Support your agile team!

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.

— 5th principle, Agile Manifesto (https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html)

Agile teams do not exist in a vacuum, but rather within a larger ecosystem which can impact the team’s effectiveness for good or bad. Organizational leaders who want the best from their teams know that for the team to be successful, they need to give the teams the support they need. As a leader, here are some things you might wish to consider:

Let the team determine their process

Never impose an agile framework, process, or tool on a team. Imposition is contrary to the agile principle of self-organization. Agile teams own and are accountable for their own processes. Organizational and regulatory constraints including policy and governance may inform the team's choices; however, within these constraints, an agile team has the autonomy to create and re-create its own way of working. The test of the efficacy of the team's current process is their ability to delivery and meet the quality standards required.

Give the team the environment they need

Depending on the team's process, they may need facilities, equipment, tools, software, and other infrastructure. It is up to the leaders who support the team to make sure that when a team identifies something they need to optimize their work that the team is appropriately provisioned. Failure to do so will hinder the team’s process and suppress their potential to create more customer value.

Give the team access to the people they need

Agile teams typically consist of core team members who interact on a regular every-day basis and peripheral team members who occasionally step in on an as-needed basis to complement the core team members’ capabilities. The staffing needs of the team include both these core team members and peripheral team members.

If you’re wondering how to determine who is a team member, consider whether an individual is needed to enable the team to do the work at hand. If they are needed, then they are a team member. If the team can succeed without them, then perhaps they are not. As a leader, your support of the team makes you a team member, too! Keep in mind though that someone who is not needed right now, might be needed in the next moment; and someone who is needed right now, may not be needed for the next thing.

It is up to the agile team to determine who they need and when they need them to do their work. It is up to the leaders who support the team to enable the flow of people on to and off of the team at the right time so that the team can deliver the work that is most valuable to their customers.

Support the team’s learning

Teams benefit from mentoring, training, and coaching. Sometimes these activities can be supported within the team. At other times external expertise is required to supplement the team’s capabilities. When reaching out to external experts, leaders and the team should focus on the improvement of the team itself, rather than contracting for expertise that leaves the moment the expert does.

Be Vigilant

As time passes, an agile team will evolve their processes based on what's needed to continue to deliver effectively. The team's adaptations may also shift or introduce new support needs. Support from leaders is not a once-and-done activity, but rather requires ongoing vigilance and response to the team’s requests for who and what they need when they need it.