Hi again.

In previous videos, we discussed how

your role as an Agile project manager or Scrum Master is similar
to the role of a coach. We also explored some of the ways you
can help an Agile team improve their performance. In this video, we'll discuss some
more
common coaching challenges you might encounter while managing an Agile team or
project, whether they're a new team or
they've been around for a while. The three challenges we'll focus on
are managing a stable product roadmap, incomplete implementation of Scrum, and
experiencing a lack of
stability within the team. First, let's discuss the challenge of
managing a stable product roadmap. Agile projects almost always experience
changes in the product roadmap. Being able to respond quickly and productively to
these changes is a core Agile value. But it is possible to have too
much change impacting the project, which can lead to
an unstable product roadmap. There are two main causes of an unstable
product roadmap: product ambition and product assumptions. Let's cover product
ambition first. Product ambition poses a challenge when
product leadership is overly ambitious about what the team can
realistically deliver. The Product Owner is responsible for
representing the project to customers and executives because the Product Owner
wants to make the stakeholders happy. It can be easy for them to over-promise
what the project can deliver. For example, imagine that our Office
Green CEO notices that the Virtual Verde business in North America
is doing really well. In a meeting they say to
the Product Owner, "This is amazing! I'd love to launch Virtual Verde in
Asia in the next four months. What do you think?" The Product Owner really wants to
deliver so they tell the CEO sure, but the Product Owner won't
actually know if meeting this objective is possible until they discuss
it with the team, which means they might accidentally be setting an unrealistic
expectation with the CEO. So how do you deal with this challenge? Here are three
ideas to maintain a healthy
roadmap management plan between you and the Product Owner. First, agree up front
how to
handle new opportunities, define when they are reviewed and
estimated, and how customer or management commitments are made. Second, set up
regular roadmap
reviews with the entire team, at least quarterly, so
that everyone knows what to expect. And third, promote sharing knowledge
between the Product Owner and the Development Team so that the Product Owner knows
how much
effort the product takes to build and the team is aware of changes
as early as possible. The second thing that can cause
an unstable product roadmap is making too many product assumptions. When there's
uncertainty in a project, you may be required to make some
assumptions to move things forward. But making too many assumptions
can jeopardize the team's success. Let's go back to our
Virtual Verde example. Sending plants to customers'
homes is a complex process. You need to consider a lot
of different factors, like which plants will sell best, which
plants will stay healthy in a wide variety of climates and settings, and
what vendors to work with. The team does their best to study
the market and opportunity, but they have to make some assumptions and
move forward with decisions relying on less than perfect information as a way
to deal with product assumption issues. Document the assumptions
and make them transparent. This allows you to discuss the assumptions
as a team and either agree that they're safe assumptions to make or
decide to question and double check them. If you do decide to double check them,
you can use unbiased user research. Unbiased user research gathers
information about what users really want. It allows you to confirm or
reject assumptions and helps you move forward with confidence. User research could
involve conducting
surveys, running focus groups, or using other methods to collect
objective data about your users. The next big challenge you might encounter
relates to an incomplete implementation of Scrum. This happens when Scrum practices
are only partially implemented or when Scrum practices are implemented
without proper support and coaching. Scrum roles, artifacts, and activities
are designed to work together as a set. If you only partially implement them,
you might end up reducing their benefits. Incomplete implementation of
Scrum can cause a lot of issues. First, it can lead to a loss of
clear roles and responsibilities. To implement Scrum completely, you should define
the roles for
the team and then fill those roles with
specific individuals. For example, if you try to have
a Developer also act as the Scrum Master, they might not have the bandwidth
to do either role very well. Better to have Developers be
on the Development Team and you the project manager
be the Scrum Master. You might also be tempted to skip some
events or blend them to save time, but a lack of clear boundaries for
Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and Sprint Planning can lead to reducing
transparency, inspection, and adaptation, and these are all essential to
experience the full benefits of Scrum. And finally, not providing the team with
the Scrum coaching they need would also mean that you haven't fulfilled
your role as Scrum Master. It's your job to fully explain the Scrum
practices and provide coaching so your team understands the reasoning
behind the practices and can embrace their benefits. The solution to all of these
challenges
is to implement Scrum completely. Being the Scrum Master is a critical role. You're
the coach, so you should reinforce
the connections between the team's activities and the Scrum and Agile values. For
example, if your team
complains about Daily Standups, remind them that the purpose of Standups is to gain
feedback, unblock work, ask for help, and reinforce the importance
of staying focused on the Sprint goals. You can also make sure roles are
well-defined and properly fulfilled. For example, ensure that all team members
understand their own roles as well as the roles of their teammates and
how those roles interact. For example, the Product Owner makes
sure we build the right thing, the Development Team
ensures we build it right, and the Scrum Master ensures we build it fast. And
finally, the last big challenge
you might encounter with Agile and Scrum teams is a lack of team stability. When
the team changes a lot, with
people leaving and joining frequently, it can make things unpredictable and
disrupt the flow of work. There are a few things you can do to
address instability on your team. First, have a quick onboarding process
for new team members to help them get to know the rest of the team and
understand the project. Second, use a Pair Programming style, where a new team
member teams up with a
colleague and starts learning on the job. This also helps if people leave the team
since a partner should be able to pick up where they left off. And third, if team
composition
changes because members keep leaving, try having shorter Sprints. This way, team
members can wrap up
their last Sprint's worth of work before leaving. To recap, the three main
challenges
we've covered in this video are managing a stable product roadmap, incomplete
implementation of Scrum,
and a lack of team stability. I've encountered each of these
challenges and more in many of my teams. The wonderful thing about Agile is that
there's a huge community of Agilists that are happy to help with any
challenges you might come across. Even an experienced Agilist like myself
asks for help now and then. Coming up, we'll explore how Agile is
evolving and keeping up with the times. Now that's an Agile way to be.