It is a known fact that we learn better using Simulation. They (simulations) allow us to step into a specific scenario, experiment with different ‘what if’ scenarios, experiment and test our approach, and eventually optimize our response for the specific scenario.
Simulation is used every where! from medical field to defense and space exploration! Simulation is a low-risk, high reward tool that can be used to train our muscle memory, so when you are in that situation in real life, you are on auto-pilot. It will feel like ‘you have been there, done that’. You will have no anxiety as you have already practiced that situation and know how to tackle it, you know what your strategy is going to be and you are READY for it.
A fancy term for this is ‘simulation modeling’ that allows us to explore real-life scenarios, experiment with different ‘what if’ scenarios in a safe and low-risk environment.
Introducing ‘Scenario Lab’ !
It is a forum where we will discuss a specific scenario, drawn from our real life experiences as Enterprise Agile Transformation Coach.
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We use each scenario as ‘simulation’ where I ask you to step into a specific scenario and work on your response, strategy on how you would tackle that scenario, and what tools and techniques would be helpful to you.
As part of this discussion, we will learn some new techniques and tools. I will also introduce you to some of the games that can help in that scenario.
List of Scenarios
You are the Scrum Master for a brand new team that is your company's first attempt to start an agile journey.
The team that you have been given, is assembled of individuals who were not on any project at that moment, and most of them are relatively new to the organization. The longest tenure has been 2 years. Though new, the team is excited to get on this journey and have gelled well together as a group.
To help your team get started on the right foot, you have hired an agile coach that is supporting you in this effort.
How would you go about Standing Up this new team on their Agile journey?
Formulate your strategy and plan that answers:
- What would be your approach?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You just got called into the office of Alex, your VP of Software Development. He has a problem with hand and has reached out to you for help.
He has a team of 15 people. This team is part of a large program and has been on the Agile journey for almost a year now. They have primarily been using Scrum.
Alex mentions that this team has several issues. He, in fact, isn't sure if the team gets it as to what agile is. This team has 2-day sprint planning scheduled on their calendar, and they still struggling in each sprint, even after spending 2 days on planning every sprint.
The team morale is really down. Team members are afraid to speak their minds due to some bad experiences in the past, with previous Scrum Master, who just resigned from the company. Alex is not sure if the PO is also doing his job properly.
Now, that the previous Scrum Master has resigned, Alex is looking at this as an opportunity to make some changes and do the 'course correction'. He wants you to take this team up as a Scrum Master now.
Essentially, you are inheriting a troubled team with many challenges (opportunities?).
What do you do?
Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What would you do?
- What would be your strategy going into this situation?
- What is wrong here
- What would be your approach
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
Congratulations! You have just been assigned as the Scrum Master of a highly dysfunctional team 🙁
There are several issues with this team. To start with, the daily stand up takes an hour. You noticed that the team often goes into detailed discussions during stand up. The VP of Software Engineering stops by regularly, often 3 out of 5 days a week as he is concerned about meeting the dates.
One of the team members, a senior employee of the company, shows up at the Stand up only once a week, as he thinks it is a waste of his time. He is too busy and can use that time in other tasks. He is also not forthcoming in sharing information with others on the team.
What do you do?
Is there anything you can do as a Scrum Master? If yes, what, why, and how. What changes can you affect as a Scrum Master?
Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What could be the reasons for this toxic environment? How could you affect change?
- What would be your approach?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You are SM of a team that is part of a large initiative, a very critical one for the organization.
This program has missed several critical dates, and now the ‘environment’ has become very toxic. Everyone seems to be pulling each other down. You feel others will throw you in the fire at a moment's notice, at the first available opportunity.
Even a small miss in a sprint is magnified and gets to the top very quickly. Often the scrum master of the team (who misses deliverable) gets summoned to the office, demanding an explanation.
What do you do?
Is there anything you can do as a Scrum Master? If yes, what, why, and how. What changes can you affect as a Scrum Master?
Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What could be the reasons for this toxic environment? How could you affect change?
- What would be your approach?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You are taking an existing team onto Agile Journey. The team has been together but this will be the first time they would be using Agile to build and deliver their product.
This team is responsible for supporting multiple existing applications, that have been in use by the company for several years. This team is also responsible for enhancements and bug fixes.
The Scrum Master and Product Owner both have been with the company and this team for a while, are highly technical and know the ins and outs of the applications. They also have a good working relationship with stakeholders. With that said, though, both are new to Agile.
PO is so technical that she can, in fact, tell the team what tables, columns involved, and often dictates the task-level details to developers. SM used to be a developer and had developed a lot of the features in the applications they are supporting now.
