Individuals and Interactions: An Agile Guide

Description

In my opinion, this is the handbook for Agile teams. I have been wishing for this book since we implemented Agile several years ago. In many Agile process books, the team aspect of Agile has been glossed over in favor of the technical aspects; this book is a welcome change.

--Sarah Edrie, Director of Quality Engineering, Harvard Business School

Cloud Computing, Distributed Architecture, Test Driven Development...these are simple to master compared to building an agile, efficient, and top-performing team. The path from skilled developer/tester to successful manager, team leader, and beyond is now more easily attainable with the insights, knowledge, and guidance provided by Ken Howard and Barry Rogers in Individuals and Interactions: An Agile Guide.

--R.L. Bogetti, www.RLBogetti.com, Lead System Designer, Baxter Healthcare

This book provides fantastic insight on how individuals act and relate as a team. Ken and Barry give great examples and exercises to help the reader understand behaviors of each individual and use this knowledge to perform better as a team.

--Lisa Shoop, Director Product Development, Sabre-Holdings

Individuals and Interactions is a masterfully crafted must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding and applying the human-centered values of Agile development. It is like Patrick Lencioni meets the Poppendiecks to write 'Agile through the Looking-Glass.' Here the 'Looking-Glass' is the powerful DISC framework, and we see it used to enable different kind of TDD (Team-Driven Development) through the use of stories, examples, models, and guidance.

--Brad Appleton, Agile coach/consultant in a Fortune 100 telecom company; coauthor of Software Configuration Management Patterns

This book is essential reading for any engineering team that's serious about Agile development. Its chapters on team dynamics and development lay the foundation for learning all of the factors that enable a team to transform itself into an Agile success story.

--Bernard Farrell, Consultant Software Engineer at EMC Corporation

Great emphasis is typically placed on the mechanics of agile development--its processes and tools. It's easy to forget that the Agile Manifesto values individuals and interactions ahead of processes and tools. You can gain powerful benefits by refocusing on the people side of agile development.

This book will show you how. It's your practical user's guide to solving the problems agile teams encounter, packed with stories, best practices, exercises, and tips you can actually use. Step by step, you'll learn how to get teams to truly work as teams, not as disconnected individuals. Along the way, you'll find profoundly realistic advice on communication, motivation, collaboration, change, group dynamics, and much more.

Whether you are an agile project manager, ScrumMaster, product owner, developer, trainer, or consultant, this book will help you make your agile environment more productive, more effective, and more personally fulfilling.

CONTENTS:

Preface xv

Introduction 1

A Brief History of Organizational Behavior 2

   Stage 1: People Are Machines (Late 1800s - Mid 1900s) 2

   Stage 2: People Are Emotional Beings (1940s - 1970s) 3

   Stage 3: Organization Is a Machine (1980s - 2000s) 4

   Stage 4: Empowered Teams Transform the Organization (Current Trend) 6

Birds of a Feather... 6

PART I: INDIVIDUALS AND INTERACTIONS

Chapter 1 Autonomous Securities, LLC 11

Chapter 2 Behavior and Individuals 13

Communication Framework 14

   DISC History 15

   DISC Definition 15

So Why Is This Important? 17

   Understanding and Accepting Others 17

   Communicate in Your Own Language 19

   The Language of DISC 20

   Strategies for Communicating 21

How Do You Take a DISC Assessment? 22

Closing 23

Chapter 3 Team Dynamics 25

An Apoplectic Dilemma 25

A Different Approach to Teams 26

Capitalizing on Strengths 28

The Anarchical Team 30

The Evolution of a Maturing Team 30

Conflict 33

Now What? 40

Closing 42

Chapter 4 Communication 43

Lingo 45

Empathy 46

Eye Contact 48

Ambiguity 49

Body Language 50

Cultural Awareness 53

Reflecting Body Language 54

Small Talk 54

Collaborative Conversations 57

   The Power of Shutting Up 64

   Communication Latency 65

   We the People... 68

Closing 69

Chapter 5 Collaboration 73

Working as a Team 73

   Vox Populi 74

   Group Survival 77

Problem-Solving Versus Decision Making 78

   Individuals and Decisions 79

   Groups and Decisions 79

   Group Influence 80

Six Degrees of the Perfect Ice Cream Sundae 83

Diametrically Opposing Forces 85

Closing 88

Chapter 6 Behavior and Teams 89

Harmony/Conflict 89

Why Not Hire a Team with Members That Will All Naturally Get Along? 92

   Be Prepared for Conflict 93

   Stressed Out 94

   Fill the Gaps 94

Organizational or Team Culture 95

Closing 95

Chapter 7 Change 97

A True Story 97

Why Is Change Difficult? 99

Change Squirm 102

Change Apprehension 103

   Fear of Changes to Self-Actualization Needs 104

   Fear of Changes to Esteem Needs 105

   Fear of Changes to Love/Belonging Needs 105

   Fear of Changes to Safety Needs 106

   Fear of Changes to Physiological Needs 106

Change Coach 107

Change Catalyst 108

Tracing to the Roots 109

Grass Roots Resistance to Change 110

Exposing the Origins 111

Exercise 113

Closing 114

Chapter 8 Motivators 115

Individual Workplace Motivators 115

   Theoretical 116

   Utilitarian/Economic 116

   Aesthetic 117

   Social 117

   Individualistic/Political 117

   Traditional/Regulatory 117

   Why Is This Important? 118

   Strategies for Motivating 119

Leveraging Strengths 122

Leadership and Environment 123

Closing 124

PART II: WORKSHOP

Chapter 9 Team Dynamics Workshop 129

Preparation 129

Workshop Instructions 130

   Pre-Workshop 130

   The Workshop 132

Chapter 10 Communication Origami 139

Materials 140

Setup 140

Facilitation 141

Post-Exercise Discussion 141

Chapter 11 Bridge Building 145

Materials 146

Setup 146

Facilitation 147

Post-Exercise Discussion 148

Chapter 12 Moon Survival 151

Setup 152

Facilitation 152

   Individual Exercise 152

   Team Exercise 153

   Scoring 153

   Post-Exercise Discussion 153

Moon Survival Expert Analysis 158

Chapter 13 BalderDISC 163

Materials 164

Setup 164

Facilitation 165

Post-Exercise Discussion 166

Chapter 14 Assessing Concordance and Discordance 169

Materials 169

Setup 170

Facilitation 170

Post-Exercise Discussion 171

Chapter 15 Change Exercise 175

Overview 175

Setup 176

   The Drawing Board 177

   The Teams 177

Facilitation 178

Post-Exercise Discussion 179

Chapter 16 Groups and Decisions 183

Setup 183

DISC-Homogeneous Behavior 185

Appendix How to Take the DISC 187

References 195

Index 199