This document discusses how to foster great teams through agile practices and values. It begins by exploring the characteristics of high-performing teams and the importance of initiating teamwork. It then covers various agile practices like daily standups and definitions of done that can help deliver value. However, it notes that agile practices alone do not make a team agile; the underlying values are more important. These values include self-organizing teams, trust, and reflection. The document also discusses how managers can support agile teams by fostering the right culture, empowering teams, and removing impediments rather than micromanaging. Effective communication at all levels is also emphasized.

1. Teamwork: Making Your
Dream Team Come True
Ron Lichty | Ron Lichty Consulting
Ron@RonLichty.com | www.ronlichty.com

2. Ron Lichty,
Managing Software People & Teams
SOFTWEST
© Ron Lichty 2

3. Coauthor, Study of Product Team Performance
http://www.ronlichty.com/study.html
3(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

4. Addison Wesley: http://www.ManagingTheUnmanageable.net
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True
4

5. Rules of Thumb / Nuggets of Wisdom*
* 300 in the book / more at http://managingtheunmanageable.net/morerulesofthumb.html
5(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

6. Rules of Thumb / Nuggets of Wisdom*
• Measure twice, cut once.
• Life is simpler when you plow around the
stump.
• Brooks’s Law: Adding manpower to a late
software project makes it later. --Fred Brooks
• I don’t care how good a team is today; if they
aren’t better a year from now, they’re not
agile. --Mike Cohn
* 300 in the book / more: http://managingtheunmanageable.net/morerulesofthumb.html
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 6

7. Agenda
• Teams
– and dream teams
• Agile Practices
– and agile values
• Doing Agile
– and being agile
• Fostering Greatness
– Practice Greatness
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 7

8. Teams
By Pictofigo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commonsense,
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Free to share and remix/adapt. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pictofigo-Scrum.p
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 8

9. • Think about…
The best team you’ve been on?
The most high performance team?
Brainstorm: What were the…
• characteristics
• relationships
• qualities
• ways of being
. . . that made it stand out?
Teams
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 9

10. “It isn’t teamwork that is difficult.
“It’s initiating teamwork in a world of
business that is antagonistic toward
teamwork [that is difficult].”
--Christopher Avery,
Teamwork Is an Individual Skill
Teams
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 10

11. Agile
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 11

12. Agile Practices
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 12

13. Agile Practices Deliver Value
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 13
By Michaelblinkpipe (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAn_Abcam_stand_up_meeting_using_BlinkPipe_video_conferencing..png

14. Agile Practices Deliver Value
• Planning Daily
• Planning Weekly (or biweekly or…)
• Planning Publicly & Transparently
• Ordering Work Based on Customer Value
• Together defining “Done”
• Relative Sizing
• Delivering Frequently
• Sharing how we’re doing
• Reflecting on how to do better(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 14

15. Agile Practices Deliver Value
• Standups
– Standups matter:
– Effective, Daily Standups
--2015 Study of Product Team Performance
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 15

16. Agile Practices Deliver Value
• Definitions of Done
– Definitions of Done matter:
– Created within the team
--2016 Study of Product Team Performance
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 16

17. Agile Practices Deliver Value
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 17

18. Voting Machines Deliver Value, too
18(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True
By Seattle Municipal Archives from Seattle, WA (Voting machine, 1971)
[CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

19. Voting Machines Deliver Value, too
• But voting machines don’t make us a
democracy
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 19

20. Voting Machines Deliver Value, too
• But voting machines don’t make us a
democracy
• Democracy emanates from
– Values
– Principles
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 20

21. Similarly…
Agile Practices Don’t Make Us Agile
Agile Practices Don’t Deliver Great Teams
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22. Agile Values Inspire Great Teams
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23. Agile Values Inspire Great Teams
• Build projects around motivated
individuals
• Trust… to get the job done
• Face-to-face conversation
• Self-organizing teams
• The team reflects, …tunes, …adjusts
-- http://agilemanifesto.org/
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24. Self-Organizing Teams
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25. Self-Organizing Teams
• If our self-organizing team were an
acting troupe, …
What kind of acting do we do?
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 25

