TO maximise the effectiveness of the user of the product
AS AN Agile UX Designer
I NEED to help the Agile Customer discover usability needs, help the team meet them and verify they have been met.

Acceptance Criteria

Those of an Agile Team Member plus:

• I have a strong understanding of User-Centred Design
• I have a strong understanding of Information Architecture
• I help the Agile Customer to establish the usability needs of the user of the product
• I help the Agile Customer to define usability needs as acceptance criteria
• I help the Agile Customer to verify and validate the usability-related acceptance criteria
• I help the team to understand the usability needs and how to meet them.

Agile Estimating

• I provide estimates to the required level of accuracy for stories and tasks.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO maximise the effectiveness of the customer of the product
AS AN Agile Business Analyst
I NEED to help the Agile Customer discover the goals and needs of the customer of the product.

Acceptance Criteria

Those of an Agile Team Member plus:

• I have a good understanding of the business domain and business goals
• I have strong facilitation, communication and analytical skills.

Backlog

• I help clarify the goal and business value of Minimum Marketable Features
• I assist the Agile Customer in writing user stories to the level of granularity required by the team, in collaboration with the team
• I help clarify any ambiguity until it is understood by the team
• I review user stories with the Agile Customer with a strategic point of view
  
• I capture and keep the business rules up-to-date
• I capture and keep the data rules up-to-date
• I help remove business-related impediments raised by the team.

Prioritisation and Planning

• I provide business information during Release and Iteration Planning
• I help review, refine and re-prioritise the Release Backlog, also known as Backlog Grooming

Testing

• I help produce acceptance tests from acceptance criteria
• I provide regular feedback by testing the deliverables against a user story’s acceptance criteria
• I provide regular feedback by validating that the product meets the business goals.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO create value for the organisation
AS AN Agile Project Manager
I NEED to do whatever it takes to ensure that valuable projects are delivered now and in the future.

Acceptance Criteria

Those of an Agile Team Member plus:

• I apply the servant-leadership style of management
• I have experience of Agile projects
• I have strong facilitation, communication and interpersonal skills
• I take responsibility for the project members and their deliverables
• I take responsibility for communication within the project
• I take responsibility for the project’s resources.

Managing

• I track project risks and issues arising
• I actively manage project risks so that they don’t turn into issues
• I ensure that project impediments are removed
• I establish what the team can decide independent of me
• I track and communicate the real state of the project.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO create value for the organisation
AS AN Agile Team Lead
I NEED to do whatever it takes to ensure the team delivers now and in the future.

Acceptance Criteria

Those of an Agile Team Member plus:

• I apply the servant-leadership style of management
• I have experience of Agile projects
• I have strong facilitation, communication and interpersonal skills
• I take responsibility for the team and their results.

Managing

• I track team risks and issues arising
• I actively manage team risks so that they don’t turn into issues
• I ensure that impediments raised by the team are removed
• I establish what the team can decide independent of me
• I facilitate the Agile process
• I track and communicate the real state of the team and their results.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO maximise the effectiveness of the customer of the product and the value of the organisation
AS AN Agile Customer
I NEED to ensure the team works on stories that deliver the highest business value possible.

Acceptance Criteria

Those of an Agile Team Member plus:

• I have a good understanding of the business domain
• I have the authority to make business decisions
• I provide a single voice on business value and business decisions even when there are multiple customers.

Backlog

• I write user stories and acceptance criteria
• I define acceptance tests
• I clarify any ambiguity until it is understood by the team
• I define business value currencies for the project
• I assign business value to stories using the business value model
• I define business rules
• I help define data rules
• I update the team on changes
• I help remove business-related impediments raised by the team.

Prioritisation and Planning

• I decide the final shape of the Release Plan
• I prioritise stories to maximise business value, taking into account risk, effort and dependencies
• I collaborate with the team on Iteration Planning
• I constantly review, refine and re-prioritise the Release Backlog, also known as Backlog Grooming.

User Acceptance Testing

• I provide regular feedback by testing the deliverables against a user story’s acceptance criteria
• I formally accept the deliverables against a user story’s acceptance criteria at Show & Tells.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO maximise the effectiveness of the customer of the product and the value of the organisation
AS AN Agile Customer Proxy
I NEED to help the Agile Customer ensure the team works on stories that deliver the highest business value possible.

Acceptance Criteria

If an Agile Customer cannot be identified or is unavailable to the team, you can nominate an Agile Customer Proxy to act on behalf of the Agile Customer to the team.

Those of an Agile Customer plus:

• I have the authority to represent the Agile Customer
• I act as a communication channel between the Agile Customer and the rest of the team.

Backlog

• I review the backlog with the Agile Customer.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

TO help conventional teams transition to Agile teams
AS AN Agile Coach
I NEED to illustrate the Agile team roles and responsibilities in contrast to those of a conventional team.

Roles and responsibilities is the most frequently-asked-question when a conventional team transitions towards the Agile way of working. Pascal and I have put together a set of role descriptions for a team as they embark on their journey towards becoming agile.

Portia says: The roles and responsibilities we’ve identified are simply guidelines. They are a starting point. It’s entirely up to the team members to refine their roles to meet the goal and needs of the team.

Pascal says: Each team member will play one or more roles at any point in time, as and when the need for that role arises.

Membership of a Typical Agile Team

TO improve the effectiveness of the customer and users of the product and maximise the value of the organisation
AS AN Agile Team
WE NEED to leverage the strengths of each team member and create valuable products now and in the future.

