An Agile Transformation touches and changes many roles. Software Developers and QA Engineers are put together on the same team and the wall between them is torn down. Business Analysts are either made part of the team, or, as I’ve seen happen often, are turned into Product Owners and given ownership of the product. Someone, whether an up-and-coming leader or perhaps a Project Manager, is made the “Scrum Master” and told to facilitate the team’s meetings. And as for Project Managers, they often find a new role within the organization.
But what of the role of an Engineering Manager? Agile doesn’t do away with the need for managers, but frameworks like Scrum don’t provide guidance for these individuals on their role in an Agile organization. And that’s a shame, as an team’s agility relies heavily on the support of management. I mentioned previous that the role of a manager is to coach, mentor, manage their team and shape the organization’s culture. But, to do that effectively, one must have a good grasp on the concepts in agile, and that’s where these resources come in.
The Agile Mindset
Agile is a new way of thinking and organizing the efforts around delivering value to customers. It changes the relationship between developers and customers. It focuses on building trust, being responsive, and working iteratively. This is the Agile Mindset, and it requires a radical shift in thinking.
One good resource on the Agile Mindset and agile in general is Mike Cohn’s Succeeding with Agile. The first 5 chapters provide a good introduction to agile and challenges in adopting it. Chapter 12 discusses how to lead development teams and introduces the concept of Containers, Differences, and Exchanges to shape a team.
Lyssa Adkins has a video series on Safari Books online that is also very good. It is aimed more at Scrum Masters and Coaches, but I think there are a couple of lessons that managers can learn from as well.
Lesson 2 talks about the agile mindset and how we planning shifts.
Lesson 3 discusses what behaviors need to change when adopting Agile.
This portion of Lesson 5 talks about coaching a manager into becoming an agile manager.
Scrum
There are many good books out there on Scrum, but the first place you should start is by reading through the Scrum Guide. It is short, but don’t let the simplicity fool you, there are powerful concepts in here. I recommend reading through a couple times and watching a few videos online that draw out the framework, until you feel comfortable drawing the diagram out yourself.
While books are good, perhaps you want a class or a certification to show that you understand the Agile mindset. Scrum Allaince’s Certified Scrum Master class and certification will cover the basics of Agile and help you down the path of understanding agile.
Scrum.org has a couple of good certifications that allow you to demonstrate your knowledge of the Agile mindset and Scrum. Their PSM-1 Certification does not require a training class, if you prefer to self-study. This exam tests your Scrum knowledge heavily.
If you want to demonstrate your Agile Mindset and Agile Leadership knowledge, then look into Scrum.org’s Professional Agile Leadership Certification, or PAL 1. You can take this certification without the course and just read through the suggested reading list. However, if you can manage to take the course, you will receive a free retry of the certification exam, so long as you take both exams within 30 days of the class.
Servant Leadership
The Agile Mindset is a tough concept for many to grasp, but I find the concept of Servant Leadership equally difficult to grasp. Servant Leadership can be simply stated that a leader should look to serve those whom he or she leads, instead of looking to have those people serve the leader. I’ve written on Servant Leadership before, which includes the idea of treating leadership as a host of a dinner party and my personal favorite, leading by intent just as Captain David Marquet describes in his book Turn the Ship Around.
You may be skeptical that Servant Leadership could really work. Looking at the examples of leadership set forth for us by previous generations, we have many command and control leaders from which to draw inspiration from. But, the truly inspiring leaders are those that serve their followers instead of being served. The book Servant Leadership in Action puts this on great display through dozens of essays from leaders across many different industries.
Conclusion
There are a number of resources available for one to learn the Agile Mindset, Scrum, and Servant Leadership. You will undoubtedly come across others that speak to you. But the books, trainings, and certifications have been the most impactful to me, and will make an impact on you as well.