Building Trust, Communication, and Value Delivery
Team members are empowered to negotiate between them. Projects are planned, developed, and maintained by the entire team, not individuals. Team members have direct access to those who need the solution. There’s no such thing as a team if there’s no identified customer. A group where every member has the skills, confidence, and empowerment to take the initiative, make decisions, and lead others. When people see problems, they think, let me take the lead in solving this issue. This can also lead to more autonomy and Ownership among team members, increasing motivation and buy-in for the project. This can lead to faster problem-solving and more efficient use of resources.
Communicate project status to stakeholders. Manage and call out risks. Team members should ensure the quality and reliability of shipped products. Help the team ship and delegate (both to the team and upwards). Motivate the team on the way. Set up a framework for collaboration. Break down the project into milestones & provide estimates on these. There should not be a global entity managing the work of the team members. Individual team members are not a good metric to assess the complexity of work. It is about setting clear expectations, providing support, and fostering trust and empowerment. It’s also essential for managers to be mindful of their management style and be open to feedback from their team members. On the one hand, taking risks and being aware of the hierarchy within the organization are essential. Walking can be challenging, but this inner conflict drives the manager to be a more effective leader and advocate for their team.
Managers build the team’s trust and confidence rather than empower others to make things faster and better. Team members should help each other to identify and solve problems. This approach fosters autonomy and independence, leading to successful and fulfilling outcomes.
Teams should review their agile methods, identify areas for improvement and make changes as necessary. This helps ensure the team stays aligned with the agile principles and continues using the most effective practices.
Agile methodologies rely on collaboration and communication to be successful. Teams should foster a culture of open communication and encourage team members to share their thoughts and ideas.
Agile teams should always keep the focus on delivering value to the customer. This helps ensure that the team stays aligned with the project’s goals and that they are not getting bogged down in unnecessary details. Agile methodologies are designed to be flexible and adaptable. Teams should be prepared to make changes as needed to ensure that they are meeting the needs of the project and the customer. What cripples communication saturation is specialization — the number of roles and titles in a group. If people have a particular title, they tend to do only things that seem a match for that title. And to protect the power of that role, they tend to hold on to specific knowledge.
Teams should define clear and measurable goals for the project at the beginning and use them as a guide to determine when the project is complete.
Teams should focus on features and work on the most important ones first. This helps ensure that the project delivers value to the customer and that the team is not adding unnecessary features.
Teams should use user feedback to confirm the features they are working on and ensure they meet the customer’s needs. When an in-person meeting is an absolute must, ensure everyone is on the same page and that remote colleagues feel heard and valued. Ensure the video call options are enabled and available so everyone is always included. Trust is the bedrock of any successful team, and virtual teams are no exception. When leading a virtual team, it’s essential to assume that everyone is working hard and doing their best work.
Leaders must foster an environment of connection within virtual teams to achieve success. Every team member must feel included in the process, no matter how far away they may be. Start meetings with tailored discussions to encourage group connections and help build rapport. Ask colleagues in varying time zones what times are best for them to participate in meetings. Establish a robust rhythm of communication for your team, with regular check-ins with remote workers as a collective unit.
Teams should provide training and tools to help remote team members work, such as collaboration tools like Trello, Asana, and Jira. In a remote job, you want to be perceived as someone who meets expectations. If you’re perceived as a hard worker, it doesn’t matter what you do behind the scenes. A strategy to achieve a positive perception (and outcome) is accomplished by setting *your* goals with your manager. Usually, people set goals for the year, but keep in mind you’re evaluated on review cycles. Set and time your goals for the review cycle. In the 30–60 day window, you should set goals with your boss if that still needs to be done. Good communicators always need to be more communicative. They are perceived to be in control, even though what’s said is the same message, repeated many times. Don’t ask what your boss’s expectations are — set them yourself. Identify what needs to be done, communicate that as your goal, and execute to meet them.
Completing 100 PRs weekly doesn’t matter if they don’t contribute to helping the business. Teams should be the keepers of their process. A project is not about code — it’s about delivering value to the customer. A value-driven agile process enables collaboration through open and consistent communication.
