When I’m working with an organization on an agile transformation, I’m always looking out for their catalyst for change. I want to know why they want to change. Their biggest pain point. What’s frustrating them the most. And what’s motivating them to want to adopt an agile mindset.
I listen for words that keep getting repeated. And common themes between the managers and the members of the teams. I choose to focus on what I hear come up the most. And then I confirm that I’m understanding the current situation and what they desire for the future.
Once that’s been established, I’m looking for an entry point. What’s the most painless way to introduce something new to the team?
I’m looking for any new opportunity for a new meeting, role, or tool. Or an opportunity to try something different within what already exists on the team.
The catalyst and end point go hand in hand. The catalyst is the thinking, the entry point the action.
Catalyst + entry point = your start as a coach
What does this look like in practice?
A client came to me with a laundry list of what wasn’t working on the teams. In listening to their concerns, what kept coming up was the lack of predictable planning from the teams which in turn led to distrust from stakeholders that the team could honor their commitments.
Catalyst for change: a need for better planning.
I learned more about what the teams were working on, their practices, and any change that was already taking place. I learned that the teams were migrating from their current work tracking tool into Jira.
Entry point: a new tool for the team.
I used the entry point as a way for the team to establish a new way of backlog management, with user stories, acceptance criteria, estimation, release planning, and clarified roles for the Product Owner and the Scrum Master.
For teams where the catalyst is a lack of motivation, an entry point might be holding a Retrospective where there voices can be heard. If a catalyst is a lack of focus from people being on multiple teams, an entry point could be a team restructuring.
Here’s the thing about entry points: it’s not about the action.
It’s not about Jira. It’s not about a meeting. It’s not about team structure.
An entry point is just the smallest, easiest way to start to address what’s going on within an organization. It’s about challenging the team to examine how they were operating before and why they might benefit from thinking and acting differently in the future.
It’s just about getting started.
What’s your entry point?
Photo by Yaoqi on Unsplash