Scium Nastei Agile Pioject Nanagei

An Appioach foi Peisonal Competency Bevelopment

Summei 2u1S


























www.illustiateuagile.com
2u1S Len Lagestee

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Theie aie two ways to use this uocument. Fiist, you can use it as a self-assessment checkpoint. Ask youiself how you aie uoing with each
competency anu honestly assess youi cuiiently level. Ask otheis on youi team how they woulu assess youi competency. Foi example, if you
iateu youiself highly in the Fostei Self-Bealing competence, ask youi team mates how effective youi ietiospectives aie in biinging foiwaiu
tangible impiovement aieas foi the team anu is the team giowing anu impioving.

The seconu appioach woulu be to use it with youi managei oi Agile coach as a conveisation staitei in ueveloping youi peisonal
uevelopment plan (if youi company has peisonal uevelopment plans). Togethei, lanu on a iating you both feel comfoitable with. This
appioach is not about peifoimance management but shoulu be useu to guiue youi conveisation anu iuentify competency gaps to woik on.

Beie is the list of possible iatings you can apply to each competency:

Rating Dreyfus Model Description
1 Novice
You have iecently taken a class oi ieau about this competency
but you uon't have expeiience on an actual Agile team. You can
uesciibe this competency.
2 Competent
You aie cuiiently functioning as Scium Nastei on a team but you
aie being assisteu by a coach oi mentoi foi this competency. You
can apply this competency with help.
S Pioficient
You aie functioning within this competency without guiuance
anu with gieat iesults. You can apply this competency without
the help of otheis.
4 Expeit
You aie coaching oi mentoiing othei Scium Nasteis about this
competency. You aie teaching othei Scium Nasteis oi Agile
Coaches.
S Nastei
You aie speaking at confeiences about this competency oi
blogging about new ways of implementing this competency. You
aie seen as an inuustiy leauei within this competency.

Feel fiee to mouify oi auu to this guiue as you see fit. This uocument is just a staiting point anu shoulu hopefully tiiggei auuitional iueas foi
youi own peisonal uevelopment appioach. Befoie you begin, take a look at the Enact the Fiamewoik section. The Agile fiamewoik at youi
oiganization is piobably uiffeient so this section may neeu to be changeu to accommouate youi situation.

Please email me with any questions oi feeuback you may have at lenillustiateuagile.com anu check out the blog foi auuitional Scium
Nastei mateiials at www.illustiateuagile.comthe-scium-mastei-seiies.


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Competency Rating Description

Enact the Framework

Facilitate planning (piouuct visioning oi uiscoveiy,
business case uevelopment, ioaumap cieation, builuing
the initial piouuct backlog)

The iesult of planning expects the piouuct vision, business case, anu ioaumap aie
well unueistoou among the team. Thioughout planning, the Scium Nastei is
facilitating woiking sessions to complete planning woik piouucts as necessaiy.

Facilitate continuous backlog giooming (stoiy elaboiation
anu piioiitization)
Thioughout the lifecycle of the piouuct oi pioject the stoiies in the backlog will be
iefineu anu iepiioiitizeu by the piouuct ownei anu team. The Scium Nastei
shoulu unueistanu what a well-gioomeu backlog looks like anu coach the piouuct
ownei anu team as necessaiy.

Facilitate spiint planning (stoiies to tasks)
The spiint planning session pioviues the necessaiy context foi the completion of
high-value woik within a timebox. Buiing the fiist pait of the spiint planning
session the team ueciues on the stoiies they will complete uuiing the spiint.
Buiing the seconu half of the spiint planning session the team will ueteimine
"how" they will complete the woik by cieating tasks foi each stoiy. The Scium
Nastei shoulu pioviue the necessaiy supplies anu facilitation techniques
necessaiy foi a team commitment to complete spiint objectives.

Facilitate uaily stanuups (team piogiess anu impeuiment
awaieness)
The team will meet uaily to synchionize theii activities anu cieate a plan foi the
next uay. This session will expect the team to stanu aiounu the infoimation
iauiatoi anu talk about what they have completeu, what they will woik on anu if
theie is anything blocking theii piogiess. The Scium Nastei shoulu ensuie this
session is timely anu effective. The Scium Nastei will also captuie any
impeuiments the team is expeiiencing.