26. Self-Organizing Teams
• If our self-organizing team were an
acting troupe, …
What kind of acting do we do?
• If our self-organizing team were a
music group, …
What kind of music do we perform?
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 26

27. Self-Organizing Teams
• If our self-organizing team were an
acting troupe, …
What kind of acting do we do?
• If our self-organizing team were a
music group, …
What kind of music do we perform?
• Who is the leader?
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 27

28. Best Teams
• A relationship? between
– Shared Leadership (Agile Values)
– Best Team characteristics
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 28

29. Shared Leadership ßà Best Teams?
• Build projects around motivated
individuals
• Trust… to get the job done
• Face-to-face conversation
• Self-organizing teams
• The team reflects, …tunes, …adjusts
-- http://agilemanifesto.org/
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 29

30. Projects Not Suitable for Agile?
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31. Projects Not Suitable for Agile?
• Micromanagement
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32. Projects Not Suitable for Agile?
• Micromanagement disrupts Agile
• Micromanagement prevents Best Teams
• Micromanagement prevents Learning
• Micromanaged teams become order-takers
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 32

33. Projects Not Suitable for Agile?
• Micromanagement disrupts Agile
• Micromanagement prevents Best Teams
• Micromanagement prevents Learning
• Micromanaged teams become order-takers
• Agile calls for everyone on the team to step up
• Micromanagement causes everyone to step back
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 33

34. Managers and Agile
• “A common misconception is that because
of this reliance on self-organizing teams,
there is little or no role for leaders of agile
teams. Nothing could be further from the
truth.”
--Mike Cohn, Succeeding with Agile
34(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

35. • Managers of teams
• Project managers
• Program managers
• Scrum masters
• Product managers?
• Product owners?
Shared Leadership… and Managers
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 35

36. • What do all those managers have in common?
Shared Leadership… and Managers
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 36

37. • Traditionally, managers:
– run things
– give direction
– tell people what to do
– like being the center of attention
Shared Leadership… and Managers
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 37

38. “If you’re the ScrumMaster and everyone is
looking at you, you’re doing it wrong.”
--Marilson Campos
Shared Leadership… and Managers
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 38

39. the Agile Manager Squeeze
youyouyouyou
herehereherehere
areareareare
OrganizationalOrganizationalOrganizationalOrganizational
ChangesChangesChangesChanges
My JobMy JobMy JobMy Job
ChangesChangesChangesChanges
TeamTeamTeamTeam
ChangesChangesChangesChanges
Peer & PartnerPeer & PartnerPeer & PartnerPeer & Partner
ChangesChangesChangesChanges
LeadershipLeadershipLeadershipLeadership
ChangesChangesChangesChanges
Welcome to Agile!
--Agile Learning Labs, Laura Powers
39(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

40. The Problem:
ScrumTeam.jpg (from Exploring Scrum- the Fundamentals, by Dan Rawsthorne & Doug Shimp)

41. The Problem:
Where Is the Manager?
ScrumTeam.jpg (from Exploring Scrum- the Fundamentals, by Dan Rawsthorne & Doug Shimp)

42. Agile: “Servant Leaders”
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 42

43. Managers and Agile
• Fostering an Agile Culture
• Modeling, Defending, Evangelizing Agile
Values
• Empowering Self-Organization & Excellence
43(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

44. Managers and Agile
• Fostering an Agile Culture
• Modeling, Defending, Evangelizing Agile
Values
• Empowering Self-Organization & Excellence
• Removing Impediments
44(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

45. Managers and Agile
• Fostering an Agile Culture
• Modeling, Defending, Evangelizing Agile
Values
• Empowering Self-Organization & Excellence
• Removing Impediments
• Counseling, Coaching and Mentoring
• Scaling Scrum
• Hiring and Firing
45(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

46. Managers and Agile
• Fostering an Agile Culture
• Modeling, Defending, Evangelizing Agile
Values
• Empowering Self-Organization & Excellence
• Removing Impediments
46(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

