Agile team

Approximate reading time: 7m 36s

What is an Agile team?

An Agile team is a cross-functional group of 5-11 people who define, build, test, and deliver increments of value in a short timeframe. Since communication quality decreases as team size increases, Agile companies tend to prefer groups made up of smaller teams. For example, in general, it is better to have two teams of five people each than one team of ten people.

Finding solutions requires rich and diverse skills. Technical Agile teams define, build, test, and - where applicable - implement some elements of the solution. Business teams collaborate with them to provide a broad range of support, including: safeguards and other business parameters: infrastructure, contracts and vendors, end-user training, legal guidance, marketing, security and compliance expertise, usability, knowledge of the solution's application.

Great teams require more than talented individuals. Team composition and dynamics play an important role. In fact, who is on the team has less influence on team performance than how the team works together. High-performing teams share many common characteristics of "teamwork": A safe environment for taking risks without fear of embarrassment or punishment Alignment around a shared vision with clear goals and purpose Diversity of knowledge and skills to make quick and effective decisions independently Mutual trust that allows healthy conflict Accountability to one another and to the organization through reliable delivery of quality work and fulfillment of commitments Understanding of the broader impact of their work on the organization Enjoyment of the work and of one another.

 Course “Agile Manifesto”.

What are the main roles in an Agile team?

1. Product Owner.

The Product Owner is very important in Agile project development because this person has a clear understanding of business needs and the desired product. This understanding helps the person identify the features needed to introduce a change or improvement, when they can be implemented, as well as the elements that should be prioritized.

2. Project Sponsor

The role of the Product Owner is influenced by, and related to, the role of the sponsor. Successful agile project launches are based on sponsorship. If the project is not well funded, it will not have the necessary financial basis to carry out the related tasks and activities, achieve the set goals, and solve the identified problems. The project sponsor is an organization or individual who bears primary responsibility for funding the project and approving key decisions. In this way, the sponsor guides the project toward successful completion and the realization of the intended goals.

3. Scrum Master
The Scrum Master's main task is to facilitate the project owner and the development team so that they can effectively carry out development activities. This person ensures that the team follows the Scrum process by adhering to the agreed Scrum practices, principles, and values. The Scrum process begins with defining the product goals. In order to understand the intended goals, the Scrum Master works together with the Product Owner to understand the product vision. The Product Owner helps the Scrum Master develop user stories that explain what users want.

4. Agile Mentor
The main role of the Agile mentor is to help the individual or teams improve and adopt agile practices and approaches. This helps enable people to change and rethink the way they execute projects. The Agile mentor acts as a coach, helping team members apply what they learned during their training. Sometimes people are trained but encounter difficulties applying the acquired skills in some situations. In such a situation, the mentor guides people to implement agility in a specific environment, including helping them resolve obstacles in their daily work. The mentor can also advise them on how to adapt the methodology and challenge the existing environment.

5. Development Team Members
Development team members are right at the center of agile project development. The team consists of individuals who possess different areas of expertise. In software development, people with a hands-on role in application development, such as programmers, data engineers, writers, designers, and testers, make up the development team. When building this team, it is essential to consider the key set of skills needed to successfully develop, test, and deliver product increments in each sprint.

6. Development Team Lead
Conflicts will inevitably arise between individuals and groups working together, including development team members. The development team lead is responsible for guiding the team toward reaching consensus on various issues related to product development. More importantly, the person acts as a mediator or arbitrator. For example, when development team members disagree on which design to use, the team lead ensures that everyone has an equal voice. This role is especially important when the development path to follow is not clear. In this case, the development team lead serves as an arbitrator regarding the proposed solutions.

7. Stakeholders
Stakeholders play an important role in shaping product development and the work of the various teams. They represent people who will influence the project, as well as those who will be affected by the final product. Stakeholder groups are diverse and may range from people within an organization to institutions and structures outside the organization. It is important to note that stakeholders differ depending on the type of project. They may include managers, sponsors, the development team, end users, the Product Owner, legal experts, and marketing specialists. Information from these people, especially from key stakeholders, is vital because it guides the progress of the project.

 Course “Agile Manifesto”.

What makes a team good at Agile?

A good Agile team has the ability to collaborate regardless of its strengths and weaknesses. Team members combine their strengths and weaknesses to create a team capable of achieving multiple goals.
What is the size of an Agile team?
The most common size range for agile teams is 5 to 9 people, excluding the Scrum Master, the Product Owner, and stakeholders. It is quite interesting to note that when assembling an agile team, special attention is paid to keeping the team size as small as possible. The reason for this is that effective communication and collaboration within the team become increasingly difficult as the number of team members grows.