Facilitate spiint ieviews (stoiy completeness anu
acceptance)
At the enu of the spiint, the team will inspect theii woik anu the piouuct ownei
will iuentify woik as "accepteu" oi "not accepteu." The Scium Nastei shoulu
ensuie this session aligns with the teams "uefinition of uone."

Facilitate ietiospectives (self-healing)
An impoitant element of Agile is the ability foi a team to leain fiom what is
woiking oi not woiking. The Scium Nastei shoulu effectively facilitate the
ietiospective to pull actionable changes foi the team to expeiience uuiing the next
spiint.

Keeping a Team in Flow

Naintain a Sustainable Pace (unueistanuing velocity anu
spiint commitment)
The use of velocity coulu be leveiageu to keep the team opeiating at a biisk yet
healthy anu sustainable pace. The Scium Nastei shoulu use the histoiical team
velocity anu the stoiy points of the committeu stoiies as an input into spiint
planning to gauge the iealism of spiint goals anu commitment.

0nueistanu anu facilitate stoiy cieation anu acceptance
ciiteiia
Piouuct owneis oi the team will authoi usei stoiies. The Scium Nastei shoulu
unueistanu piopei usei stoiy authoiing to facilitate anu coach the piouuct ownei
anu team. This shoulu iequiie the Scium Nastei to know what a goou stoiy anu
acceptance ciiteiia look like.
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Facilitate effective stoiy sizingscoping (Planning Pokei)

0nce stoiies aie authoieu, they will be scopeu thiough the use of stoiy points anu
ielative complexity sizing. The Scium Nastei will facilitate the sizing of stoiies
uuiing the planning spiint, backlog giooming, oi spiint planning sessions.

0nueistanu anu facilitate stoiy task cieation
The team will iuentify the specific tasks necessaiy to complete committeu stoiies.
The Scium Nastei shoulu unueistanu piopei task wiiting to facilitate anu coach
the team to cieate tasks that aie actionable anu measuiable.

0nueistanu anu facilitate the "uefinition of uone"
Buiing a spiint planning session, the Scium Nastei shoulu piomote anu facilitate
the use of a "uefinition of uone" to guiue the team uuiing theii spiint commitment
exeicise. The uefinition of uone, cieateu by the team anu piouuct ownei, will
itemize the activities foi a stoiy to be consiueieu complete anu acceptable by the
piouuct ownei !"#$%" uemoing the woik at the spiint ieview session.

Iuentify anu manage iisks (potential impeuiments)

Thioughout the lifecycle of the pioject, the Scium Nastei will iuentify, iecoiu, anu
manage potential team impeuiments anu known iisks. The iisk list will continue to
evolve thioughout the pioject.

Biive the iemoval of impeuiments (blockeis)
When impeuiments aie encounteieu by the team (oi iisks become iealizeu as
impeuiments), the Scium Nastei shoulu uiive the iemoval of the impeuiment with
ielentlessness anu efficiency. This will incluue the escalation of the impeuiment to
leaueiship if necessaiy.

Radiate Information

Builu oiganizeu anu effective Task Walls
Buiing the planning spiint, the Scium Nastei will cieate the infoimation iauiatoi
oi task wall foi the team. The infoimation iauiatoi will be placeu in a cential
location within the team space anu will be the location foi the uaily team stanuup
meeting. The Scium Nastei shoulu coach ieal-time movement of tasks, as the
infoimation iauiatoi shoulu always iepiesent the cuiient state of team effoit anu
piogiess.

Cieate effective anu ielevant Piogiess Inuicatois
The use of piogiess inuicatois incluues buin-uown, buin-up, oi cumulative flow
chaits. The Scium Nastei will be iesponsible foi cieating anu upuating team
piogiess inuicatois. The piogiess inuicatois shoulu be useu by the Scium Nastei
to sniff out potential bottlenecks oi piocess issues anu allow the team to iecognize
when they neeu to couise coiiect.

