Individuals and Interactions An Agile Guide

The only Agile book to focus entirely on the people issues and social interactions that can make or break Agile projects and implementations Helps agile stakeholders in any organization grasp the importance of self-organizing teams, understand team dynamics, and improve communication. Empowers Agile champions to lead workshops and exercises that improve the ways teams and individuals interact. Presents practical, actionable advice, tips, and guidelines. The Agile Manifesto professes: 'we value Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools.' Yet, throughout the industry, The emphasis still seems to be on processes and tools: books, articles, seminars, training classes, just about every agile-related resource. Fortunately, Agile team members are beginning to recognize the urgent importance of getting these interactions right: without doing so, even Agile approaches will fail far too often. This is the first book to focus entirely on the 'Individuals and Interactions' that are central to Agile success, and to directly apply proven best practices of individual and team behavior to Agile projects. Designed and formatted as a user's guide, not a philosophical treatise, it brings together practical advice that teams can put into action. In addition to tips and guidelines, it presents step-by-step instructions for conducting proven team-building exercises, including includes learning objectives, required materials, setup and preparation, facilitator's instructions, post-exercise discussion points, and in some cases, handouts.

Ken Howard is a leader at Improving Enterprises, where he provides consulting, training, and mentoring services that help companies around the world adopt software development best practices, increase productivity, and improve organizational dynamics. He has been involved in software-development for more than 26 years. Barry Rogers is President of Improving Enterprises, Dallas, Texas, and is an accomplished Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Practitioner. He supports clients in both a hands-on and mentorship/coaching capacity, helping teams adopt agile/Scrum and improve human dynamics.

Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
A Brief History of Organizational Behavior	p. 2
People Are Machines (Late 1800s-Mid 1900s)	p. 2
People Are Emotional Beings (1940s-1970s)	p. 3
Organization Is a Machine (1980s-2000s)	p. 4
Empowered Teams Transform the Organization (Current Trend)	p. 6
Birds of a Feather…	p. 6
Individuals and Interactions	p. 9
Autonomous Securities, LLC	p. 11
Behavior and Individuals	p. 13
Communication Framework	p. 14
DISC History	p. 15
DISC Definition	p. 15
So Why Is This Important?	p. 17
Understanding and Accepting Others	p. 17
Communicate in Your Own Language	p. 19
The Language of DISC	p. 20
Strategies for Communicating	p. 21
How Do You Take a DISC Assessment?	p. 22
Closing	p. 23
Team Dynamics	p. 25
An Apoplectic Dilemma	p. 25
A Different Approach to Teams	p. 26
Capitalizing on Strengths	p. 28
The Anarchical Team	p. 30
The Evolution of a Maturing Team	p. 30
Conflict	p. 33
Now What?	p. 40
Closing	p. 42
Communication	p. 43
Lingo	p. 45
Empathy	p. 46
Eye Contact	p. 48
Ambiguity	p. 49
Body Language	p. 50
Cultural Awareness	p. 53
Reflecting Body Language	p. 54
Small Talk	p. 54
Collaborative Conversations	p. 57
The Power of Shutting Up	p. 64
Communication Latency	p. 65
We the People…	p. 68
Closing	p. 69
Collaboration	p. 73
Working as a Team	p. 73
Vox Populi	p. 74
Group Survival	p. 77
Problem-Solving Versus Decision Making	p. 78
Individuals and Decisions	p. 79
Groups and Decisions	p. 79
Group Influence	p. 80
Six Degrees of the Perfect Ice Cream Sundae	p. 83
Diametrically Opposing Forces	p. 85
Closing	p. 88
Behavior and Teams	p. 89
Harmony/Conflict	p. 89
Why Not Hire a Team with Members That Will All Naturally Get Along?	p. 92
Be Prepared for Conflict	p. 93
Stressed Out	p. 94
Fill the Gaps	p. 94
Organizational or Team Culture	p. 95
Closing	p. 95
Change	p. 97
A True Story	p. 97
Why Is Change Difficult?	p. 99
Change Squirm	p. 102
Change Apprehension	p. 103
Fear of Changes to Self-Actualization Needs	p. 104
Fear of Changes to Esteem Needs	p. 105
Fear of Changes to Love/Belonging Needs	p. 105
Fear of Changes to Safety Needs	p. 106
Fear of Changes to Physiological Needs	p. 106
Change Coach	p. 107
Change Catalyst	p. 108
Tracing to the Roots	p. 109
Grass Roots Resistance to Change	p. 110
Exposing the Origins	p. 111
Exercise	p. 113
Closing	p. 114
Motivators	p. 115
Individual Workplace Motivators	p. 115
Theoretical	p. 116
Utilitarian/Economic	p. 116
Aesthetic	p. 117
Social	p. 117
Individualistic/Political	p. 117
Traditional/Regulatory	p. 117
Why Is This Important?	p. 118
Strategies for Motivating	p. 119
Leveraging Strengths	p. 122
Leadership and Environment	p. 123
Closing	p. 124
Workshop	p. 127
Team Dynamics Workshop	p. 129
Preparation	p. 129
Workshop Instructions	p. 130
Pre-Workshop	p. 130
The Workshop	p. 132
Communication Origami	p. 139
Materials	p. 140
Setup	p. 140
Facilitation	p. 141
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 141
Bridge Building	p. 145
Materials	p. 146
Setup	p. 146
Facilitation	p. 147
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 148
Moon Survival	p. 151
Setup	p. 152
Facilitation	p. 152
Individual Exercise	p. 152
Team Exercise	p. 153
Scoring	p. 153
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 153
Moon Survival Expert Analysis	p. 158
BalderDISC	p. 163
Materials	p. 164
Setup	p. 164
Facilitation	p. 165
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 166
Assessing Concordance and Discordance	p. 169
Materials	p. 169
Setup	p. 170
Facilitation	p. 170
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 171
Change Exercise	p. 175
Overview	p. 175
Setup	p. 176
The Drawing Board	p. 177
The Teams	p. 177
Facilitation	p. 178
Post-Exercise Discussion	p. 179
Groups and Decisions	p. 183
Setup	p. 183
DISC-Homogeneous Behavior	p. 185
Appendix: How to Take the DISC	p. 187
References	p. 195
Index	p. 199
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Individuals and Interactions An Agile Guide

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