Self-Organization and Empowerment in Agile

© 2016 beLithe, Inc.

Self-Organization in a Command and Control World

© 2016 beLithe, Inc. 2

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Our teams are complex systems.

Self-organization is the spontaneous appearance of order or global coordination

out of local level interactions.


Darkness Principle


Centralized ControlImmune System

Pathogen

Blood cells

© 2016 beLithe, Inc.

What’s in it for our teammatesI am more effective.

I am more engaged.

My work is more rewarding.

I can handle adversity.

“....telling them to sit at a desk and to do

what they’re told obliterates 99 percent

of their value.” – Valve


What’s in it for the business

Increase customer satisfaction rates by

18%Decrease employee

turnover by

14%Multiply financial

success by

x4½ Gallup Research

Increase employee performance by

40%

Self-organization ultimately makes

manageability of the system much easier.

Data Distribution

Number one barrier to self-organization

YOU.

Management Issues with Self-Organization

Excellent specialist ≠

excellent manager

Fear of exclusionIllusion of control Limited mentorship and training

Managers must learn that they are in charge but not in

control.

Data Distribution“The leader is best when people are

hardly aware of his existence (...). When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,

the people say ‘We did it ourselves’.”

-Laozi

SafetyTrust

Boundaries

Vision

Elements of Effective Self-Organizing Teams

Authority

SafetyTrust

Boundaries

Vision


Authority

01 02 03 04Trust your

people.Earn trust from your people.

Help people trust each other.

Trust yourself.

Boundaries


Create boundaries around how individuals relate to other teams.

0201

03Create boundaries around how teams change over time.

Create boundaries around how teams

are structured.

Vision


D

C

B

A

This is our desired level of performance.

This is our fundamental purpose.

This is what we want to be.

This drives our decision-making.

Safety


It’s not about the first-mover advantage;It’s about the fast-learner advantage.

The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.

-Eric Ries, The Lean Startup


AuthorityEmpowerment

AuthorityAuthority:Gives a person the right to make decisions in a particular situation. Giving authority (delegation) is the act of handing over responsibilities to someone else.

Empowerment:Empowerment is authority plus a whole lot more. Empowering people is an ongoing activity.


Empowerment

Giving power does not

diminish your own status,

rather it increases it over

time.

Knowledge workers have the power.

These are our star players. Managers are

coaches.

Like continuous improvement,

empowerment is a never-ending

process.

Being an empowered employee is

skill that must be learned.

Empowerment can make short-term

problems harder to solve but makes

long-term problems easier.


Empowerment Maturity Levels

Low Moderate

High

Have no far-reaching consequences for the company.

• Developing internal workshops

• Establishing coding guidelines

• Decorating office for holidays

Hard for some organizations. If you’re doing Agile development, this is the minimum level you should achieve.

• Interviewing job candidates by employees

• Self-education• Self-organizing project

teams• Freedom of working hours• Freedom of tool selection

Very hard to achieve and may be practically impossible for most businesses. Most businesses in this category were created this way.

• Determine salaries together

• Allowed to work only the projects they want

• No distinction of job titles

How can we as managers influence each element?

I build trust by using the rule of two feet.

I build trust by asking for a microstatus rather than

micromanaging.

I build trust by asking my team to regularly complete a retrospective on my performance..

Trust

Boundaries

Vision

Safety

Authority

Trust


Boundaries

I create boundaries by helping each

team create an agreed on DoD.

I help the team create boundaries by facilitating the

understanding of external requirements.

Vision

Safety

Authority

Trust


Boundaries

Vision

Safety

Authority

I create the vision with my team early on in the process.

I reinforce the vision by

communicating it often.

Trust


Boundaries

Vision

Safety

Authority

I create a safe environment

by encouraging learning from

failures.

I build a safe environment by not punishing the team for not completing a

high priority in a sprint.

Trust


Boundaries

Vision

Safety

Authority

I distribute authority by letting the team determine when the

PSI has met the definition of done.

I distribute authority by having

the team make decisions on how it

will operate.


Delegation Poker Delegation often comes down to either “I do it” or “You do it.”

But there are really seven levels of delegation.

Delegation Poker to make clear who’s responsible for what and to what level. This is a method where you can encourage employee engagement through controlled self-organization and clarified value

and decision-making.

1. Tell: You as the manager make the decision. 2. Sell: You make the decision but you try to persuade others to buy into it.3. Consult: You get input from team before still making decision.4. Agree: You make a decision together as a team.5. Advise: Your team makes the decision, but you try to influence it.6. Inquire: Your team makes the decision and then tells you about it.7. Delegate: You offer no influence and let team work it out.


Delegation Poker


Discussion & Takeaways

DELEGATION IS NOT A BINARY THING. THERE ARE SHADES OF GREY BETWEEN A DICTATOR AND AN ANARCHIST.

-JURGEN APPELO

Delegation is not a binary “this or that” thing.

Delegation is a step-by-step process.

Delegation is context-dependent.

01

02

03


Survey

Link to survey

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/3jcTtj90ufBCHEL


Resources – Check these out!


Tana Linback

www.beLithe.com

Thank you, stay in touch!

@CoachLinback

[email protected]

Chris Daily

@Chris_Daily

[email protected]

Treating employees like adult humans might be common sense, but it is not common practice.

- Jurgen Appelo

Self-Organization and Empowerment in Agile

Business

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