agile-team-development

Individual Goals

Time required

Typically, 1.5 hours

Materials Required

• Assorted Posit-its
• Markers
• Flipchart papers

Purpose

• This is a team-start/team development exercise.
• Decentralization, self-organization and agile development relies heavily on highly motivated individuals. This exercise is designed to help the team-work in a way that is supporting individuals’ motivators.
• It also helps the team to distribute work better since each person’s preferences gets known to the team
• For a team we usually cover goals from several perspectives:
  • Organization
  • Product
  • Team
  • Individual <- Covered in this guide

How

Part 1: Intro

- Why are you here, in this team?

Have you thought about this question? -) Maybe some of you are here because your boss told you so ;-) …but it is actually much better if we can work together to create some really good conditions so that everyone is here just because they really want to!

So, in this session we will work a bit on your individual goals both so that you can find some and so that the team can help you fulfil them!’

- Show the question written on top of a sample flip chart, like the one on the first page.

Part 2: Pairwise coaching

So, we will do this exercise in three steps, for the first two we will work in pairs, so

• First could you all pair up with someone… Wait until they have…
• Now get one flipchart each and fill it out like my example

Wait…

• The next 15 minutes, one person per pair will fill in the top of his/her poster. It can actually be hard to find some good answers to this question by yourself, so that’s why we will be working in pairs. One person will fill out the top of the poster and the other will be the “coach”!

• The responsibility of the coach is not to make suggestions, but to ask questions to help the other person explore their own thoughts and organize them.

The last section contains some suggestions on questions a coach can ask. Print them out so that all coaches can have one. Let them have some time to study it before you start.

Then let them go for 15 minutes and then ask them to switch.

Part 3: Team support of individual motivators

Next

1. Let each person describe their poster, to the team.
2. As they speak, let the team take notes on how they (as a team and individuals) can support the person in reaching what they need/want.
3. Collect team suggestions at the bottom of each flipchart paper.
4. Facilitate the discussion so that actions are clear and next step for each support action is set.
5. Facilitate decision making, state the suggestions and let the team consent using “fist of five” voting for example.

Coaching question examples

• What was a time when you really enjoyed work?
• What about that did you enjoy?
• What else…?
• What are some of the things you enjoy at work?
• How did that feel when you… <achieved something>?
• What was another time when you had that feeling?
• Can you remember a time when you felt really satisfied/excited/happy?
• Say something more about that…?
• What makes you feel alive?
• What motivates you?
• What are your interests?
• What about the work we are doing makes you excited?
• What would you like to learn?
• What else would make you really happy about having been in this team?
• What else would you like to experience on this team?
• I hear that you really enjoy <…>
• <…> seems important to you.