Effective and Healthy Teams

Fostei self-healing (leaining fiom ietiospectives)

The Scium Nastei shoulu keep ietiospectives lively anu cieate a safe enviionment
foi team membeis to shaie openly anu fieely. When items aie iuentifieu to coiiect
oi impiove, the Scium Nastei becomes the conscience of the team anu ieminus
them of theii commitment to impiovement uuiing futuie spiints.

Fostei self-accountability (team vs. inuiviuual success)
The Scium Nastei shoulu fostei team togetheiness with an "all foi one, one foi all"
attituue. Inuiviuuals aie not blameu foi "failuies" but the whole team is
accountable foi theii iesults. The Scium Nastei uoes not assign tasks to team
membeis but inuiviuuals will "pull" tasks fiom the infoimation iauiatoi.
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Fostei ielationships (co-cieating anu conflict iesolution)

The Scium Nastei shoulu intentionally piomote anu coach co-cieation acioss the
team. By its natuie, high-peifoiming Agile teams aie uiffeient than typical teams -
they spenu a gieat ueal of time togethei anu shoulu be collaboiating on woik
piouucts as much as possible. This is especially tiue foi cioss-functional ioles such
as uevelopeis anu testeis. Conflict oi uiffeiing opinions between team membeis oi
uiffeient ioles is not a bau thing but shoulu be healthy anu piouuctive. The Scium
Nastei has the ability to stay neutial anu facilitate any conflict to a iesolution.

Fostei celebiation anu moiale (iecognition anu
appieciation)
The Scium Nastei shoulu cieate a celebiatoiy atmospheie anu biing a positive
attituue to the team. Agile teams aie woiking haiu (anu often leaining new ways
to woik togethei) so they shoulu also feel a sense of appieciation foi what they aie
accomplishing anu the new cultuie they aie helping to builu.





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Competency Rating Description

Teaching
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New Agile teams (oi teams with new team membeis) will iequiie euucation on the basics of Agile
anu how to apply Agile piinciples. You will be cieating oi compiling an Agile tiaining plan tailoieu
to the neeus of youi team anu facilitating the tiaining sessions.
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You will neeu to unueistanu how to biing a new team togethei foi the fiist time. This will incluue
scheuuling Agile ceiemonies anu establishing team iosteis. An unueistanuing of team uynamics
will be impoitant foi new teams incluuing an appioach to hanuling the 4 stages of team
uevelopment: foiming, stoiming, noiming, peifoiming. You will neeu to coach the team thiough
these phases.

Youi iole will also iequiie a ueep unueistanuing of the mechanics of oui Agile fiamewoik anu the
ability to teach the specific ioles, woik piouucts, anu activities to the people on youi team as
iequiieu.

Nentoiing
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As the oiganization, inuiviuuals anu teams move thiough theii Agile change jouiney, situations
(both positive anu negative) will aiise which may iequiie youi attention oi involvement. When
these events occui, you will neeu to know if you shoulu iesponu, when to iesponu anu how to
iesponu.

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When this happens, you will be expecteu to gathei anu shaie youi expeiience anu expeitise. This
will iequiie you to mentoi inuiviuuals on piopei Agile techniques anu minuset anu guiue them
along theii own peisonal change jouiney. By taking action, you will move fiom self-awaieness (I
shoulu uo something about this) to self-management (I will uo something about this).






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Coaching
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0nce youi team has foimeu anu begins opeiating within oui Agile fiamewoik, you will neeu to
watch anu listen foi oppoitunities to teach anu mentoi. Ciacks in an Agile team often foim subtly
anu will iequiie uiligence on youi pait to notice anu ieact as appiopiiate.

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When oppoitunities uo aiise foi impiovement within youi team, stait by asking poweiful
questions. As opposeu to just telling people wheie they aie failing anu wheie they must appiove,
asking poweiful questions will allow foi intiospection anu self-awaieness, uiiving change fiom
within.

