People

Individual and team accountability is critical for any high functioning team, I believe that this is often a concern for senior management, especially when considering an agile transformation, and can be difficult to attain. At the points in my career that I have seen senior management push back on the adoption of agile methodologies, the main areas of contention has been around the feeling of losing “control” over the delivery roadmap.

The ugly side of no surprises management

By Paul Blay in people

January 5, 2019

I get it… I think… “No Surprises” management is intended to ensure that people aren’t hiding bad news from their colleagues (let’s face it, usually their boss or some other superior) so that we’re not horribly surprised at the last minute that, for example, our project is 6 months late. Boom! Instant high-functioning team! Everyone feels safe and surprises never happen…. Or at least, god help you if they still do happen, because I was very clear that I don’t like surprises!

Autonomous teams vs 'resource' management

By Paul Blay in people

October 10, 2018

How often have you heard the phrase “We don’t have the resource” or “How many resources will it take?” Quite apart from the dehumanising nature of the word “resource” (should we, in response, say “that’s a good question, management resource number 3”?), people are not automatons who are all equally skilled/motivated coding machines that can be assumed to be equally effective in all scenarios. People each have unique skills, ways of working, areas of experience, interests and relationships with others that all matter heavily in terms of getting the best results, or getting anything at all.

Motivation 2.0

By Paul Blay in people, delivery

July 9, 2018

How are you engaging your team? Are you running a regular appraisal cycle where everyone’s individual score is totted up and ultimately dictates financial reward (pay increase, bonus, share options) or, on the other side of the scale, performance improvement plans? How are you finding this? Do people who get the financial rewards become more engaged and effective throughout the year? Do those on the performance improvement plans “pull their socks up” and become superstars now that they know they’re not performing to expectations?

7 Practical Steps To Increase Accountability In Agile Teams

The ugly side of no surprises management

Autonomous teams vs 'resource' management

Motivation 2.0

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