Jake Calabrese 
Are self-organizing teams better or the same as self-managing teams? What about self-directing teams? Working with teams can be challenging due to change and complexity. So, the idea that we could have self-organizing teams or self-managing teams can sound valuable, scary, or both!
What do these terms mean, and where can they be confusing? Let’s dig into each one.
Have you ever been in a situation where your organization suddenly faces an urgent, high-priority task? If so, you’ve probably heard someone suggest forming a “Tiger Team” to tackle it. It sounds great in theory, right? “A special team of top performers laser-focused on solving the big problem.” But here’s the thing – Tiger Teams often create more problems than they solve. Let’s dive into why this approach can be problematic and explore better alternatives.
Have you ever thought, “If only we had more people, we could get everything done?” If so, you’re not alone. I’ve been getting this question a lot lately, and I’ve got to tell you, it always makes me laugh a bit. Why? Because it’s based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how work actually gets done.
Prioritization of work is key if you want to deliver anything. Have you ever been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, inching forward at a snail’s pace? It’s frustrating, right? Now, imagine if I told you that many organizations manage their work in a way that’s just as inefficient. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? But stick with me, and I’ll show you why this analogy isn’t as far-fetched as you might think.
So one of the challenges that we run into a lot, we’re talking about Agile, we’re talking about Scrum, Kanban, anything really within Agile, is that people talk about empiricism. Empiricism is just inspect and adapt and be transparent – inspection, adaptation, and transparency. The problem is that while these make nice posters and t-shirt … Continue Reading→
Many people are working from home at this point and this will obviously continue for a while. Many organizations had already been working remote. I’ve worked on a number of remote teams and with a number of remote organizations well before the current situation we are in. I’ve done remote work as a coach, trainer, product manager, and team member well before the current situation we are in. Each of those instances I found myself enjoying some aspects of the work and also wishing for aspects to be in person. One of the most challenging things to do remotely is to listen.
The history of lean and kanban is a challenge to boil down, so inevitably, I know there are aspects that are missing here. The title says “short” because, while there is a lot of information here, it is short in terms of how more is out there! Additionally, there are often disagreements on certain aspects and points around the history, and we’ve sourced the various elements included in this outline. A key part of understanding kanban is going beyond the principles and practices, to understand what is behind it work. The history points us to a critical key.
The kanban principles we use and I mention in What is Kanban? are fairly straightforward, yet often ignored in organizations who say they are doing kanban. I want to dig into a bit more depth on each of the principles, for those are are less familiar with them (or perhaps even for some that are).
This is a common question, since Kanban can have several word uses and meanings in the agile space. The term gets thrown around a lot, making it even more confusing. In order to understand Kanban and where it comes from, let’s start with some basic definitions and the foundations. We start with the basics, because there is often confusion around what kanban is.
Simple definitions of kanban:
I hear these requests all the time. “What are the best agile metrics?”, “How can we measure an agile team?” and “I know we can’t just measure agile. . . but, what should be on an “organizational agility checklist?”
There are so many places you can go with these questions and there are even various companies selling ways to measure agile organizations and agile teams. When someone asks me about agility checklists or agile metrics, I tend to start with a few core themes of elements. I use these themes to have conversations with the people who want the measurements and the people who will be measured (before anyone starts using them).