The Agile Team Facilitator Mindset

Editor's Notes

• #4: Discuss ICAgile certification program. ICAgile Fundamentals that is also provided by Agile Practice Focus on ICAgile Agile teams coaching and facilitation track Mention of other tracks provided by Agile Practice
• #7: Listening: A servant leader puts the emphasis upon listening effectively to others. Empathy: A servant leader needs to understand others' feelings and perspectives. Healing: A servant leader helps foster each person's emotional and spiritual health and wholeness. Awareness: A servant leader understands his or her own values and feelings, strengths and weaknesses. Persuasion: A servant leader influences others through their persuasiveness. Conceptualization: A servant leader needs to integrate present realities and future possibilities. Foresight: A servant leader needs to have a well developed sense of intuition about how the past, present, and future are connected. Stewardship: A servant leader is a steward who holds an organization's resources in trust for the greater good. Commitment to the growth of people: A servant leader is responsible for serving the need of others. Building community: A servant leader is to help create a sense of community among people.
• #8: Describe the history of Servant Leadership concept, especially pay attention to Robert Greenlea input and formulation of the idea - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership “One of the four value statements from the Agile Manifesto states: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Two principles supporting the Agile Manifesto are: Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversatio” To read further - http://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/leadership-agile-environment Creating Cloud of Tags - facilitation technique – write on stickers servant leaders (people names and their qualities) using various markers Create a Cloud on a flipchart with the stickers Discuss why these people are servant leaders One more variant Gratitude Tree - https://sentinel2.luxoft.com/sen/wiki/display/~smukhina/2014/08/05/Agile+Fun
• #9: Describe the concept provided in the article http://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/leadership-agile-environment And guide the participants to the understanding the this shift from control of management to control of the team can happen only when mindset is changed or started to change 1. Autocratic leadership An autocratic leader centralizes power and decision-making in himself. He gives orders, assigns tasks and duties without consulting the people. The leader takes full authority and assumes full responsibility. 2. Paternalistic leadership Under this management style the leader assumes that his function is fatherly or paternal. Paternalism means father knows best. The relationship between the leader and his group is the same as the relationship between the head of the family and the members of the family. The leader guides and protects his subordinates as members of his family. 3. Participative leadership Participative or democratic leaders decentralise authority. It is characterised by consultation with the subordinates and their participation in the formulation of plans and policies. He encourages participation in decision-making. He leads the subordinates mainly through persuasion and example rather than fear and force. Sometimes the leader serves as a moderator of the ideas and suggestions from his group. 4. Delegative leadership Leadership style in which a leader transfers decision making power to one or more employees, but remains responsible for their decisions. 5. Free-rein leadership Free-rein leaders avoid power and responsibility. The laissez-faire or non-interfering type of leader passes on the responsibility for decision-making to his subordinates and takes a minimum of initiative in administration. He gives no direction and allows the group to establish its own goals and work out its own problems. The leader plays only a minor role. His idea is that each member of the group when left to himself will put forth his best effort and the maximum results can be achieved in this way.
• #10: Time to move: Prepare a flipchart for each statement Put a flipchart each in each corner of the class Make the participants familiar with the facilitation - body grouping technique: 1) - Ask the ones for whom the first value is hard to follow come to the corresponding corner of the room - Ask why it is hard? 2) - Then make the same grouping with a new question – What is for you the easiest or less difficult value to shift your mindset to Ask the participants to write on stickers the recommendations or advices for the ones who find it is difficult to make a shift to the value where the current participants are located. Put the stickers on the flipchart 3) - Ask the participants to return to the “previous” corners of hard shift Ask to find the most valuable advice for them on the flipchart 4 Agile values can be also used to show the shift
• #11: Discuss the importance for a facilitator to step into I (1st position), You (2d position), Dissociated Position of observer (3d position). Discus the importance for a facilitator to a have a possibility to bring a coachee into these 3 positions http://success360.com/coach/peops_nlp_percepos.html – the article discuss 4 positions , but to be able to switch between 3 is also acceptable in facilitation. http://bibliotecacoaching.com.ar/U4/NLP.At%20Work.Sue%20Knight.pdf – chapter 17 Negotiate Your WayThrough Life Perceptual Positions http://www.nlpls.com/articles/perceptualPositions.php http://books.google.com.ua/books?id=w57Lux92pDMC&pg=PT102&lpg=PT102&dq=nlp+positions+I+we+observer&source=bl&ots=88IBLB7Shc&sig=I3eOm0-CGH4Je5y-jzX0m9DXj_k&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=WDwbVPjcKszqOOa1gcgL&ved=0CGsQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=nlp%20positions%20I%20we%20observer&f=false – chapter 12 Facilitation technique – Switch roles with you opponent.
• #12: Facilitator should know how to change roles It is possible learn how to develop this or that position Facilitator is a lot about observation (neutrality), but if he/she is a part of the group then we The first Neuro-linguistic perceptual position “Self” is a total self-reference, and operates from the self or from ones own eyes. Explore what you think about the relationship. Label both your own and the other person's behavior. Change the state – shake off all bad feelings. The second perceptual position “Other” enhances your ability to empathize. It gives you the ability to see another person’s logic especially when you are in an argument. You can also get some insight into your behavioral characteristics, and what someone else thinks about you. It is also an important model for strengthening rapport. Explore the relationship from the other person's point of view. Imagine how they experience your behavior. What sort of label would they put on it? How do they feel? Shake off that emotional state before continuing. The third Neuro-linguistic perceptual position “Observer” is a complete dissociation from the entire conversation or experience. Go outside the relationship, become a detached observer – imagine a stage and see both of you on stage. See that other person doing what they do, and see yourself responding to them.Shift your question from 'How can I change that person's behavior?' to 'How am I reinforcing or triggering that person's behavior?' Explore how else you could respond to him or her. The fourth perceptual position, defined as a “We”, is the viewpoint from the perspective of the system as a whole. In order to take the fourth perceptual position, step aside and take on the perspective of the whole arrangement by considering the best interest of the unit as a single entity. Associate yourself with the whole system. Here your aim is to contribute to this single unit, by considering “our” common goals.
• #13: Describe mindset shift on different levels with the help of Robert Dilts Pyramyd of neurological levels. How our behavior e.g. can impact our behavior and on the same time can influence our skill and competence. The levels can impact each other on both directions. Shift on one level can cause changes on others. If you know how to use the Dilts pyramid for a coaching session, make a presentation for a group with one volunteer. It is necessary to choose some problematic situation at work in Agile team and using the model to guide a person Defining on what level the situation cause is What resource is necessary to improve it How other levels will changes when adding a resource on one level http://www.communicatingexcellence.com/wp-content/uploads/neurologicallevels.pdf One more popular concept - http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/The-Five-Levels-of-Leadership-Agility.aspx
• #14: Before we go to a new block of information, let’s check our level of energy. Check-in activity can be used for this purpose (Mad Sad Glad)