• Agile Transformation

Suddenly I realize: so this is such a dead horse

We are working full steam ahead with the Scrum team on a new ‘mining environment’ for an energy company. Cool project, challenging industry and an enthusiastic team. At least, largely an enthusiastic team. Because a number of team members have been working for the energy company for over 40 years and are not exactly eager to start Scrumming. After just one week I knew: ‘This is going to go completely wrong!

Years of working on thick documentation explaining in detail how everything should work. That is what the “old hands in the trade” are comfortable with, when suddenly they are expected to do things completely differently. Suddenly they have to work together in a team and deliver a small piece of partial product every two weeks that is already really working completely. “Surely it’s been going well the way we’ve been doing it for years!” they exude from head to toe.

Leave me alone

Demonstrating the sub-product to the stakeholders has a very good reason; they can try it out for themselves in real life and think something of it. Sounds good, but not for the “old guard. They find it terrible to work so transparently. Suddenly they have to take into account the programmer, the copywriter and the marketer. Whereas before they could do their own thing. And what they are also not used to: they get feedback. What unnecessary comments; leave me alone.

I make it fun

During the first sprints, as Scrum Master, I try incredibly hard to make it fun for everyone. I wave my arms, organize team lunches, come up with energizers and regularly engage team members in discussions about the process. Time and again, after a hard day’s work, I race to the daycare to pick up my kids, completely wrecked. Sweaty, I get on my bike with two school bags, a gym bag, rollerblades, a full head and the question: how am I going to make dinner in time? And then the next day I am waving my arms around again, trying to make it as fun as possible for all the team members.

Stop pulling

Yet another morning. Yet another sprint. The umpteenth time I will stand on my head to get everyone along. But while pedaling, on my way to the team, I suddenly realize: I can keep standing on my head, but if people don’t want to, they don’t want to. You can pull a dead horse, but the only result is painful stretch marks on your hands and a dead horse that hasn’t moved an inch. So I stop pulling. Result? Two team members quit and real space for the new team dynamic soon emerged.

Also done standing on your head?

As a Scrum Master , your role is to make problems transparent, that’s it. You don’t have to solve them all. The more you lean forward, the more your team will lean back. So, lean back a little and see what happens.