Agile: “Teaming” + “Collaboration”

How to improve the “collaboration” in an agile “team”? Collaboration is a critical ingredient in the pursuit of excellence.

“Agile is for the young who can sprint. What’s the minimum age to apply for a manager? Managers don’t need to sprint.” – Software Engineer

“I need my personal space and can’t work in a collaborative space. I need to hide sometimes. Managers are in a cabin; I want to be isolated too.” – Software Engineer

“No pair programming, please. I am most productive when I am alone. I listen to my music and code. I will follow the coding guidelines; just let me be with my code. I will work all night and get it done with great quality – promise. Can I WFH?” – Software Engineer

“You must review your code before check-in. Peer review is like brushing your teeth in the morning. It’s hygiene. Do you brush your teeth every day? Like it or not – just like brushing teeth – you have to peer-review your code before check-in” – Coach.

“You don’t go to the gym to only run on a treadmill for cardio. You have to train your back with pullups, chest with dumbbell incline press, shoulders with machine shoulder press, and biceps with dumbbell bicep curls. Whole-body training gives the best results. In the same way, in the agile gym, you have to practice pair-programming, team retrospectives, team backlog grooming, peer-review, and many more. It’s a team sport. We will start you with pair-programming and then gradually introduce other practices” – Coach.

Software Engineers’ perspective is correct: They have been nurtured by the system to be competitive. They did not work in pairs to clear their engineering exams. Study groups were just boredom killers. They compete with other engineers for jobs. They are where they are because of their “individualism” and not their “collaboration” skills. And, the ask from them is to un-learn all of that and “collaborate.” It’s a value conflict.

Coaches’ perspective is correct: Great things have been achieved with collaboration. From “hunting for food” during cave days to “winning a football (soccer) game” requires intense collaboration.

In sports teams, say, cricket teams, some basic instincts kick in to drive collaboration. People quickly self-organize into the batter, bowler, wicket-keeper, and captain. Batters collaborate to seek “runs.” Everybody gives feedback to bowlers. The team claps when anybody fields the ball. They hug and scream. Emotions flow. They celebrate each other – it’s the team and not the individual. And, when this same team comes back to their desk to work, emotions stop, and they continue complaining about pair programming (2 batters running) and peer review (everybody giving feedback to bowlers).

It’s not about process, practices, and tools. It’s about people. In a team context, it’s an identity loss for the individual. It’s a mistake only to celebrate a team and overlook individualism. “Collaboration” shines when “Individualism” is honored. While there is a cup for the team, there is also a man-of-the-match (or woman-of-the-match). So, it has to be “Teaming,” “Collaboration,” and “Individualism.”

It’s not about leveraging digital collaboration tools. It’s about allowing human emotions to flow in the work context using gaming to simulate a sports environment. Example: Leaderboards in adopting an agile practice, Leaderboards in competency development, Leaderboards in customer NPS, and badges for engineer-of-the-team help pump the adrenaline gene. The gaming process should not be too liberal in the rewarding process and allow good/bad/ugly emotions to flow—Mix western-style gaming by rules and eastern-style gaming by shame. Example: In football (soccer),

1. Western-style: The yellow card to warn a player is gaming by rules.
2. Eastern-style: The coach pulling out a non-performing player from the field is gaming by shame.

Agile Manifesto: “Individuals and interactions over processes and tools“

For engineers: Don’t treat your team at work like your family. Treat them as your sports team. If you are handicapped for life, the people looking after you is your family and not your team. The team will extend financial/emotional support but cannot replace family. The value systems are different.

For coaches: Use gaming. Use agile. Not just the process. People before process.