Agile Process Change
Who owns the process and how it works most effectively
Introduction
Anyone familiar with the Agile manifesto will understand that we value individuals and interactions over processes and tools. However, what about the Agile process itself - surely we must value that?
A scenario in my day-job recently led me to ask myself questions about this:
- Who owns the process?
- How much do we value the process?
- What happens when the process changes?
Who owns the process?
Technically the answer is the team own the process.
However in practice that’s only half the picture. Without supporters, the process fails. There will be times when using Agile (or any other process for that matter) that you don’t get results. This could be because requirements aren’t understood, developers underestimate complexity, underlying platform failures, or any of a thousand other reasons. At this point leadership outside the project are likely to want to interfere with the process, because “it’s failed”.
At this point, ownership of the process may suddenly be taken by leadership. Therefore from the get-go process needs to be communicated, shared, documented and agreed with leadership and external parties. They must be helped to understand that the team own the process, and in the case of issues to funnel their frustrations/concerns/questions to the Scrum Master and not the team themselves. They are welcome to make suggestions but must be helped to understand that for the process to be successful it must be owned by the team themselves. Why? We discuss that next…
How much do we value the process?
What we own, we treasure. If we are free to improve it, reshape it, we value it even more. A successful team is made up of developers that contribute to a solution, always doing their best. By having a process that they own, instead of having to ask the question who failed we instead ask the question how did the process fail and more importantly how can we improve the process. Valuing the process above all else helps meet this goal. The minute the process is thrown away, ignored, or stolen (see previous point) the team lose autonomy and value.
What happens when the process changes?
The team own the process, only they are free to change it. Of course, external stakeholders (most likely senior leadership) will want to change the process, but this must always be funneled through the Scrum Master. A good Scrum Master will discuss this with the team and ask them what they want to do - accepting the suggestion may be refused. When the team do decide to make a change, either from an external suggestion or from their own thoughts, the change is communicated (email, Slack, Teams, wiki). This helps the team understand what they’ve agreed, refer back to it, and external stakeholders to understand how this team work best!