About Self Organizing Teams in Agile

Did you know that the Agile Manifesto includes 12 key principles? These specific principles define what it actually means to be Agile. One of those principles is very interesting because it states that the best architectures, designs, and other associated requirements emerge from self-organizing teams. So, if you are a professional interested in Scrum and Agile frameworks, you must know what these self organizing teams are in Agile. 

Definition of the Self-Organizing Team in Agile

A self-organizing team is a group of professionals that does not depend on or wait for any particular manager to assign tasks. Instead, these teams try to find their own work and manage the responsibilities and timelines related to the Agile model in software engineering and other associated frameworks. 

Self-organizing teams also choose the most effective and efficient way to complete their respective work. These professionals look for different ways to improve their tasks through experimentation.

The teams must have a high sense of ownership and responsibility for this kind of structure of work. They must also communicate often and trust in the capabilities of every single member on the team.

Characteristics Of Self-Organizing Teams

All the Agile and Scrum methodology experts have defined a few important characteristics of an efficient self-organizing team: 

1. Teamwork and Collaboration

The members must communicate and work with each other effectively when there is no manager to make the team collaborate together and push orders. That is why all the self-organizing teams are highly collaborative and work together as a close unit.

2. Competency

The members of the team must be self organized to have confidence in their own project management skills. They must also trust the skills of their colleagues to accomplish tasks since there is no manager to give the team direction and instructions at every step of the process. 

3. Continuous Improvement and Growth

The members of a self organized team constantly seek opportunities for growth. These professionals look for different ways to  improve their skills to increase their productivity levels.

4. Respect and Trust 

Team members have trust in the skills of their co-workers. They also believe that everyone can get the specific work done. This becomes possible even when there is no manager to hold the entire team accountable. They respect each others’ opinions and always find a way to work together even after having opposing views.

5. Ownership

All members of a self-organizing team have a strong sense of ownership and commitment towards their respective work. These members learn from their mistakes themselves with no one to point out their mistakes. The professionals also apply the lessons they learn to achieve the most effective results.

Also, check: Agile Manifesto:12 Principles and 4 Values

How To Create a Self-Organizing Team and How it Works?

You must understand the concepts of a self organizing team before attempting to create one. This involves knowing all the principles of Agile methodology. It includes openness, flexibility, and scrutiny.

Here is how you can create such teams and an explanation of how each step works efficiently:

1. Set Milestones

Set all the reasonable checkpoints and milestones to check if the team accomplishes the objectives. These checkpoints help enhance performance and lead the specific team in the right direction. Moreover, milestones should be as per SMART objectives (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound).

2. Arrange a Meeting

You must have a short meeting to brief everyone on the framework before planning the course. This helps assign the respective roles and responsibilities to all the team members. This meeting also enables the authorities to clarify the team's mission and build some common ground.

3. Leverage Talents

Regular one-on-one sessions and group outings can facilitate a proper collaboration within the members of a self organized team. It helps everyone know the particular team’s skill sets. It further enhances the Scrum Master's ability to delegate different tasks to team members depending on their strengths.

4. Facilitate Exchange of Information

Setting up regular self organized team meetings is one technique to ease communication. Examples include daily stand-ups or sprint retrospectives. Such meetings allow team members to report on their respective progress, address different problems, and brainstorm solutions.

5. Avoid the Blame Game

You must create a setting where everyone feels safe to voice their opinions and suggestions. This particular process is essential to encourage teamwork. Promoting such open lines of communication and responding to the feedback of team members help accomplish a safe culture. This is the last step that helps honor and appreciate the particular team's efforts and successes. 

Importance of having Self Organizing Team in Agile

You can attribute the specific value of all the Agile self-organizing teams to three different core areas.

1. Increased Efficiency

Self-organizing teams in Agile are highly efficient as they do not have to spend much time fidgeting with project deliverables. Rather, they spend more time solving problems and completing their respective work. This translates to better efficiency.

2. Continuous Improvement

Emphasizing continuous improvement is crucial for both self-organizing teams and the sustainability of Agile methodologies. This is why many organizations favor teams that actively pursue continuous improvement on a daily basis.

3. Improved Problem Solving

A self organized team is always without a manager. It eliminates the fear of asking some questions and surfaces better ideas on how to solve problems. This environment aligns with high levels of teamwork and collaboration that remain an important characteristic of every Agile self-organizing team. It also allows for different ideas to get shared, which leads to improved problem-solving capabilities.

Benefits of Having Self-Organizing Teams in Agile

Here are some of the important benefits of a self organized team:

1. Better Agility and Speed of Delivery

Self-organizing teams decide on the tasks instantly. It also helps them decide how they can meet the corresponding deadlines which leads to speed of delivery. These Agile teams are also able to respond to market fluctuations within specific times. They can quickly shift gears without waiting for permission from any of the higher-ups.

2. Increased Focus on Quality

Self performing teams do not merely work under managerial command. Rather, they go a step ahead and manage tasks to uphold continuous customer satisfaction. They do so with learning from customer feedback to make products that tick the boxes in terms of customer expectations.

3. Less Time Spent on Team Management

A self-organizing agile team independently completes their own work and progress. That is why you do not need to spend extra resources to hire a particular manager to assign and delegate tasks, or manage deadlines. 

4. Improved Employee Satisfaction

Employees are more satisfied in the workplace and enjoy a high level of motivation if they work in a self organized team with no manager. There is also a reduced micromanagement in all the self-organizing teams. This gives an employee the freedom to work in their way which improves performance and accountability

Challenges in Self Organizing Teams in Agile

Self-organized teams are never controlled by any manager. These team members actively participate in Scrum methodology practices and have a level of autonomy. However, they may face some challenges like:

1. Team Inertia

There are times when these teams fall back when it comes to organizing and accomplishing tasks. Scrum ceremonies often place low importance on the top-down management positions. This is the reason why a particular project manager’s role is reduced to a servant-leader. The top management may always not be open to such huge transitions.

Also, check: Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities

2. Different Personality Traits

Product management teams consist of diverse individuals. This includes those who prefer working independently and other people who thrive on social interactions. Some team members enjoy the solitude of typing away at their keyboards. On the other hand, a few others, like extroverts, thrive on engaging with more people. 

Traditionally, it is a product owner who manages these differences. This is not possible in any specific self-organized team. 

3. Ineffective Communication

All the self-organizing teams and their respective tasks depend on effective project communication. However, the whole idea collapses without proper communication. This is important for all the geographically-dispersed teams.

Also, read:What is Project Communication Management?

4. Absence of Individual Accountability

Self-organizing teams may experience the issues of poor efficiency and a lack of individual accountability. All the members of this particular team participate in time-consuming meetings. It means, individual productivity can be affected because of such meetings.

Conclusion

Self organized teams play a crucial role in accomplishing various tasks through Agile methodologies. These members can optimally organize work in a way that cannot be managed by a single manager.
It may take time for the teams to understand and implement such concepts related to Scrum and Agile. That is why it is necessary to undertake some professional courses that help understand these concepts better. You can approach Simpliaxis to know how to function efficiently by learning these principles and become a prominent member of the self organizing team.