47. Creating an Agile Culture
• Theory Y: “enabling”, “empowering”, “developmental",
“continuous improvement” -> Servant Leadership
McGregor's X-Y Theory
47(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True
Managing the Unmanageable: Rules, Tools, and Insights for Managing Software People and Teams , http://www.ManagingTheUnmanageable.net

48. Managers and Agile
• Creating an Agile Culture
Lean-Agile management is the art of leading people, not
managing them... Leading people involves creating the
correct environment, focusing them on the right things,
and trusting them to do their work...
In Lean-Agile, the manager has two primary
responsibilities:
• setting the outcomes or goals expected of the team;
• assisting the doers in creating a better process and
workspace to get their jobs done...
--Alan Shalloway, Net Objectives
48(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

49. Delegation & Empowerment
• Rules of Thumb
Management sets the boundaries of what needs to
be done and says to the team, I trust you to figure
out how to get it done.
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 49

50. Delegation & Empowerment
Trust but verify.
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 50

51. Delegation & Empowerment
51
Trust but verify.
-RONALD REAGAN
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

52. Delegation & Empowerment
52
Trust but verify.
-RONALD REAGAN quo-ng VLADIMIR LENIN
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

53. – imperative not to micromanage
– the essence of delegation
– setting expected outcomes for teams
Delegation & Empowerment
53
Trust but verify.
-RONALD REAGAN quo-ng VLADIMIR LENIN
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

54. Delegation & Empowerment
54
Trust but verify.
-RONALD REAGAN quo-ng VLADIMIR LENIN
I inspect what I expect.
- ALAN LEFKOF, Netopia CEO, quo-ng LOU GERSTNER
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

55. Creating an Agile Culture
• Establishing Culture
55
http://www.ManagingTheUnmanageable.net
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

56. Managers and Agile
• Empowering Self-Organization & Excellence
When teams self-organize there's still plenty for
managers to do... a managers job is to engineer
the organization so that teams can do their best
work.
--Esther Derby, co-founder, Scrum Alliance
56(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

57. Managers and Agile
• Removing Distractions and Impediments
Be a damper to the noise. --Joe Kleinschmidt, CTO
John Evans, Winchester, Hants, United Kingdom, www.thetippingpoint.co.uk
57(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

58. Managers and Agile
• Model, Defend, Evangelize Agile Values
“Managers are still needed. Not so much for
their planning and controlling ability, but for
the important job of interfacing on the team’s
behalf with the rest of the organization.”
--Diana Larsen, co-author, Agile Retrospectives
58(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

59. Communicating
• Create a culture of communication
– at every level
– with everyone
• up, down, within and across
• “We have two ears and one mouth. Use them in
this ratio.”
— Kimberly Wiefling
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 59

60. Communication
60
You cannot overcommunicate.
-RON LICHTY
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

61. Virtual Teams
• There is never enough communication
• Commitment to communicate
• No substitute for face-to-face meetings
61
The more distance between teammates, the more
you have to formalize communication and make it
explicit.
-TED YOUNG, Development Manager & Agile Coach, Guidewire
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True

62. How Do We Foster Dream Teams?
• Foster shared leadership & an Agile Culture
• Model, Defend, Evangelize Agile Values
• Trust Our People
• Shield Teams from Politics & Distraction
• Remove Impediments
• Empower Self-Organization & Excellence
• Create a Culture of Communication
(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True 62

63. Ron Lichty Consulting
• Mentoring, coaching, training, consulting:
– http://ronlichty.com, Ron@RonLichty.com
• The book:
Managing the Unmanageable:
Rules, Tools & Insights for Managing Software People & Teams
– http://ManagingTheUnmanageable.net <-----tools, excerpts, more rules of thumb
• The video training:
LiveLessons: Managing Software People and Teams
– http://ManagingTheUnmanageable.net/video.html
• The study:
The Study of Product Team Performance
– http://ronlichty.com/study.html
• Training:
The Agile Manager
Managing Software People and Teams
Zero to Agile in Three Days
63(c) Ron Lichty: Teamwork: Making Your Dream Team Come True