Open Space hosted by Jens Ostergaard
Minneapolis, Nov 2006
Notes by Stacia Broderick
The purpose of this open space was to discuss the role of the manager in the scrum process. Jens told us that Scrum could be CMMI Level 5 compliant if a manager role were to be defined. By defining this role in the open space, we did not commit to a CMMI list per se; it was only an attempt to get some thoughts around the topic.
Jens opened the discussion by asking "What behaviors does a good manager display?" The group of ten attendees brainstormed and posted sticky note results (aggregated below) to the wall. After a silent grouping, the team began to discuss those behaviors. Most of the discussion centered around the fuzzy line between the scrummaster and a manager. There was agreement that managers handle 'external stuff' to the team, like contract negotiations and procurement. We also discussed the role that a line manager plays in an employee's personal and professional development, often in the form of coaching or assisting in HR-related issues. In matrixed organizations that contain both scrummasters and managers, often the scrummaster does not have the line of authority - or expertise - to handle these types of situations.
Then Jens led us through a discussion of identifying the role of the manager in the scrum process. The team came up with the following distinctions:
- (1) Provides organizational vision
- (2) Removes impediments
- (3) Assists with individual development
- (4) Challenges team beyond mediocrity while respecting team boundaries
- Helps individuals without sucking the responsibility out of the team
- Balances observer and contributor roles
- Gives individuals tools to be a great team member
- Coaches teams through conflict resolution
- Advocates for continuous improvement for teams and the organization at large
- Buys things for the team (manages budget)
- Provides the right environment
- Manages portfolio of projects
Jens then had us place a red dot next to the two most important roles that a project manager plays. Those designations are above in parentheses. Example, a (1) means that this was chosen as the most important role, (2) as the next most important role, so forth and so on.
Some notes around each:
1. Providing organizational vision: Often teams flail because there is no vision 'from on high'. Having this vision is important for team members to be able to relate their daily actions.
2. Removes impediments: The scrummaster is certainly capable of removing impediments, and we also stated the fact that a scrummaster often cannot remove them all. We felt that it was the manager's role in this process to remove escalated impediments from the team(s).
3. Assists with individual development: We all have managers who mentor us in professional and sometimes personal growth. We felt that this is an important role for the manager to continue to play. Not all scrummasters have the authority or expertise to help in this regard.
4. Challenges team beyond mediocrity...: This falls into the leadership realm. Bob mentioned that often teams will plateau after time. The principle of self-managed teams would say "let them be; let them find their own way." A principle of leadership, however, is to challenge teams. We discussed the fine line between challenging teams and taking away their ability to self-manage.
To summarize, a manager role would be like a 'ScrumMaster on steriods'- a person whose job it is to remove all escalated impediments for the team, take care of external stuff to the team, lead the team by challenging it, and assists direct reports with individual development and other HR-related challenges.
Jeff Sutherland's comments:
In a CMMI Level 5 company using Scrum, the manager's role must be defined. Working with my co-authors's (one of whom is a CMMI Level 5 auditor) we are working on the following -
CMMI Level 5 Requirement 2.4.10 Review the activities, status, and results of the Agile Methods with higher level management and resolve issues (GP2.10)
The purpose of this practice is to ensure that higher level management has appropriate visibility into the project activities. Different managers have different needs for information. Agile Methods have a high level of interaction, for example, Scrum has a Sprint Planning Meeting, Daily Scrum Meetings, a Sprint Review Meeting, and a Sprint Retrospective Meeting. Management needs are supported by transparency of status data produced by the Scrum Burndown Chart. This, in combination with defect data, can be used to produce a customized management dashboard for project status. Management responsibilities are (1) provide strategic vision, business strategy, and resources, (2) remove impediments surfaced by Scrum teams that the teams cannot remove themselves, (3) ensure growth and career path of employees, and (4) challenge teams to move beyond mediocrity. The list of impediments generated by the Scrum teams is transparent to management. and it is their responsibility to assure they are removed in order to improve organizational performance.
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