Defining the Role of Agile Manager – Theory and Practice
, Lyssa Adkins
Although not a clearly defined role, we believe an Agile organization needs managers: ones with new skills, alternate mind sets, and fresh perspectives on managing. In this session we define a framework for Agile managers with eight competency areas, then springboard into a highly interactive discovery session with breakouts by competency. Participants will leave with tools and best practices they can use immediately to help the manager in their life. Competency areas include organizational change management, value stream & internal partner management, agile portfolio management and performance management.
A definitive role for managers is still nonexistent in the Agile literature. Some would have it that managers are not needed in an Agile organization. We believe this is both unrealistic and ill advised for any but very small organizations. An Agile manager—attuned and skilled in the new disciplines required—has a significant role, though surely not the traditional one. In this session, we will cover the role of Agile manager and explore in detail the eight competency areas within which Agile managers can and should have responsibility and make contributions.
This workshop is designed for people who want good managers in the Agile world, including Agile team members, managers who want to really contribute, and educators and coaches who need to teach managers their role in effectively working with Agile teams and Agile organizations.
Join us as we offer our research and experience regarding this role, then springboard into an highly interactive discovery session with breakouts by competency area, where each participant will leave with tools and best practices they can use immediately to help the manager in their life.
This workshop session will combine presentation and discovery session elements. It will help participants to:
+ understand the eight competency areas within which Agile managers contribute to their teams and organizations (e.g., portfolio management, performance management, organizational change, etc.)
+ contribute to and receive best practices in each domain for an Agile manager
+ understand a general curriculum they can use to teach (or learn as) Agile managers
In the first part, the presenters will outline an Agile Manager competencies model based on their research, experience coaching management, and a class they currently teach for managers. Each competency area will be defined, scoped, and referenced with key principles and a few examples. The style will be fast-paced and highly interactive between the two presenters to keep the energy “up” and fun.
[The eight areas are:
*Organizational Change Management
*Self-organized Team Management
*Value Stream & Internal Partner Management
*Metrics & Reporting Management
*Agile Portfolio Management
*Supplier Management
*Resource Management
*Performance Management]
At this point, the interactivity will extend to drawing the audience into full participation, as we first facilitate an exercise to help them define their passion (or deficiencies) relative to the competency areas. The results will be to form affinity teams that will be charged to share (or invent!) best practices for their area.
The affinity teams will be given enough structure to yield the same level of results, but not so much structure that their creativity is constrained. The entire group will come together to “bottom line” their results and impart their wisdom to the whole. The presenters will collect the “best” best practices (based on participant feedback), collate them and share them on the conference wiki.
Timeline
Session Opening - 5 min.
Overview of Eight Agile Manager Competency Areas - 30 min.
Passion / Hunger Exercise & Group Formation (exercise to activate participant’s interest in specific competency domains) - 10 min.
Best Practice Discovery Groups (groups share practices in each domain, collate best ones) - 30 min.
RoundRobin Report Out - 15 min.
Conclusion - 5 min.