How to create a great Agile team

You have probably gained a good understanding of what agile teams do, as well as their composition. Now I would like to share a few useful tips that will help you build a strong agile team. Here they are:

Set yourself up properly
Finding and selecting the ideal people for your agile team requires a great deal of effort and patience. Creating an ideal agile team is not something that can happen overnight. Once you decide to create an agile team, the first thing you need to do is prepare yourself mentally and get into the right mindset.

You should carefully observe the people who already work under your command or work in your organization. It is important not to let your personal preferences influence your judgment. For example, you may have a good rapport with some of the potential candidates, but you should set those things aside and make your choice solely based on an individual's ability to fit into an agile team. Just keep in mind that agile teams must have high performance and any weak links can make your team struggle during the actual work.

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual members
When evaluating people for your agile team, the most important thing to keep in mind is to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, you should also examine the personality and working style of all the individuals you are considering as potential candidates.

The purpose of this assessment is to make sure that the professionals you recruit into your agile team are capable of meeting the goals of the projects assigned to them. There is no point in putting together a team that does not have the necessary skills to work on projects and effectively execute each project task. For example, members of an agile team must be able to adapt to the new work environment and be ready to tackle the challenges on the way to successfully developing projects.

Make sure everyone understands their roles
When members of an agile team are not clear about their roles and responsibilities for a given project or in general, their productivity will drop sharply. Therefore, as soon as your agile team is successfully formed, you should make sure that each team member is well acquainted with their role and responsibilities. Usually, the roles of members of an agile team vary depending on the projects. However, it is a good idea to define a general role for each member of your agile team.

There are multiple benefits to having a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities. First, each team member knows the exact stages of the project for which they are responsible. Second, team members do not need to communicate often just to confirm whether they should be involved in a particular stage

Encourage learning from mistakes
An agile team brings together many people with different personalities and skills. Expecting a newly formed agile team to achieve its goals in a dynamic work environment in one go is nothing but an illusion. People in an agile team are not expected to embrace perfectionism. Instead, learning from failures is what you should encourage in your agile team.

To put this into practice, you need to establish rules and guidelines that will help your agile team minimize risks and gain more opportunities to learn from experience. It is true that failures create a negative impact both on the organization and on team morale, but this is something you must eliminate in order to strengthen your team.

Prioritize communication and team collaboration
Communication is key to the success of any team, whether it is an agile team or another ordinary team. However, the need for effective communication can never be taken lightly in a high-performing agile team. Since the project scope and requirements may undergo unexpected changes, team members should have flexible and fast communication channels so they can quickly coordinate and adjust their strategies.

Strengthening communication to some extent will help team members collaborate productively. However, it is advisable to try collaboration recommendations and tools that will help you foster collaboration in your agile team. Remember that there is always a high level of transparency among teams that have strong internal communication and active collaboration among members.

Get involved to grow
Member participation is essential for an agile team to be productive and deliver results on time. Whether it is brainstorming to find new ideas or a team meeting to discuss project issues, every member should participate and contribute without hesitation.

You should allow the people in your agile team to understand, and also feel, that their opinion matters. Team member participation in group discussions not only brings in new ideas, but also helps everyone stay motivated and learn something new from one another.

Develop and adopt a culture of open feedback
Agile teams are responsible for executing projects as quickly as possible. This simply means that you need to make sure all the efforts of your agile team are driving project development in the right direction. To that end, it is necessary to develop a culture of open feedback in your organization.

Feedback among team members makes it possible to identify and eliminate problems during the sprint itself. On the other hand, feedback shared by the project owner is useful for improving the product with each iteration. Fast and honest feedback within an agile team not only improves the quality of the work, but also creates new opportunities to move to the next level of project development.

  Course “Agile Manifesto”.

What does Agile actually mean?

If we look at Agile in its true essence, agility means being able to understand, adapt, and change quickly in an ever-changing environment. In its simplest form, it means there is no single way to do things.

What skills does an Agile team need?

Core skills such as Scrum, Kanban, and test-first are essential for Agile teams. Knowledge of collaborative development and Agile architecture can serve as added value.
...
Core skills
Scrum. ...
Kanban. ...
Metrics. ...
Story creation. ...
Customer focus. ...
Test-first. ...
Continuous learning.

In conclusion

Forming an Agile team is certainly an exhausting process. However, if you follow the tips I discussed above, you will most likely encounter fewer obstacles and create a high-performing agile team capable of handling large and complex projects.

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