Scaling an agile transformation beyond a few teams requires engaging middle management. Yet a common issue arises: agile coaches sideline middle management in agile transformations and tell them to simply trust the teams. Managers are not clear about their role in the transformation or how to do their jobs.
Telling someone something they don’t want to hear is never fun. When someone points out a problem causing them real pain, you likely want to do something about it – particularly if you’re their manager. Saying no to when someone asks you to fix something is often a necessary part of a manager’s job.
Addressing complaints is essential to a manager’s job but can quickly become overwhelming. Part One of this series shared a technique for sorting through people’s concerns. It also showed how to use your authority effectively to address some of them. But people often complain about things outside your control – and you need to deal with those as well.
Some of my most spectacular failures working with teams have come from going deeper than I needed to. One particularly memorable retrospective ended with a product manager declaring, “I’m done talking about my feelings.” (It was not my finest moment.) Yes, organizations are made of people. And yes, work happens inside a container of relationships. But that doesn’t mean every attempt to address a team or organizational problem must be super deep. Choosing the depth at which to intervene is critical for every manager, consultant, and coach.
“I can tell this is hard for you all to hear. I know it’s harder for some of you than others. It’s not my first choice, either. However, it makes enough sense, and it’s the direction we’re going now. We’ll take some time to work through how we feel about this. Then we need to figure out how to start making this change.”
Those weren’t exactly the words the Director of Engineering used to communicate the change in our team’s priorities, but they are close. It was certainly the message that those of us in the room heard when he told us about the abrupt shift in the direction we were about to make. This potentially disruptive change was one of my first experiences with communicating change effectively and humanely. Because of how the director held himself and the team during the ensuing conversation, what could have been an absolute mess turned into a surprisingly positive experience.