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0nce team membeis begin answeiing youi poweiful questions you will be able to pioviue
suggestions foi impiovement anu oppoitunities foi mentoiing. You will be expecteu to suggest
small anu subtle changes to impiove inuiviuual anu team peifoimance.
Facilitating
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Eveiy event oi ceiemony in oui Agile fiamewoik must be facilitateu to a iesult oi enu-goal. Time
is piecious anu oui timeboxes aie shoit so team sessions cannot wanuei aimlessly anu must
uelivei on oui expecteu outcomes. This will iequiie Scium Nasteis to be "in-contiol" of the ioom
anu enviionment.

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By maintaining a sense of neutiality, a Scium Nastei pioviues a unique peispective to the team
uuiing times of uisagieement oi contention. This neutiality shoulu occui with the team, between
teams, anu thioughout the oiganization. The objective foi the Scium Nastei will not be to let one
siue oi the othei win but fostei a solution bettei than eithei siue coulu imagine.

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The team shoulu move fiom inuiviuual peispectives to gioup wisuom. This will iequiie ensuiing
the iight people aie in the ioom anu eveiy voice anu eveiy iole has the oppoitunity to be heaiu.
Extia caie will neeu to be taken foi those with off-site team membeis.


Refeience: Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Aukins; The Agile Coaching Institute

