The secret superpower of effective leaders: Developing relationships through conversations When adopting Agile we talk about changing teams structures, development practices, delivery processes and deployment scripts. But what we often fail to realise is that those Team Members, Product Owners, Scrum Masters and Stakeholder are human beings first. Whether we want to improve our Agile adoption across the organisations or take a team through the storming & norming phases we want to influence our teams. The problem is that people are not easily influenced in groups. To excert lasting influence requires trust. And the best way I have found to achieve that is through one-on-one conversations. Or as someone wise once said: "Conversation leads to trust, trust leads to relationships, relationships leads to.. influence" In this talk we will delve into how to use one-on-one conversations to help grow people who are effective & successful in and around agile teams. After having done thousands of these one-on-ones with hundreds of different people over the past few years I have seen patterns over and over again which I have captured in “the 5 characters in IT”. Discover what McQueen, Woody, Merida, Wall-e and Edna can teach you about growing Agile teams.

1. D E V E L O P I N G R E L AT I O N S H I P S
T H R O U G H C O N V E R S AT I O N S
T H E S E C R E T S U P E R P O W E R O F E F F E C T I V E L E A D E R S
Wai Ling Ko
Release Train Engineer
@wailingko
#workatsportsbet

4. H T T P S : / / F L I C . K R / P / 6 S M U 2 I

7. P R E S E N TAT I O N
H E A T M A P
WA I L I N G
P R E S E N TAT I O N
E L S A S A L LYJ O S HLY N NE VA

8. S TA N D U P
H E A T M A P
M AT T
WA L L
E L S A
S A L LY
J O S H
LY N N
E VA

9. R E T R O S P E C T I V E
H E A T M A P
E L S A
TA B L E Z O E
S A L LYJ O S HLY N N
B O BE VA

10. S TAT I S T I C S
2006
2016
250 days
per year
2 5 0 0 +
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S AT I O N S
1 / day

11. O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S AT I O N S
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R

12. G E N E R A L T I P S & T R I C K S
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
S U P P O RT E A C H O T H E R S M A L L TA L K & B I G TA L K
G E N U I N E & R E S P E C T L O C AT I O N

13. O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R

14. D I S C L A I M E R : A L L C H A R A C T E R S , G E N D E R A N D N A M E S A R E F I C T I O N A L . A N Y
R E S E M B L A N C E T O R E A L P E R S O N S L I V I N G O R D E A D W I L L B E C O I N C I D E N C E
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R

15. WA L L - E
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
About me:
“Let me do my job.”
“Contributing in silence”
TOPICS
• Challenges
• Happiness in team
• Career
development
• What would you
like to see
different?
TIPS & TRICKS
• Go with the flow
• It’s over when it is
over

16. M E R I D A
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
About me:“Fiery, spirited,
outspoken with a soft heart
for the team”
TIPS & TRICKS
• Manage the flow of
the conversation
TOPICS
• Happiness & team
health
• Career
development
• What would you do
different if you
were me?
• Feedback

17. E D N A M O D E
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
About me:“You can't! It's
impossible! I'm far too busy,
so ask me now before I can
become sane…You push too
hard, darling! But I accept!”
TOPICS
• Manage
dependencies
• Planning
• Challenges
TIPS & TRICKS
• Prepare
visualisations
• Context, Short &
Sharp

18. L I G H T N I N G M C Q U E E N
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
About me:
“Likes to win the race [make
it over the finish line]”
“Loves it when a plan comes
together”
TOPICS
• Planning, progress,
support
• Removing blockers
TIPS & TRICKS
• Prepare
• Ask for help
• No surprises

19. S H E R I F F W O O D Y
O N E - O N - O N E C O N V E R S A T I O N S S TA R T E R
About me:“I will never give
up on you” - Line manager
TOPICS
• Line management:
Interested in his
people & knows his
people
• Behaviour
• Support learning &
development
TIPS & TRICKS
• Prepare feedback
about his people

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