Does your Agile team experience the following common problems?
- Members use established Agile practices and tools, yet with little motivation or buy-in.
- Even though the team is cross-functional, members don't collaborate effectively or leverage everyone's abilities.
- Rather than act empowered, they wait for permission and approval.
- Improvement has stalled -- the team performs okay, but it can do so much better.
You can't solve these problems with more practices, rules, and tools. These are people problems.
If you're a Scrum Master, project manager, delivery lead, or manager - or you aspire to be - you can make all the difference to your Agile team. Not by being a taskmaster, administrator, or process enforcer, but by leading your team to greatness. Take this book on your Agile leadership journey, and it will help you to:
- Build and cultivate an engaged team that can handle almost any challenge
- Catalyze team communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement
- Establish yourself as a confident and capable leader who adds value
- Reap the full benefits of Agile in the real world with real people
"I've rarely seen so much useful, concrete advice packaged in such a simple and accessible way."
Henrik Kniberg, Agile coach and author, Lean from the Trenches
"I just found the next must-read book for our entire leadership team."
Tricia Broderick, Director of Development, TechSmith
"Agile teams need effective leaders who 'get' the people stuff. Without that you're merely going through the Agile motions."
Scott W. Ambler, co-creator of Disciplined Agile Delivery
While readable from cover to cover, the book is written as practical answers to the 80+ most relevant and pressing questions that team leaders ask, such as:
- "How Can I Help the Team Buy In?"
- "What If I Can't Work Full-Time as the Team's Leader?"
- "What Actions Will Build the Team's Trust in Me?"
- "How Can I Mitigate the Damage of Performance Reviews?"
- "What If a Member Doesn't Fit With the Team?"
- "How Can We Focus on Our Work With So Many Meetings?"
- "How Do I Get Stakeholders and Managers on My Side?"
- "How Do I Defuse Resistance?"
- "How Can I Make Changes Stick?"
- "How Do We Avoid Reverting to Old Behaviors?"
The book's forewords are by Jim Highsmith and Christopher Avery.
In writing The Human Side of Agile, Gil Broza has tapped into fundamental concerns -- and challenges -- of Agile practitioners. For not only does the "human" in the book's title refer to the people that make up any Agile team, it also pertains to those who lead them, to those who run the company, and to the people who purchase and use the end product. Gil encourages the reader to take up servant leadership and to steer all involved toward the excellence promised by mindfully executed Agile.
Since 2004, Gil has trained and coached more than 6,000 professionals who then delighted their customers, shipped working software on time, and rediscovered passion for their work. Gil has also:
- Written the popular book The Agile Mind-Set, to help practitioners and leaders alike master the Agile thought process (without saying "Scrum" or "SAFe")
- Worked as a development manager, team leader, and programmer for 12 years, applying Agile methods since 2001
- Coached dozens of private- and public-sector clients, large and small, including independent software vendors, custom development firms, and IS/IT departments
- Served as a regular writer for the prestigious projectmanagement.com (a PMI publication), contributing articles on effective Agile behaviors
- Given keynotes and interactive talks at various conferences worldwide
Throughout his career, Gil has focused on human characteristics that prevent positive outcomes in software development teams. These include limiting habits, fear of change, outdated beliefs, and blind spots. In helping teams overcome these factors, he supports them in reaching ever-higher levels of performance, confidence, and accomplishment.
Gil offers much-needed services, ranging from the basic to the advanced, to help Agile leaders and teams thrive. In addition, he provides training, coaching programs, workshops, quick guidance, and facilitation services to fix lackluster Agile attempts and support ongoing Agile improvement efforts. He is in high demand by companies looking to fully realize Agile's potential.
For free guidance, visit www.OnTheWayToAgile.com to receive Gil's popular
Something Happened on the Way to Agile mini-program. Its 20 daily training segments will help you break the cycle of Agile mediocrity and move toward the promised benefits of Agile.
