Managers and the land of the lost

Copyright © 2016 Steve Martin and SolutionsIQ Inc. All rights reserved.

6801 185th Ave NE, Suite 200Redmond, WA 98052solutionsiq.com1.800.235.4091

Managers and the Land of the Lost

Steve MartinEnterprise Lead Agile [email protected]


Agenda

Challenges for Today’s Managers

Roles & Responsibilities Exercise:

Part 1 : What are you doing now?

What should Managers focus on?

Roles & Responsibilities Exercise:

Part 2: What should you be doing

Part 3: Becoming Less Lost

Q&A


Couple housekeeping tips

Highly interactive with your table-matesOur time is limited - please refrain from using

technology during sessionPlease feel free to ask questions

But, want to respect our time box togetherMay use a Parking Lot for questionsFollow up afterwards to those we can’t get to

during the sessionLeave your card to get an electronic copy of this slide deck


TODAY’S MANAGERS…


What do I mean by Manager?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjWv7qZ1YzLAhVFkoMKHQZHBzMQjRwIBw&url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/10593480664&bvm=bv.114733917,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNFyT3dF2noNaRAA1jplXkZ_N7yoVw&ust=1456274945015696


Small Group Exercise

Use your sticky notes & sharpie pens.

In your tables/small groups, think of a time when you had a really amazing Manager.

Write on your sticky notes:

What characteristics did they have?

Think of as many ideas as you like.One characteristic per sticky note.

Time box: 4 minutes.

So what’s wrong with Managers today, then?


There is guidance for Team members roles in Scrum

» Voice of Customers» Owns and Prioritizes

Product Backlog» “What” not “How”

» Is a facilitator, not a PM

» Ensures Scrum followed

» Removes Blockers

» Servant Leader

Product Owner ScrumMaster

» Responsible for:• Creating product• Product quality

» Size the work» Pulls in work» Commit to the work

Team


There’s guidance for Executives in Agile

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjY3dKH1ozLAhXhyIMKHfuGDTEQjRwIBw&url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/demibrooke/2550349404&bvm=bv.114733917,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNGMMRSRbYV4qihLh3RVfjYK39V05w&ust=1456275159607797


ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

(PART 1)


Exercise: Roles & Responsibilities – Part 1

Write down your current job responsibilities on small stickies

» Only 1 responsibility per sticky (we’ll be moving them around later)

» Be as comprehensive & complete as possible

» Include both official and unofficial responsibilities

Refer to next slide for examples

Time box for this workshop: 4 mins

Time box when you do back at your office: 10-15 mins

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Examples of Current Manager Responsibilities

Plan budgets

Track and manage to budgets

Keep track of what all my staff are doing

Define metrics for my staff

Collect metrics/data from my staff

Provide weekly status report to my Management

Make commitments for my staff to Management

Make sure staff get their work done

Participate in standups

Remove staff members who are not doing well with a team

Hold weekly staff meeting

Hold weekly 1:1’s with my staff

Do annual performance evaluations

Perform career development/guidance to staff

Recruit, interview, and hire new staff


WHAT SHOULD MANAGERS BE FOCUSED

ON?


What’s not working today

Mindset


Managers tending to use position of power to:

• Tell/direct subordinates what to do

• Focus on efficiency of individuals and departments

• Over-emphasize cost containment

• Separate teams performing work from their actual customers/clients, removing feedback loops

• Require unnecessary documentation with layers of sign-offs

• Mandate metrics collection and reporting with little actionable value as proof of progress

• Reduce risk by ensuring conformity across organization with blind application of process for consistency purposes


Some impacts to the organization

• Folks wait to be told what to do and how to do it, which establishes:– Lack of accountability

• “I just did what you told me to”– Limitations in creativity– Culture of fear; no safety net to try things– Less satisfied workers (lower morale)


Some impacts to the organization• Waste in the process (hierarchies of signoffs, handoffs), leading

to:– Complicated governance processes– Increasing time from concept to in the customers’ hands

• Focus on individual(s) or department(s) rather than the system. – While you may have local efficiencies, it actually hurts

overall end-to-end delivery (slower, more issues, poor quality, greater risk).


