Individual Skills
When we talk about individual skills or abilities: what types of abilities are we talking about?
- Core abilities: at the end of the day, a team has to deliver in a way that an adaptive organization can use. This means that the team’s delivery abilities must be designed in the context of the operating model.
- Collaboration abilities: the abilities (and willingness) of individual team members to work together as one team.
- Interaction with the outside world
- Agile Fluency
Core capability: Deliver
Core capabilities using a software team as an example
- Develop by features
- Prioritize by business value
- Test in the same sprint
- Stable, cross-functional team is “empowered”
Collaboration
Eight essential teamwork skills
- Active listening is a skill that allows a person to focus completely on another person’s communication, including both verbal and non-verbal aspects. Active listening requires the ability to think of one’s own responses only after the person has finished speaking. An easy way to do this is to repeat what a person is saying in your own quiet inner voice. If someone says, “I think we should build a new layout for the widget,” say the same thing in your own head. Active listening also requires you to ask for clarification by often rephrasing what has been said and asking if you have understood it correctly.
- Asking questions. The ability to formulate and express questions helps us to understand knowledge and integrate it into our own mental model of the world, or even to change our mental model. Asking questions is easy. Asking good questions is much more difficult. We have to use appropriate wording and tone so that we do not annoy or offend the recipient of the question. For example, asking, “Why did you do that?” often puts you on the defensive because you assume you disagree with the other person’s actions. Saying, “I don’t understand why you did that. Could you please explain?” can be a much gentler way to get the same information.
- Logical argumentation. If you have an idea or a point of view, it is important that you can logically substantiate it to explore its truth. This includes being able to state your assumptions or axioms, the data you base your reasoning on, and the logical progression of the argument that leads you to your conclusion. It is also important that you are able to avoid misleading logical methods.
- Problem Solving. Effective problem solvers are able to think outside the box when challenges or problems arise. Rather than focusing on negative outcomes, they remain calm and help their team find a solution. This approach helps uncover any obstacles or inefficiencies that are hindering the team’s success so you can work to improve those processes in the future.
- Respect. To show respect is to recognize the fundamental human worth of your fellow players’ existence and to be able to step back from your own understanding of the world to recognize the legitimate nature of other people’s perspectives. This doesn’t mean that you have to tolerate inappropriate behavior from teammates. Rather, respect for your teammates allows you to support them in behaving in ways that are more in line with their fundamental worth as human beings.
- Offering and accepting help: Offering and accepting help are aspects of supporting one another. If you suspect that a teammate is struggling with something, offer your help, both verbally and through your actions. This can take the form of information, emotional support, offering to help with problem-solving, or engaging in an activity together. When we help someone, we share their burden. On the other hand, there is also a willingness to accept help
- Sharing. Sharing among team members focuses on the things that help the team achieve its goals. This is similar to helping, except that it is more of a transaction than an ongoing activity. The transaction is that you give a gift and the other person uses that gift to fulfill their needs. Sharing does not require reciprocity. If you share something with another person, you should not expect that person to return the favor at some point in the future.
- Participate. To work effectively on a team, you need to participate! Participation is usually obvious: work with the other team members. However, there are also some less obvious aspects. You are not participating if the team is having a discussion that you find boring and therefore check your e-mails. You are not participating if the team makes a decision and you do not help to implement the decision because you disagree with it. You are not participating in a work team if you are mentally absent because of a crisis at home.
Interaction with the outside world
Teams not only have to interact internally, but also with the outside world. This means
- with other teams in the same value stream (especially “upstream” and “downstream”)
- other areas, supporting and parallel value streams
- customers
Agile Fluency
The Agile Fluency Model by Diana Larsen and James Shore is a framework that helps teams understand their current position and develop an individualized roadmap. Agile teams pass through four distinct zones of fluency as they learn. Fluency describes things you do automatically, without thinking. For a team, fluency also describes the area in which you are interested:
- Focused teams produce business value (agile fundamentals). The team thinks and plans in terms of the value its sponsors, customers, and users will get from its software.
- Delivering teams ship in rhythm with the market (agile sustainability). The team can release its latest work at minimum risk and cost, whenever the business wants it.
- Optimization teams lead the market (innovative business agility, the promise of Agile). The team knows what the market wants, what your business needs, and how it can meet those needs.
- Strengthening teams make their organizations stronger (possible future of Agile). The team understands its role in the larger organizational system and actively works to make that system more successful.
Other areas
Other capabilities of individuals and teams include
- Product quality
- Work in the value stream
- Consistent delivery
- All areas of Agile Software
- Continuous improvement
- Contributions to leadership and organization
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