In the zeal to please everyone, both PO and SM have a tendency to commit to more than they can chew on. You are taking this team on the Agile Journey.
Is there anything you can do as a Scrum Master? If yes, what, why, and how. What changes can you affect as a Scrum Master?
Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What could be the reasons for this toxic environment? How could you affect change?
- What would be your approach?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You just walked into an elevator to get to an important meeting. To your surprise, you also have the CIO of the company in the elevator.
She asks you how things are going; and then she springs an important question: What is this 'scrum and agile' thing? Why should we look into it?
You have a few minutes in the elevator with her.
What do you do?
How would you respond to her?
Formulate your response that includes answers to her questions, as well as highlights the benefits of Agile to the organization.
Your goal would be to pique her interest so that you can get another longer meeting with her to convince her to start an agile journey in the organization.
You are the Scrum Master for a brand new team that is your company's first attempt to start an agile journey. The team that you have been given, is assembled of individuals who were not on any project at that moment, and most of them are relatively new to the organization. The longest tenure has been 2 years. Though new, the team is excited to get on this journey and have gelled well together as a group.
To help your team get started on the right foot, you have hired an agile coach that is supporting you in this effort. Together with this coach, you have taken the team through agile training, done the initial setup activities and are into your fourth sprint.
You have a good backing and support of your immediate supervisor, who is the VP of Software Development in the organization.
However, there are others who have been in the company for a long time and highly skeptical about this (Agile) approach. They hate the fact that you (the Scrum Team) are delivering 'half baked' stuff at the end of each two-week period.
The team is getting increasingly frustrated with all the roadblocks they are throwing in their way.
What do you do? Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What is wrong here
- What would be your approach
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
Viral is the manager of a team that is on its Agile journey. The team has completed about 12 sprints, but Viral has joined this particular part of the organization (department) recently, about 3 months into it.
He is very active in attending all the scrum ceremonies and eager to help. After the team completed a recent Sprint Planning session, Viral reaches out to you. He is especially concerned that two of his resources would not be utilized during the sprint.
These are senior people on the team and he feels that we need to give them work. “I can not let them sit twiddling their thumbs,” he says.
He goes on and gives you a back story also. One of the team members, a senior member, sent a very long email to Viral after the Sprint Planning was done. The title of the email was “Scrum process is broken...” and goes on to complain about various issues that he feels are problems.
He also feels that their (developers) work is not displayed on the scrum board, so it does not matter whether he is working or not.
Viral is concerned that he needs to keep this senior member ‘happy’.
How would you approach this situation? What do you do? Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What is wrong here
- What would be your approach
- How would you set up the team/teams?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You ran into the VP of Software Engineering this morning. In this hallway conversation, she was praising your effort as Scrum Master of one of her teams, working on a large, strategic initiative. She has 6 teams working on this large program, and she is extremely pleased with the pace at which your team is completing the feature functionality.
However, she is not happy with the other team's pace. She, inherently, starts comparing other teams with your team. She is asking how we can push other teams to increase their velocity so that it is close to yours.
She suggests that once we have accomplished that we want to push teams to increase their velocity by 25%.
What do you do? How would you respond to this hallway conversation? Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What is wrong here
- What would be your approach
- How would you set up the team/teams?
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You are Scrum Master of one of the Component Teams.
Your team is ‘killing it’. You are the Scrum Master of a high flying team and you are obviously very proud of it.
Your team is finishing developing a new feature, functionality at an unprecedented pace. Your team is, in fact, known as Team Awesome in the organization. The velocity is great, the team enjoys working together, the PO is doing her job beautifully.
However, when you look at what you have really delivered to the customers, you get depressed! There is not a whole lot that has gotten into the hands of customers. While you are Team Awesome for most of the organization, your customers are not happy at all with the team.
Your team has been building all these functionalities, and essentially they are 'put on the shelf'.
What do you do? What changes can you affect as a Scrum Master? Formulate your strategy, plan that answers...
- What could be the reasons for non-delivery?
- What would be your approach
- What would be your pivotal conversations? With whom?
- What games, tools could you use?
You have been working with an Agile team for quite some time. The team has been together and have gone through several sprints. They are into their 10th sprint.
The team is doing alright and gets the essence of agile. They are doing all the events and have been delivering through sprints.
But, they are getting stagnant. They are happy with the ‘status quo’, thinking they are doing very well.
What could you do to spur some growth in the team? What advanced engineering practices would you introduce to the team? Why?
What would be your approach to introduce those advanced practices?