Some Considerations for Today’s Managers

1. Servant Leadership

2. Motivation

3. Leadership Agility

4. Designing the organizational environment


What is Servant Leadership?

“A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the ‘top of the pyramid,’ servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”

(Greenleaf 1970)


Benefits from Servant Leadership• For an organization1:

– 15-20% increase in business performance– 20-25% increase in group productivity– Consistently appear in best 100 corporations to work for

• For an individual2:– Tend to be more highly regarded– Greater productivity – they are “connected” to get things done– Since they share, are also great beneficiaries of knowledge

1. Wong, Dr. Paul T. P. and Davey, Dean (2007, July). Best Practices in Servant Leadership. Servant Leadership Research Roundtable, Regent University.

2. Heskett, James (2013, May). Why Isn't Servant Leadership More Prevalent? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/05/01/why-isnt-servant-leadership-more-prevalent/


Shout it out…

What are some examples of what Servant Leadership might look like?


Motivation

People can accomplish much more when inspired by a purpose beyond themselves

25

Copyright © 2016 Steve Martin and SolutionsIQ Inc. All rights reserved. 26

(First) Three Levels of Leadership Agility*

Each level reflects a greater capacity to deal with complexity and rapid change.Each level builds upon, but expands the range of mental and leadership capability over the levels below

Expert Achiever Catalyst

Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change

Copyright © 2016 Steve Martin and SolutionsIQ Inc. All rights reserved. 27

Agile Leadership Principles

Why Do We Care?

There is a relatively low level of catalytic behavior demonstrated by managers

» 10% Pre-Expert

» 45% Expert

» 35% Achiever

» 5% Catalyst

» 4% Co-Creator

» 1% Synergist

90%

Bill Joiner, Stephen Josephs, Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change


Focus on the Environment


Focus on the Environment

In an agile organization, the job of leadership and

management shifts from managing individuals and

teams…

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…to managing, and continuously improving, the organizational environments in which individuals and teams operate



(PART 2)


Managing and Directing People

Defining and enforcing policies and rules of engagement (abstracting out details)

Making project decisions

Managing to the project portfolio

Examples of the Shift in Leadership Focus

Designing organizational environments (motivation, etc.)

Establishing objectives; keeping attention closer to where things are happening; keeping necessary details transparent

Push decision-making down to teams

Collaboratively establishing and managing to broad business goals and objectives


Coordinating project implementation details with business

Managing systems and processes

Solving problems

Examples of the Shift in Leadership Focus

Building trusting relationships with business, characterized by transparency and collaboration

Designing organizational environments (org structures, etc)

Understanding what those problems reveal about underlying organizational dynamics/structures and our own thinking; people close to the problem space solve problems as they arise



Write down what you should be (or want to be) doing on small stickies

» Only 1 responsibility per sticky (we’ll be moving them around later)

» Typically involves things you should/want to do, but don’t have the time to do

Time box: 4 mins

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(PART 3)



Consider everything that we learned today.

Put “characteristics of great managers” down the left side (by keep/start doing)

Move items into the appropriate columns.

» Add new items as needed

» Move higher value activities towards the top of your sheet of paper

» Move lower value activities towards the bottom…

Time box: 5 mins

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Keep/Start Doing

Stop Doing / Delegate


Q&A


APPENDIX

TABLE 2: THREE-TIER MODEL OF ROLES NEEDED FOR TRANSFORMATIONROLE TYPICAL TITLES FOCUS AREAS

Executives Leaders of the organization, such as:• C-levels• Executive Vice

Presidents• Managing Directors

• Set vision, guideposts, and culture for Agile transformationo Is consistent and transparent on why they are

doing what they are doingo Empower Management and Agile Teams, then

get out of the way • Renegotiate contracts and relationships with their

customers’ Executives

Management

Typically directly manages staff on teams• Associate Vice

Presidents• Directors• Senior Managers

• Paves road for smoother Team execution by removing organization-wide blockerso Empower Teams, then get out of the way o Regularly shows up to reviews and are

“present” to give valued feedback

Agile Teams Individual contributors • Deliver high valued, high quality working product• Alter direction as needed based upon feedback

from stakeholders


Environments, Cause & Effect

Software

Managers and the land of the lost