retrospective, discuss the course. What could be better with regard to, among other things, the process, the functioning, and the tooling? This leads to a concrete improvement plan for the next sprint.
3. Focus on personal coaching:
The scrum master has the role of facilitator, the agile coach, and of removing obstacles outside the spheres of influence of the development team. The goal is to ensure that the team can function properly according to the Agile working method. We see that the role of the scrum master gets extra focus on the facilitating interpretation of the role. By facilitating well, communication is optimized. This allows us to work in a more efficient and above all effective way. He or she is busy getting the new, remote, Agile work process working properly. The smooth running of the meetings is therefore crucial for an effective collaboration of the entire team. This makes the role even more important than it already was. Don’t forget to use a digital Scrum/Kanban board. Within Microsoft Teams, JIRA, and Trello, among others, there are more than enough possibilities for this.
Coaching the team, with a potentially declining morale, is of great importance. Keeps sufficient personal contact with the team and coaches even more on topics such as self-management, independence, and the growth of the team.
4. Build a virtual team culture:
Positive team culture is a catalyst for good results. That culture can consist of a wide variety of small things. Ranging from a chat at the coffee machine to a game of foosball after lunch. It’s those little things that are no longer possible in this situation. One consequence may be that the morale of the team decreases and the positive team culture prevails to a lesser extent. It is therefore important to keep morale and team feeling as high as possible. Therefore, challenge all team members to creatively ensure that the team culture is maintained. Think of an open video channel, go drinking coffee digitally, organize virtual freemiums or online team challenges.
Of course, everyone’s home situation is different. Keep that in mind. When you work from home with children, that is sometimes challenging enough. This does not always provide the space for additional, online, social activities. But even then, and perhaps rightly so, it remains important to maintain social interaction. Don’t just let the conversations be about work, but ask; ”How do you keep things going home with the kid
5. Go for a clear structure and dare to prioritize:
The Agile ceremonies bring structure to the remote working day. Even when you can’t physically sit together. The purpose of these ceremonies does not change, the format does. If you perform Agile ceremonies remotely in the same way, this can lead to (too) long meetings and therefore a counterproductive session. Therefore, ensure a clear, pre-communicated, layout of the meeting. What’s the purpose? Who’s talking? What input is required? And above all, what is the duration of the meeting? The role of the scrum master is extra important to make the meetings as structured, and therefore as efficient as possible.
The degree of maturity of the team determines the gravity of the role of the scrum master during these meetings. Make sure the set time is maintained, and dare to prioritize to get this done. Afterward, also check whether the essence of the meeting was found to be meaningful and useful. This creates shared ownership of the pre-made agreements and extra awareness. This provides tools to reach back on and continuously improve.
Conclusion:
We are convinced that Agile teams can continue to function well even in these, forced, remote conditions. We see that the speed with which the teams adapt to the new reality is high. Establishing clear agreements and expectations is essential for an efficient and effective way of working together. Having confidence in the team also contributes to the development of independence and self-management. It promotes the collective sense of responsibility of the team. We expect that, when effectively responding to the situation, it will contribute to making the teams more resilient and thereby strengthening future-proofing.