Agile Teams

  What is a Technical Scrum Master(TSM) or Technical Product Owner(TPO)?   I have been hearing about these roles lately, and the concept has been floating around for some time. I assume the  TPO or TSM would be someone with a background in tech or someone specifically trained in those areas who also fulfill the roles of Product Owners (PO) or Scrum Masters (SM) in an agile environment.   The call for the distinction seems to come more from POs and SMs working in software development environments. This could be because of the specialized nature of software engineering and the fact that tech companies often have an architecture unique to the product.   This brings the question though, does a scrum master need to be technical?   There are many answers, direct and nuanced, to this question. The most important factor would be the environment in which the Scrum Master is working. Then you would have to look at the architecture of the product. How many microservices. How many external APIs. How many vendor partners. Ultimately, the product and how much knowledge of the platform they need to facilitate results would be the deciding factor. Where the project is highly technical, with lots of moving parts and stakeholders, all with highly specialized skills, it may be helpful to be tech-savvy. My opinion is that that deep tech knowledge may still not be necessary. There are other factors such as the scrum teams themselves and organizational structure.   The non-technical scrum master Dilemma   What if you are a Scrum Master in a company where you find that your lack of technical context is preventing you from functioning in your role?    Do you sign up for technical courses or resign to the fact that you may not be the best […]

You may be noticing that your company’s best and most experienced developers are slowly leaving or aggressively trying to move into project leadership type roles. Maybe some have already indicated that they no longer want to ‘code’ and as such need to transition out by any means possible. This is not a new trend and will not stop happening soon unless we get to the root cause of why so many developers are unhappy in their roles. Lack of Recognition At the end of the project life-cycle there is usually a lesson-learned meeting to discuss its successes/failures, or tidbits about the project are placed in the monthly newsletter or annual report of the company. More times than not there are accolades for the leadership team and often there is no mention of the hard work or sacrifices that the development team may have had to make to get the project rolled out on the scheduled date. No Opportunity for Career Advancement Usually, you move from Junior to Mid-level and then a Senior Development role. Sometimes there may be opportunities for tech-leadership roles, but this depends on the company structure and compensation paradigm. A developer in a Senior position may feel that they have plateaued and the only way to show positive movements in their career is to transition into management. Tired of Learning New Technologies Let’s face it, who can truly keep track of all the new technology being rolled out everyday? From the newest JavaScript frameworks to the new ‘big’ thing in big data. After a while, a developer may get tired of keeping up and may want to find a path that does not require him/her chasing new certifications every month. Joedian, I just can’t keep up with the pace of technology. Everyday there is something new to learn and […]

People are temperamental. They change. Their moods, what they want, what they expect. Yet they do not expect the goals of the company to change or that they will have to work hard to align with them. If you as the manager ever require something more of them, you may hear complaints or whining and threats of resignations. The truth is, don’t expect the employee to bend over backwards for you, IF he/she doesn’t LOVE you and your company. The solution, make them love you, every single one of them! *Imagine villain doing evil laugh and rubbing hands together in a sinister fashion* How? Be truthful from the beginning. You don’t marry a woman telling her its OK if she doesn’t cook then expect three course meals 3 months later. You will be getting the same burnt chicken, instant noodles and take-out that she was feeding you during courtship. Similarly, if things will get a little tough in the following months, the employee has a right to know. Don’t set unrealistic expectations. It’s okay to fail sometimes (unless it’s mission critical robotic dinosaur heart replacement surgery), let your employee know this so that they will be willing to act creatively on your behalf. Creativity is often needed for one company to pull ahead of another in this market. Similarly don’t send your pot-bellied husband to the gym one day and expect him to come back with a six-pack that evening. Every Kiss begins with K. Well, commitment does not start with a ‘k’, but let your employee know you are committed to their success at your company. It’s not a matter of hiring them, placing them at a desk and expecting that they will work their hardest. Show commitment by tracking their progress and providing feedback along the way. Relationships take hard work or a […]

Sometimes we are tempted to forego the hard discussions and let the information flow ‘naturally’ to the intended target. No matter how tempted you are as a company or an individual to do this, don’t! Here are some good reasons why. Chaos “Really, Tim is leaving the company? Why didn’t he say something? He must have gotten fired. Hmmm.. Maybe the company is closing. Why else would a senior manager leave?”  And then the panicking starts. This half-truth breeds more speculation until it becomes the truth – almost like secrets spoken into a Chinese telephone. If you have investors this can also spark frantic stock sales and pull out, if not and you are the owner you can imagine the troubles ahead if your key employees start heading for the door.  Some things are on a need-to-know basis, yes, but topics such as the exit of key personnel from a company should be handled professionally with the right message being passed to strategic individuals. Mistrust “I heard the company is downsizing and will let 20 people go”, says employee number one. “Really? I asked HR and was told nothing like that will happen as the company is looking to expand”, employee number two. And.. a few days later redundancy packages are issued. Trust is paramount in any relationship – even those of a professional nature. You don’t tell your fiancée you don’t want to marry him on the day of the wedding – unless you are the star of the Runaway Bride, similarly, you don’t tell an employee they are safe and then end their employment the day after. What you do in this case is that you totally alienate the employees left behind. The ones who had heard through the grapevine that there “are no such plans afoot”.   There is […]

I read a story once about the power of common sense and valuing your intuition. It goes something like this: Four men were walking through the forest when they came upon the skeleton of a lion with everything intact.  The first guy was a well-learned man so he said he would lay the bones and skin back in order as if the lion was still alive. The second, not to be outdone said he could return flesh to the bones and have the lion look like it was just asleep. The third quickly added that he could return life to the body.  While they were pondering how marvelous the outcome would be, the fourth calmly said.. “Before you do this, just let me climb the nearest tree.” The other three men laughed at how dumb this man was, he obviously had nothing to contribute to their awesome act, but they conceded – he climbed the tree and they proceeded. One by one they proceeded to bring the lion back, they arranged the bones, they added the flesh and the third proceeded to stir the lion back to life.. The lion flinched, open his eyes then rose on his legs. Being quite famished it proceeded to eat all three wise men.. Of course, the fool in the tree was saved.. I am sure Simba from Lion King would have appreciated these skills.. “Your opinion may not be valued but your actions should prove to others how wise you are.