Agile, Scrum & Kanban

Understanding the Importance of Tech Microculture Within Large Corporations

This article discusses the importance of developing a microculture within tech teams in large corporations. It outlines the methodology, processes, autonomy, values, and alignment needed to create a successful team culture. It emphasizes the need to understand the team, build trust and empathy, and align the team mission statement with the company mission statement.

Increasing Team Velocity By Increasing Team Autonomy

Xello tracked team velocity across their engineering teams and noticed some teams were not performing as expected. To fix this, they reduced communication channels by putting a dedicated UX person on each team and empowered them to make all decisions, and set up KPI's to measure teams against quarterly objectives. This improved team velocity and ensured teams were making the right decisions. The lesson learned was to ensure people are aligned with the company's mission and strategy, and to ensure they have autonomy to move quickly without relying on others.

Creating a product after rapidly expanding a team

This article recounts the experience of an engineering manager tasked with creating a new product for their company. The team grew from three people to almost 100 in four months, and the manager had to find a way to maintain control. To do this, they created a process for code reviews, automated the repository, and built scrum teams. They also had to motivate the team and ensure customer support. Ultimately, the product was shipped with bugs, but it was a success. The manager learned the importance of inspiring people to do a good job and part equality in the early stages of a project.

How To Change A Culture Using Company Practices

When Bank of America wanted to move to an Agile approach, I suggested taking an incremental approach by changing the development and testing process in the middle of the software development cycle. This allowed for small changes to be made and accepted, rather than a large, sudden change which would have resulted in pushback. Leadership support was also necessary for the transformation to be successful.

How to promote the right engineers to management roles

This story recounts the experience of a former Evite employee who was promoted to manager after demonstrating leadership skills in helping a colleague adjust to the new scrum system. The employee's main concern was to maintain the same relationship with their peers, which was achieved by having open dialogues and listening to their needs. This experience has taught the employee that managing people is about listening to them and collaborating with them, which has been a philosophy they have applied in their career.

How to Cope With Job Stress and Build Resilience

This article discusses the challenges of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for a manager who had to manage a team of junior engineers, a 10-year-old child, and stakeholder projects. The author outlines the actions taken to manage the craziness, such as following a regular routine, taking care of the child's online classes, and providing emotional support to team members affected by COVID-19. The article also highlights the lessons learned, such as taking nothing for granted, being empathetic, and having excellent time management skills.