• Agile Team Member – Strives to be better than they were yesterday every day. Everyone in an Agile Team is first and foremost an Agile Team Member
• Agile Customer – Ensures the team works on stories that deliver the highest business value possible
• Agile Customer Proxy – Helps the Agile Customer ensure the team works on stories that deliver the highest business value possible
• Agile Team Lead – Does whatever it takes to ensure the team delivers now and in the future
• Agile Project Manager – Does whatever it takes to ensure that valuable projects are delivered now and in the future
• Agile Business Analyst – Helps the Agile Customer discover the goals and needs of the customer of the product
• Agile User Experience (UX) Designer – Helps the Agile Customer discover usability needs, help the team meet them and verify they have been met
• Agile Developer – Implements  stories with high business value using good techniques and practices.
• Agile Architect – Ensures the team implements good techniques and practices
• Agile Tester – Provides information on the state of the project.

The Role of the Agile Coach

• Agile Coach – Creates a team that delivers value now and in the future

TO maximise my contribution to the team
AS AN Agile Team Member
I NEED to be better than I was yesterday every day.

Acceptance Criteria

• I apply the Agile Values at all times
• I apply the Agile Principles and Practices
• I take responsibility for the work I do
• I prioritise my work to maximise value, taking into account risk, effort and dependencies
• I do the work that bring the most value to the team
• I take responsibility for the team’s results
• I update the team on the progress of my work
• I raise impediments, risks and issues as early as possible
• I help remove impediments
• I believe in collective wisdom: I trust the team to make the best decisions possible based on the information available
• I understand how quality contributes to the overall value the team delivers
• I ensure quality is built into everything I do, as defined by the team’s definition of quality
• I minimise keyman dependency
• I’m committed to Continuous Improvement.

You can find out more about the other Agile Team Roles and Responsibilities here.

P.: Nine out of ten Agile Coaches I meet are those who live by the mantra of Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do.
TJ.: Go on.
P.: Some people say that the statistic concerns them.
TJ.: Why? Did you name names?
P.: No.
TJ.: Perhaps their response is out of guilt?
P.: No. They think that it’s better not to hire an Agile Coach since the chances of finding a good one are so slim.
TJ.: That’s a concern I share.

Make it worth more than words

Agile is many things. In summary:

• It’s a buzzword, a band wagon, a meal ticket.
• It’s a group of practices that enables people to deliver higher business value through better quality deliverables.
• It’s a fundamental mindset shift that effects everything you do based on values and principles.

The Lifecycle of a New Idea

The multitude of definitions is a sign of growth. It’s part of the evolutionary adoption of a new idea according to Everett Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovations theory, made better known by Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm model.

The challenge for those with a real desire to understand and experience the benefits the Agile way of working is:

• See through the spin
• Distinguish those who have neither the experience nor the understanding of Agile from those who genuinely apply Agile Values and Principles to the way they work.

This challenge reminds me of the journey of the programming language Java. Cast your mind back to the Dotcom era. Back then, Java was the latest shiny thing and I remember meeting self-proclaimed Java gurus who had only ever created web pages out of HTML and perhaps dabbled in Javascript at best. The buzz, the buskers and the learners are part of the entourage of the growth of a new idea.

How to Hire a Good Agile Coach

I apply the same principles of hiring a team member/employee to hiring an Agile Coach. Here are some of the things I like to find out about them:

1. What they value and why.
2. Their knowledge and thoughts on the Agile Values, Principles and Practices.
3. Their knowledge and experience of the Agile Delivery lifecycle and the effects of possible variables (such as time, cost and scope) on the Agile way of working.
4. Examples of where, when, how and why they’ve used Agile or a different approach.
5. How they use Agile for personal development.
6. Why they’re an Agile Coach.
7. Evidence of their professional experience (including online presence, references, recommendations) to determine their credibility.
8. Would I want to work with them, day in day out? If ‘Yes’, why? If ‘No’, why not? Then I reflect on my responses to find out what they tell me about me.

My Principles on Hiring

• If in doubt, don’t hire.
• If you’re undecided, find other ways of gathering more information. Introduce them to the team over lunch. Or invite them for a day’s worth of work experience.
• Hire people who learn.
• Hire people you can learn from.
• Prefer team players over self-proclaimed leaders.
• Always get a second opinion because we all see the world in different ways. I find it useful to pair when interviewing.
• Make it a WIN-WIN opportunity for you, your company and the new hire.

Leverage the Wisdom of Your Team (Duration: 15 – 30 minutes)

Now we have our team values and the team’s definition of Quality, we’re ready to create our team manifesto out of two A0 posters. A team manifesto should be created by the team for the team.

1. Ask the team to divide up into two groups, one to produce the Team Values poster and the other for the Quality definition poster.
2. Give each group 10 minutes to produce their poster. Tip: Ensure the posters retain the order of the original lists of team values and Quality.
3. Ask the team to post up their poster side by side in the teamspace. Tip: Find a place that is visible from everyone’s desk and, ideally, to passers-by. This serves as a reminder and declaration of the importance of the manifesto to the team.
4. Invite everyone to affirm their commitment to the manifesto by signing below each of the posters. Tip: If certain members are reluctant to sign the posters, find out why. It may be that the team needs to revisit certain points on the posters until they come to a consensus. We suggest adjusting your facilitation style to increase the involvement of those people during the subsequent discussion.

Why the manifesto works

• It harnesses the collective wisdom of the team. Collective wisdom is an increasingly well-recognised approach for helping disparate groups to find solutions, gain buy-in, resolve conflict and increase respect for one another through shared knowledge.
• It’s self-enforcing. Refer back to manifesto the regularly. Since the team came up with it, individuals are more likely to behave responsibly and encourage others to do the same.

We strongly recommend asking everyone to affirm their commitment by signing the manifesto.

Sixty minutes later and we’ve created our very own team manifesto. Smiles everywhere.
The team stands back and gazes in silence at what we’ve achieved.