Ownership in Agile teams: giving freedom without chaos

“Dad, you shouldn’t bring your work home either.” I can still hear my son saying it. Nice. I immediately got completely bogged down. A few years ago, I had a tough discussion with my then adolescent son about his task maturity (I called it differently, of course, but I don’t remember if that was very nice). We differed on how much freedom he could handle. And especially about how much freedom he felt he had to have. And let that clash of two axes also be valuable for ownership in Agile teams. Let me explain.

What exactly the discussion was about at the time I will leave out; but the process I am happy to share. Because apart from the fact that I had a substantive point (I thought), he also had a point. And so we arrived at a familiar model quite early in the discussion:

Task maturity (to what extent are you able to tackle something independently?).
Freedom (what space do you need to take responsibility?)

Beginning on the axis of freedom

I stalled because I felt he was not showing enough that he was taking ownership: “Then show that you can take responsibility yourself!” He persisted, “If you don’t give me freedom, how can I show that I am behaving maturely?”

Well … there I was. “You shouldn’t take your work home too much,” was the pointed remark that took the discussion into its next phase.

Because he was right. If you want someone to grow, you have to start on the axis of freedom. Not finish. It reminds me of how young children learn through what researchers call “risky play” : just enough challenge and risk to discover what they can do on their own, but within a safe context.

That’s how it works for step-by-step task maturity growth. You give a piece of space, someone grows in task maturity, and together you increase ownership. The other way around hardly works. You can’t show that you can do something if you’re never given the freedom to do it.

Ownership in teams works exactly the same way

In Agile teams, we see the same dynamic:

If you give a new or inexperienced team full autonomy, chaos, uncertainty and sometimes panic ensue. Self-direction without experience is not autonomy but a recipe for frustration.
Deprive a task-full team of freedom, and you get bore-out, loss of motivation and leaders who unknowingly slip into micromanagement.

So agile ownership is not about “letting go of everything. And autonomy is not about “good luck with it. It’s about the right freedom at the right time. That’s exactly what self-management in Agile means: a flexible balance between freedom and structure, tailored to where the team stands.

The role of managers is fundamentally changing

In an Agile context, the role of managers shifts with it. From directing to supporting. From controlling to facilitating. From deciding to creating frameworks. Coaching leadership is not “giving freedom,” but consciously dosing autonomy.

A manager who wants to increase ownership therefore provides:

clear objectives (the why),
clear frameworks (the playing field),
space within those frameworks (the how determines the team),
coaching on growth in task maturity.

Increase ownership? Start with the conversation .

So my son and I did not agree on the amount of freedom or the level of task maturity. That happens in teams, too. But we did agree on the process:

First, a piece of freedom,
than learning and developing yourself
and then increase freedom further.

How do you do that in your own team?

Discuss what ownership means in your context.
Make explicit which space the team has (and which it does not).
Examine where task maturity can still grow.
Together, agree on how much freedom is appropriate for the next step.

Ownership never arises naturally. It arises where trust, clarity and growth come together.

How is this in your team?

How do you experience the ideal balance between freedom and structure? And how do you discuss it among yourselves? In any case, know that the right balance makes teams not only more productive, but also happier in their work. Do you recognize that situation? At home or at work, I am happy to spar with you about it.