LET'S TALK LEADERSHIP!
As more and more organisations are adopting Agile software development practices, many project managers may be asking themselves how to adapt to this new trend. Becoming a Scrum Master might be the obvious solution, but are there other roles in the Agile frameworks that are suitable for a Project Manager to adopt? Should they become Product Owners?
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
PALO IT shared its experience in running Agile projects, including the differences between Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and Product Owners. We covered the scope of each role, the required skills and mindsets and how these affect the relationship with the broader development team. We also rovided insight on how to effectively transition from a classical Project Manager role to an Agile one.
Audience
> Project Managers & Senior Managers
> Scrum Masters & Product Owners
> Developers
> HR Professionals
> Anyone with experience of working with a development team.
7. FEEDBACK
One idea per post-it (write in uppercase)
What did you
feel as a
worker being
driven ?
What did you
feel as a
worker being
driven?
What did you
feel as a
manager not
being able to
give directions?
Did you have
any fears before
doing the first
round?
What did you
feel as a
worker being
driven ?
Did you have
any fears
before doing
the second
round?
What did you
observe about
yourself?
What did you
observe about
others?
8. PROJECT MANAGER RESPONSIBILITIES
Manage Budget Set Scope Set Priorities
Manage People Assign Tasks Give Technical Directions
Remove Impediments Manage Risks Track Project Progress
Develop Detailed Project Plan
Interact with Business
Stakeholders
Ensure Resource Availability
and Allocation
Create & Maintain
Comprehensive Documentation
Project Status Reporting
10. PALO AIRLINES
• PALO AIRLINES is planning to buy some new airplanes
• They contacted your factories to check for your proposals
• They want to know how many airplanes you can deliver in 2 minutes.
11. RULES
• Teams with 4-7 people
• We will build paper airplanes
• Iterations and re-planning of 2 minutes
each
• Unconditional respect of time!
• Production concept
• Teams are not allowed to stock sheets for
production
• The product (airplanes) MUST conform
with the scope defined
• If a product doesn‘t pass the final quality
review, it will not be accepted in the
iteration
• Products that are unfinished can be used
in the next iteration to be completed
• Every team will represent a factory.
12. You are given 30 seconds to provide an estimation of how
many planes you can produce in 2 minutes.
You don’t have time to consult your team.
13. ROUND 1
• Manager gets instruction from the customer
• Manager gives instructions to the team (2 min)
• Team builds for 2 minutes
• At the end of the round, Manager gets
feedback from customer
• Manager writes the number of planes
accepted for the round.
14. ROUND 2
• Manager gives a new estimation
• Manager has 2 minutes to give new
instructions to team (it’s not a discussion)
• Team builds for 2 minutes
• At the end of the round, Manager gets
feedback from customer.
15. FROM MANAGER TO LEADER
• Owns the team
• Follows a predefined plan
• Seeks to be understood
• Instructs / Directs
• Encourages action, activity and work
• Numbers and analytics oriented
• Discourages criticism from team
members.
Command & Control
• Owns the process
• Embraces change
• Seeks to understand
• Persuades / Empowers
• Encourages ideas, innovation and fun
• Business value oriented
• Welcomes criticism.
Servant Leadership
16. ROUND 3
• Scrum Master facilitates the discussion of
the Team for 2 minutes to decide on a new
organization and new estimation
• Team builds for 2 minutes
• At the end of the round, the team gets
feedback from customer
• Scrum Master writes the number of planes
accepted for the round.
17. ROUND 4
• Scrum Master facilitates the
discussion of the Team for 2 minutes to
decide on a new organization and new
estimation
• Team builds for 2 minutes
• At the end of the round, the whole team
gets feedback from customer
• Scrum Master writes the number of
planes accepted for the round
• Repeat for one more round.
19. RETROSPECTIVE
• Did you get what the client wanted in the
beginning?
• Did the estimates get better as we better
understand the requirements?
• Did the teams find their production limit?
• Were the teams motivated?
Analyzing the game
• Did the cycles help to increase the
predictability?
• What changed when the Manager
became a Scrum Master?
• What is better for you and the client:
o Deliver all the airplanes in 10 minutes?
o Deliver a % of airplanes each 2 minutes?
20. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
• Repetitive
• Linear
• Process
• Known
• Factory.
IS NOT
• Discovery
• Unknown
• Creativity
• Experimentation
• Incremental.
IS
21. MOTION DRIVERS
In his book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”,
Daniel Pink defines three key ingredients for individual motivation.
Enablers for
Creativity
Productivity
Stability
Autonomy
MasteryPurpose
22. Manage Budget
Set Scope Manage People
Assign Tasks
Ensure Resource
Availability and Allocation
Create Comprehensive
Documentation
PROJECT MANAGER
Set Priorities
Give Technical Directions
Remove Impediments
Track Project Progress
Interact with Business
Stakeholders
Report Project Status
PRODUCT OWNER SCRUM TEAM SCRUM MASTER
Manage Risks Report Project Status
Report Project Status
Maximize ROI
Set Vision
Facilitate Ceremonies
Protect the TeamPull Tasks
Document When Needed
Develop Detailed Project
Plan
23. DEVELOPERS’ EXPECTATIONS
• Trust, our expertise
• Respect, our opinions
• Unleash, our creativity
• Involve, us in the process
• Believe, in our self-organization.
What we expect from Leader
• Commitment, to the team and goals
• Focus, on prioritized tasks
• Curiosity, to learn continuously
• Courage, to voice our opinions
• Autonomy, with a team spirit.
What should be expected from us
24. AGILE PRINCIPLES
Self-organized team
Embrace change
Working software
Motivated individuals
Collaboration
Face to Face
Continuous improvement
Simplicity
Sustainable pace
Trust
Deliver frequently
Technical excellence
25. HOW TO TRANSITION
• Remember it is not mainly about hard skills but mostly about soft skills
• Training is therefore not enough
• Coaching can help
• It takes time
• Explore Management 3.0
• Try the “Flip It” game.
26. HOW TO TRANSITION
• Try the Flip game: http://gamestorming.com/games-for-design/flip-it/
27. - Lao Tzu
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when
his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it
ourselves.