Unfulfilled expectations!

Post 2 of 4 –

The project started a month and a half ago. What was I thinking to embark upon such a venture? I find the approach and method annoying since it does not give the expected results as quickly as I wished… In fact, for the two first sprints, the team did not succeed in delivering what they forecasted to do. They seem more preoccupied by the method than the project’s progress. Yesterday, it was the sprint retrospective. The team spent 3 hours talking about what did not go well while there were still functions that were not done!

Furthermore, different kinds of problems are emerging that were not there before implementing Agility. Sometimes, the team does not know what to do, and certain resources do not have tasks. I no longer have a project plan, nor Gantt charts with milestones and fixed dates.  We are also waiting for some information, which interfere with the project execution, and nobody puts pressure on the team, etc. That all seem not well organized.

On top of that, I have no idea how much the project will cost and when it will be completed. Nobody wants to make a commitment on the end date. Therefore, I decided to attend the daily meetings called “daily scrums”. This way, I will have a better idea on the project’s progress and I will engage the team to respect their commitments.

I had a discussion with Carole, our organizational coach. We talked about the foundations of Agility; the team’s self-organization, my role as facilitator, etc. I think it is normal for a team to find it difficult to make their own decisions at the beginning when they are used to being told what to do. Besides, it is just the second sprint. Carole pointed out that during the retrospective, the team already took concrete actions to improve themselves. Moreover, the team coach is there to guide team members and facilitate work between the execution team, the Scrum Master, and the Product Owner.

Carole made me realize the impact of my behaviours on the team and their capacity to be self-sufficient. Even though it is difficult to admit, I understood that I was managing my stress by being directive in order to regain control over a situation that I do not control… She also put my expectations into perspective. With the former approach, I would not have more information, since we would be in the detailed analysis phase, and the team would not be complete yet. With the new approach, we have a certain idea of the delivery plan and we started to work on the project items that are at risk. Therefore, I decided not to bother the team for a while. In fact, I will make sure they have all the support and information they need. How will it go? Time will tell!