Agile experts believe that teamwork is critical to delivering excellent software, and excellent agile teams generally think and work from a collective perspective, rather than in an individual form. What is more valuable to each member is that excellent members will share their valuable development experience from the perspective of the team to help the team grow.
Although agile teams share common values, there is no standard guideline for how to build a successful agile team . Some teams practice the Scrum framework , some use the Kanban management method. Managers who act strictly in accordance with the agile concept prefer that their teams complete the entire project in one place. However, in a real business environment, due to business needs or social factors such as the epidemic, agile teams have to work across regions. There are times when most of the team has the necessary skills for the project, but some projects have to bring in some specialists to the team.
1. Laying a good foundation is the key
After the team is formed, you must first remember that the growth of the team, like personal growth, requires a process. Agile coaches often cite Bruce Tuckerman's Stages of Team Development model to describe the four stages a team goes through.
After the agile team enters the "execution period", the team will gradually move on the right track because of mutual trust among members, understanding each other's strengths, and using this understanding to optimize the software development process.
A team will not be loose if it is organized and disciplined. Reasonable norms help keep the entire team functioning properly at all times. When there is a change in the team (leaves, additions), the stage the team is in when digesting this change goes back to the "formation phase"
Effective agile teams are also built on sound engineering practices, such as: code reviews, creating branch tasks, continuous integration, setting regular release cycles, etc. The importance of engineering practices cannot be overemphasized and is critical to any successful team .
Note: Agile teams are not just teams of engineers. In larger software companies, marketing, HR, finance, etc. may form agile teams, or add people in these positions to agile teams.
Two other key factors determine whether a team can become strong : mutual learning and skill sharing.
One of the benefits of teamwork is that colleagues can learn from and mentor each other. Mutual learning does not simply mean that junior members learn from more senior members. If everyone can make up for their own shortcomings with the strengths of others, then the overall level of the team will have an effect of one plus one greater than two. Besides that, sharing skills can improve the ability of the whole team to deal with various problems. As an engineer, you must have the awareness of constantly learning new skills. Enriching yourself not only allows individuals to play greater value in the team, but also helps members support each other's work, and prevents an individual from becoming the "key" in the project. "Path" (project management terminology, the project can only end after the longest or most time-consuming activity in the project network is completed, and this longest activity route is called the critical path), thereby reducing the psychological burden on team members.
2. How to collaborate across departments
Today's software development teams are basically composed of product managers, designers, marketers, operators, developers, and testers. We primarily work around three phases of software development: Manufacturing, Sales and Operations.
Three teams (preferably 5-7 people per team) are responsible for each stage of the product from production to release, and these three teams form a "triad". Each "triad" is guided by the concept of agile development . As the work progresses, each team must continuously improve the work it is responsible for based on the feedback of the product in the market. The whole process is not done overnight, but in a constant cycle. The table below explains who each team is made up of in the Triad, what it is responsible for, what link it is in, and why this team is needed.
The above is all about the agile team, I hope it can be helpful to you.
Further reading: Guide to Agile Development
Scrum Development Guide: Detailed Explanation of Scrum Framework | Four Scrum Meetings and Correct Ways to Hold | Correct Way to Plan and Execute Sprint | 4 Key Points for Doing Iterative Planning | Do these 4 points to make daily stand-up meetings more suitable for agile Team | 3 Key Steps to Opening a Good Iteration Review | Why Hold an Iteration Review | The 3 Scrum Roles and Their Specific Responsibilities | The Role of the Scrum Three Artifacts in Agile Development | 14 Best Scrums in 2022 Agile Project Management Software | More
Kanban Agile Guide: 5 Benefits of Using Kanban (Kanban) Management Method | Kanban VS Scrum: How to choose? | Which scenarios are suitable for the mixed mode of Kanban and Scrum | More
Scaled Agile: The Value of Scaled Agile and Five Large-scale Agile Frameworks | Spotify Model of Scaled Agile | LeSS Framework of Scaled Agile Framework | SAFe Scaled Agile Framework | Scrum@Scale Model | Agile Project Portfolio Management | OKR and Agile Development | More
Product Management: How to Build a Qualified Product Roadmap | How to Become a Good Product Manager | The Importance of Agile Roadmaps and Construction | How to Build Simple and Effective Product Requirements Documents | Use NPS to Determine Functional Priority | Every Product Manager Needs Learn Product Analysis Skills | More