What are we going to do with all the managers when we realize the vision of fully self-organizing teams? What incentive to managers have helping teams become more independent if they are in effect working themselves out of a job? I was up at the Agile Coaches Camp this past weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A few of us bounced this idea around a bit and came up with a proposal.
On a self-organizing agile team, the resource manager is responsible for supporting their team's career development, personal growth, and training; they are also responsible for removing organizational impediments that hamper their team's ability to perform. Just as a ScrumMaster protects and supports the project team, the Resource Manager protects and supports the resource team.
What do you think? Too simple?
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Agile Managers?
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Agreed totally that the manager should be "Scrum Master" of the team.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it will be difficult for those old-school managers to change their mindset. They are used to dictating what their team do, some even to the extend of micro-management.
I think the best way to approach this is have them sit down with their own manager, to set their new responsibilities.
Then send them for the Scrum Master training course.
After that, they can then start to "manage" the team as Scrum Master, if possible with the help of a Agile Coach, for at least 1-2 week.