power in agile teams

Power in Agile Teams

Why power?

I was effective…

Passionate Opinionated Strong Willed

Was I effective..?

Bruised EgosConflictStress

So I started to explore.

And what I found was...

What will I be covering

1. Teams2. Power in teams3. Avoiding power pitfalls4. Power used well

1. Teams

What is a team?

GOAL

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Who makes up a team

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

There are lots of relationships in a team

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

There are lots of relationships in a team.

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

There are lots of relationships in a team..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

It gets even more complex!

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Why teams?

Why teams?

Teams can see more.

Why teams?

Team can know more.

Why teams?

Teams can do more.

Individuals

do the work

How do teams work?

Solutions

to Problems

Individuals

Teams

Decide

Solutions

IndividualsTeams SolutionsIdeas!

Suggested by Individuals

Which ideas are implemented, which are discarded and which are never suggested...

That’s where power in teams comes into play.

2. Power in teams

Hard power.Soft power.

Individual abdication of power.Contextual abdication of power.

How people who wield power see themselves:

How other people see them:

First let’s look at Hard Power

The team have been asked to find the next cool refreshing beverage.

The Opportunity

This is our team.

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

They are forming a solution..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Courtney has a solution...

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Alex does not agree.

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

How Does Courtney Get Her Solution?

Acting as a boss - Legitimate Power

“With respect Alex, this is the direction we are taking.”

Giving Incentives - Reward Power

“Alex I know that you like that idea, but if we do my way maybe we will have time to do your pet project.”

Threatening punishment - Coercive power

“Alex I don't want to have this conversation again - you know your performance review is coming up”

So who loses out?

Everyone involved (and more).

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

The Idea! (worst of all)

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Why does this happen?

A flaw in the Human Operating System (OS) (1st)

Obedience

Soft Power

A cool tie in to Pixar's latest hit.

The opportunity:

They are evaluating an idea..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Robin has a solution...

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

How does Robin get her solution?

Specific Knowledge - Informational Power

“I was told by marketing that this is what they want.”

Trusted Expertise - Expert Power

“In my opinion we should not do this , everyone knows don’t fight Conway's law.”

Being liked / respected - Referent Power

“Lets do it this way.”

It has the same downsides as Hard Power

● The team is less invested.● The relationships become strained.● The idea is less.

So why does this happen?

A flaw in the Human OS (2nd)

Overconfidence

Abdication of Power (Individual)

Next great dental hygiene product.

The opportunity:

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

They are evaluating an idea..

Robin has a solution...

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

But it’s Jack we are interested in.

Why does Jack not get involved?

Does not like to be noticed.

“...”

Feels like she has nothing to add..

“I can’t say that.. ...it’s stupid”

Likes to talk One-on-One

“I just wanted to have a word about what we discussed in the meeting.”

This is really hard to see..

So why does this happen?

A flaw in the Human OS (3rd)

Insecurity

Abdication of power (Contextual).

The next generation of AI. To help humans accomplish tasks faster and smarter.

The opportunity:

They are evaluating an idea..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Courtney and Robin have a solution..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Once suggested all the other ideas are discarded.

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

They are like Bob and Mary in perspective..

“I was thinking the exact same thing.”

They don’t like conflict.

“Yeah … that seems like a good idea.”

They want the meeting to end!

<Been in this meeting forever - lets just agree>

So why does this happen ?

A flaw in the Human OS (4th)

Conformity

Lets pause for a moment..

1) The type of power/abdication of power you use

2) The type of power/abdication of power that most damages collaboration in your team

Now with some context:

Let me explain what I learnt about myself.

Expert Power was/is my drug of choice.

I had no idea.

I thought it was a good thing...

But the effect remained the same:

3. Avoiding power pitfalls.

How do we fight against the flaws in our Human OS?

● Obedience● Overconfidence● Insecurity● Conformity

The first step is a realisation

We, as humans, have a drive to work communally.

We, as humans, are not always very good at it.

“Teamwork is an individual skill”

Ultimately..

How do we leverage our individual power to improve the ideas that flow through our team?

There are 4 things we can work at:

● Our teams culture.● How we discuss ideas.● How we make difficult decisions.● Our own behaviour.

Team culture

Generate a culture of ideas.

Generate a culture of ideas.

Treat the implementation of new ideas as experiments.

Treat the implementation of new ideas as experiments.

Respect the diversity of your team.

Respect the diversity of your team.

How we discuss ideas:

Facilitate your meetings.

Facilitate your meetings.

Agree about how your team makes decisions.

Agree about how your team makes decisions.

Fight the mythical fixed pie assumption.

Fight the mythical fixed pie assumption.

Suspended judgement.

Suspended judgement.

How we make difficult decisions:

Nominate someone as devil's advocate.

Nominate someone as devil's advocate.

Have more than one option.

Have more than one option.

Understand the groan zone.

Understand the groan zone.

Your behaviour...

Be humble.

Be present.

Be aware.

Lets pause for another moment..

1) What’s the most important power mitigation behaviour for your team to use.

4. Power used well:

What does a healthy meeting look like?

A fun, unpowered toy.

The opportunity:

The meeting:

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

They are evaluating an idea..

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

The facilitator:

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

The inexperienced:

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

The expert:

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Ideas are evaluated...

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

The Groan Zone

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

Consensus

Jack Alex Bob

Mary Sue Robin

Courtney

This leads...

To a great idea!

Why make the effort ?

What we do is all about the ideas.

In the land of agile having good ideas is vital.

To have a truly collaborative consensus driven environment.

We all have times when we will be driven by flaws in the human OS.

We must struggle against our impulses, our drives and our nature.

Expert Power

Informational Power

Referent Power

Redirecting Soft Power

How goes my journey?

I have discovered change is hard.

I have discovered change is hard.

In summary:

● If you talk too much - talk less, talk last.● If you tell people what to do - ask more

questions.● If you never speak, the team needs you

to speak up.

You are now aware: ● How you use power (or how you don’t)● How power is used/abused in your team● Techniques you think may help your

team collaborate

Now comes the hard bit ...change!

That's it!

Any questions ?

ReferencesFacilitator’s guide to participatory decision-making - Sam KanerTeamwork is an Individual skill - Christopher M AveryHow to measure anything- Eddington50 ways to improve your user stories - Goran edvik and david evansGroup Dynamics for Teams - Daniel Levi

Thanks to Dius agile coaching SIGThe good folks at BCGDVDominique and Erinn Agile NewcastleAnd as always My Girl

Other Info

Link to slideshttp://www.slideshare.net/caoiltedunne/power-in-agile-teamsTwitter : @CaoilteDunneEmail : caoilte.dunne@dius.com.au