A Blog By:
Manish Kumar
Post Graduate Diploma in Management
A Manager is responsible for managing projects, teams, and other organization tasks at different segments of an organization.
A common question comes in everyone’s mind that what a manager would do if Agile Teams are self-organizing. Agile teams take ownership and completes work. When it comes to managing and leading teams, it can be taken to next level instead of a command and control environment or micromanagement.
Below is the list of tasks which can be performed by an Agile Manager in an agile organization to evolve as an Agile Manager:
- Employees Development and Growth: A manager should be responsible for employees’ development. Team members’ growth should be one of the tasks of a manager. Plan trainings/workshops for team members.
- Let Team Members Fail: Fail Fast. Fail Early and Stop Starting. Start Finishing.
A manager should allow their team to fail and learn. Learnings come from failure lasts long. A manager should trust his team and let them take ownership and learn. Command and control environment should not be there. A manager should create an environment where people are not waiting for instructions and commands. They should start work immediately with full flow. - Tools and Platform: An agile team can work independently and actively if they have all tools and platform ready. A manager should actively keep an eye on the team’s requirement and fulfil them to the maximum extent. Managers should always take input from team.
- Motivate Team: A manager should motivate teams and should create a fun filled work environment. A workplace where every employee loves to come every day.
- Coaching and Mentoring: A manager should do 1:1 meeting periodically with team members. This should not be a work status meeting. This time should be used for coaching and mentorship.
- Career Development: Discuss career aspirations of team members and also discuss future career opportunities and plans. This can also be done in 1:1 meeting.
- Performance Evaluations: A manager should do 360-degree performance evaluation (Appraisal) based on his observation and the feedback received from fellow team members. This should be done for all team members. A defined process or benchmark can be set. Periodic evaluation helps to track overall year progress. Evaluations can also be done in Sprints. This can be a KRA of an Agile Manager.
- Recruitment and Interview: A manager should get involved in hiring and conducting interviews. He should ensure a right talent for the right position is joining the organization. A new team member values, etiquette and behavior should come first instead of technical skills. Soft skills play a vital role for any development team.
- Manage Budgets: This is very important activity and manager should analyze and allocate budget wisely. A manager can allocate dynamic budget and take help of team members to understand the budget needs for a team.
- Doing Agile vs Being Agile: The Agile market is growing more on doing side. A manager is a person who can help team in understanding the difference between doing agile and being agile. Doing agile is easy and being agile takes years. A manager should foster an open environment. For example: An environment where team members live scrum values (Focus, Openness, Respect, Courage and Commitment) every day. Agile cannot be implemented. Agile is a way of thinking. It is a paradigm shift in the mindset. A manager should observe and promote values.
- Future Vision and Plan: A manager should work on future with higher management and ensure their department is getting good amount of work and new projects. Conduct an internal team meeting with all members and share future vision and plans with team members.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Institute or its employees.