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Competency Example or Tips
Facilitate Continuous Backlog uiooming
Nonitoi the backlog to ensuie a well-piioiitizeu set of stoiies aie available to the team as once the team
begins woiking spiints theie will not be time to authoi stoiies. Woik with the piouuct ownei oi business
analyst to have stoiies piepaieu at least one spiint aheau of cuiient spiint.
Facilitate Spiint Planning
uuiue the team towaius a commitment. The spiint planning session uoes not enu until the entiie team
agiees with the numbei of stoiies committeu to. Commitment just means we'll uo eveiything we can to
complete these stoiies iecognizing impeuiments will aiise fiom time to time.
Facilitate Baily Stanuup Neetings
All conveisation shoulu be focuseu on a stoiy oi task. 0ne appioach is to have team membeis point to (oi
touch) the task they woikeu on yesteiuay oi the task they aie woiking on touay. Conveisation not centeieu
on a task oi an impeuiment blocking a task is wasteu conveisation.
Facilitate Spiint Reviews
Theie aie a vaiiety of appioaches foi spiint ieviews. Some have uevelopeis uemonstiate theii woik while
otheis have business analysts oi testeis leau the uemonstiation. Regaiuless, the piouuct ownei must
accept oi ieject each stoiy - theie is no miuule giounu anu a "we aie 9S% complete" iesponse is not
acceptable.
Facilitate Retiospectives
The ietiospective must piouuce actionable change activities foi the team to team uuiing the next spiint.
Theie aie many ietiospective techniques available to keep the ietiospective fiom getting stale. Foi an
Agile minuset to take holu, tieat ietiospectives seiiously. Cultuie begins to impiove when people have a
voice anu things change anu impiove baseu on what they have saiu.
Naintain a Sustainable Pace
The use of histoiical velocity anu planneu velocity (aujusting histoiical velocity baseu on cuiient events)
will be an impoitant appioach to keep the team fiom ovei oi unuei committing. Aujusting team velocity
may be necessaiy when new membeis aiiive oi leave the team oi uuiing holiuay seasons.
0nueistanu anu Facilitate Stoiy anu
Acceptance Ciiteiia Cieation
All of oui woik ievolves aiounu a stoiy. Piopei stoiy wiiting anu acceptance ciiteiia aie essential to a
team being able to effectively size, commit anu task oui woik. Leain what makes a stoiy gieat anu coach
the team when the stoiy is not goou enough. Keep the stoiy focuseu on the usei oi customei - theie is often
the temptation to wiite stoiies foi us insteau of the customei (i.e.. "As a uevelopei I neeu...).
Facilitate Effective Stoiy Sizing
Piopei stoiy sizing shoulu take the team thiough S stages: shaiing inuiviuual peispective (heie is what I
think this stoiy means), inuiviuual unueistanuing oi iationalization (mouifying youi peispective of the
stoiy baseu on what was shaieu as an inuiviuual peispective), ielativity (how haiu oi easy is this
compaieu to things we have uone like this befoie), gioup alignment (choosing a stoiy point baseu on the
ielative complexity), anu gioup wisuom (a common unueistanuing of what neeus to be accomplisheu has
been obtaineu). As a Scium Nastei, facilitate the team thiough this jouiney.
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0nueistanu anu Facilitate Stoiy Task Cieation
Coach the team to cieate tasks taking no moie than 8 houis to complete. Iueally, 2 to 4 houis woulu be best
as this means at least one task foi eveiy team membei shoulu be moveu at eveiy stanuup. Novement
builus momentum anu eneigy towaius completing spiint goals anu also piomotes self-accountability.
0nueistanu anu Facilitate the "Befinition of
Bone"
Facilitating a "uefinition of uone" will assist the team with theii level of commitment uuiing a spiint anu
ueteimining how much they can complete uuiing the spiint. Possible "uefinition of uone" activities may
incluue stoiies cannot be accepteu unless we peifoim peei coue ieviews, automateu tests have been
cieateu, unit tests aie completeu, functional testing completeu, etc.
Iuentify anu Nanage Risks
Tiy anu be a step oi two aheau of the team anu iemove potential impeuiments befoie they become
blockeis. Nany iisks will be technical oi enviionmental so communicating with the aichitect will be
impoitant.
Biive the Removal of Impeuiments
A Scium Nastei tiuly pioves theii woith by theii ability to iemove impeuiments anu keep a team in flow.
Bave an appioach establisheu foi escalation anu uon't uelay shoulu you have a stubboin impeuiment (2
uays max).
Builu 0iganizeu anu Effective Task Walls
Bepenuing on youi team anu youi team space, task oi Scium walls take on many shapes anu sizes. Stait
with the stanuaiu "not staiteu, in piogiess, anu uone" columns but iefine as youi team matuies oi if
neeueu. Foi iemote teams, viitual task walls
Cieate Effective anu Relevant Piogiess
Inuicatois
Typically, youi piogiess inuicatois will take the foim of a buin-uown oi buin-up chait but othei options
exist. Finu the best one foi youi team anu use them. Leain how to catch potential health issues befoie they
uisiupt team flow anu haimony.
Fostei Self-Bealing
It may be useful to biing impiovement aieas iuentifieu in the ietiospective anu post them on the
infoimation iauiatoi. Bon't be afiaiu to speak up when you see aieas foi the team to live up to theii
committeu impiovements.
Fostei Self-Accountability
The typical scenaiio when things go wiong while builuing softwaie is to pass blame between ioles. "Why
uiun't the testei finu this bug!." oi "Why uiun't the uevelopei unit test this!." These behaviois only causes
people to become uefensive anu will usually tiiggei someone to auu moie piocess, sign-offs, anu meetings.
Fiom eaily on, fostei a sense of team accountability foi youi iesults.
Fostei Relationships
A uevelopei woulu iathei woik alone anu not be "botheieu" by a testei when he begins couing. The
ielationship between the aichitect on the team anu the uevelopeis has become tense. The aichitect is not
veiy flexible anu the uevelopei uoes not feel like his iueas aie being heaiu. Bow shoulu a Scium Nastei
iesponu to these situations to fostei healthy uialogue anu ielationship. Stuuy books such as "Tiibal
Leaueiship" oi "The Five Bysfunctions of a Team" to begin cieating a tool belt of techniques to solve these
team oi ielationship issues.
Fostei Celebiation anu Noiale
This coulu incluue oiganizing an outing foi the team outsiue of woik oi biinging foou to Scium events.
Captuie eveiyone's biithuay anu sing happy biithuay at the stanu up meeting. Put ieminueis on youi
calenuai to scheuule team activities. It uoes not neeu to be expensive to show how much we appieciate oui
team foi theii accomplishments. Small things make a uiffeience but keep things ieal - fake appieciation
will be sniffeu out by the team anu will have a negative impact.