You are here

Maintaining visibility and clarifying things as and when they arise

Body: 

How often have you walked out of a meeting wishing attendees has at least: read the previous minutes, attended to their actions, not waited before they let you know about a problem. Do you wish people did not think you were a mind reader.




This cartoon all too readily reflects what happens far too often. It is also the last thing you can let happen if you are trying to implement Scrum or any other Agile framework.
One of the principles behind the agile manifesto is that: Business people and developers work together daily throughout the project.
There are a number of reasons for this, it makes sure developers do not go off on a tangent, but primarily it makes sure that what is being built is right thing and it is built the right way. It make sure that the developers understand the demands on them, the product addresses the business need the Product owner has and provides value to the organisation.
You need to build up trust where the team is comfortable with raising things irrespective of where they come from. This makes sure that problems and possibilities are made visible early on and they can then be addressed early. Problems and inaction must not and can not be left to fester until a formal meeting they are sorted out there and then. It is not about apportioning blame or forcing an issue, it is about making sure that the team known what they need to build and how they are going to do it, it means that they can function effectively without being tripped up.