How Intense Delivery Pressure Destroyed Team Trust, Culture, and Brought Burnout | Deniz Ari

Summary

Detailed Summary of "How Intense Delivery Pressure Destroyed Team Trust, Culture, and Brought Burnout | Deniz Ari" Episode

Podcast: Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast
Host: Rafael Winterhalter
Guest: Denise Ari
Release Date: May 19, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, hosted by Rafael Winterhalter, Denise Ari, an experienced Agile Coach and Scrum Master from the UK, shares her insights on the detrimental effects of intense delivery pressure on team dynamics, trust, culture, and individual well-being. The conversation delves into real-world challenges faced in Agile environments and emphasizes the importance of sustainable practices to foster healthy and high-performing teams.

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Guest Background

Denise Ari is an innovative professional with expertise in Agile coaching, delivery management, data science, and technology transformation. With a background that uniquely blends social sciences and technical skills, Denise has been a Scrum Master and Agile Coach for over four years. She specializes in building high-performing teams, driving strategic execution, fostering collaboration, and leading cultural shifts to optimize processes and deliver scalable, high-quality outcomes.

Denise's Journey to Scrum Mastery

Denise's path to becoming a Scrum Master is unconventional. Originally planning to pursue a PhD in social sciences, her interest shifted towards data science and technology after engaging in boot camp programs like "Code Your Future." Her participation in a successful hackathon as a Product Manager led to unexpected job offers as a Scrum Master—a role she took on leveraging her strong communication skills and social science background.

"They thought I have a strong communicator and this is really good for a Scrum Master," Denise Ari [01:16].

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The Failure Story: Intense Delivery Pressure

Overwhelming Workload and Team Strain

Denise recounts a challenging period during winter when her team, working in the public sector, faced an unprecedented surge in workload. The demands included year-on-year projects, security enhancements, and migration tasks, all converging within a short timeframe of two to three weeks. Managing over 25 engineers, including 10 new joiners, Denise witnessed the team deliver numerous tasks on time and according to requirements. However, this success was overshadowed by significant negative impacts on team morale and well-being.

"We delivered so many things in this winter. But I think we lost so many things as well... people's well-being." [04:47].

Breakdown of Team Trust and Culture

Despite meeting delivery goals, the intense pressure led to a breakdown in trust within the team. Denise struggled to provide adequate support as the team size and workload exceeded manageable limits. The constant demand for high performance without sufficient oversight made team members feel isolated and unsupported, eroding the foundational trust essential for effective collaboration.

"Trust wasn't there because they felt alone... I let them down." [08:04].

Consequences of Burnout

The relentless pace resulted in burnout among team members, increased turnover, and deteriorating mental health. The stress levels soared, leading to conflicts, communication breakdowns, and even instances of raised voices during virtual meetings. Denise acknowledges her inability to fully safeguard the team's well-being during this period, recognizing it as a significant leadership shortfall.

"We had so many burnout cases, you know, the sickness, some communication problems..." [08:04].

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Key Challenges Identified

1. Overloaded Workload: An unsustainable increase in tasks and tight deadlines stretched the team's capacity beyond limits.
2. Broken Trust: Insufficient support and communication from leadership led team members to feel isolated and undervalued.
3. Burnout and Turnover: Continuous pressure without adequate breaks or support resulted in high levels of stress and loss of team members.
4. Communication Breakdown: Virtual meetings and high-stress environments contributed to miscommunications and conflicts within the team.

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Lessons Learned and Moving Forward

Emphasizing Sustainable Pace

Denise highlights the critical need to maintain a sustainable work pace to ensure long-term team health and productivity. Transitioning from high-pressure sprints to a more balanced approach is essential to prevent burnout and retain talent.

"The goal is to have a constant pace... sustainable pace in Scrum." [10:53].

Conducting Retrospectives and Implementing Changes

Post-crisis, Denise and her team engaged in comprehensive retrospective sessions to identify shortcomings and plan corrective measures. These sessions aimed to document lessons learned, advocate for necessary organizational changes, and establish practices that prioritize team well-being alongside delivery goals.

"We did some lesson learned sessions... Raising these points to higher management." [11:37].

Advocating for Organizational Support

Denise emphasizes the importance of continuous feedback and persistent advocacy for team needs within the organizational hierarchy. As a Scrum Master, she acknowledges the limits of her influence and the necessity of involving higher management to enact meaningful changes.

"Some things are tied up with the organization... I'm keep chasing as a Scrum Master." [11:37].

Allocating Capacity for Improvement

Recognizing that improvements require dedicated time and resources, Denise advises incorporating capacity for process enhancements into the team's backlog. This ensures that ongoing challenges are systematically addressed and that the team can adapt to future demands without compromising their well-being.

"We need to spare capacity for these kind of things because they just gonna come back." [13:08].

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Notable Quotes

• Denise Ari: "They thought I have a strong communicator and this is really good for a Scrum Master." [01:16]
• Denise Ari: "We delivered so many things in this winter. But I think we lost so many things as well... people's well-being." [04:47]
• Denise Ari: "Trust wasn't there because they felt alone... I let them down." [08:04]
• Denise Ari: "We had so many burnout cases, you know, the sickness, some communication problems..." [08:04]
• Denise Ari: "The goal is to have a constant pace... sustainable pace in Scrum." [10:53]
• Denise Ari: "We did some lesson learned sessions... Raising these points to higher management." [11:37]
• Denise Ari: "We need to spare capacity for these kind of things because they just gonna come back." [13:08]

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Conclusions

Denise Ari's candid recounting of her team's challenges under intense delivery pressure serves as a poignant reminder of the delicate balance between achieving short-term goals and maintaining long-term team health. The episode underscores the importance of:

• Sustainable Work Practices: Ensuring that workloads are manageable to prevent burnout and retain talented team members.
• Building and Maintaining Trust: Facilitating open communication and providing adequate support to foster a collaborative and trusting team environment.
• Proactive Leadership: Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches must advocate for their teams, pushing for organizational changes that support sustainable practices.
• Continuous Improvement: Regular retrospectives and the implementation of lessons learned are crucial for evolving team dynamics and processes.

By addressing these areas, Agile teams can thrive without sacrificing the well-being of their members, ultimately leading to more effective and resilient organizations.

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About the Global Agile Summit

[Note: The following section includes promotional content from the transcript, included here for completeness as it pertains to the episode's content.]

Denise and Rafael also discuss the upcoming Global Agile Summit, an event designed to combat Agile fatigue by showcasing real-life success stories and innovative practices in Agile methodologies. Scheduled to take place in Tallinn, Estonia, the summit features a diverse lineup of thought leaders and covers various tracks, including Agile Business, Agile Product, and Agile Developer.

For more information and to register, visit globalagilesummit.com.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Host]

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to make Agile work well? At the Global Agile Summit, we're bringing you real life first person stories of Agile succeeding out there in the real world that will inspire you to take action. Whether you're a leader, a product innovator, a developer, you'll hear practical insights from those who've done it. They'll be telling their own stories from the stage. I'll tell you more about this at the end of this episode. So stay back and listen to the full detailed description of what we have in store for you at the Global Agile Summit. But if you can't wait, you can go right now to globalagilesummit.com and check out our full schedule for now onto the episode. But I'll see you at the end of this episode with more details on the Global Agile Summit. Talk to you soon. Hello everybody.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

Welcome to one more week of the Scrum Master Toolbox podcast. And this week joining us from the UK is Denise Ari. Hey Denise, welcome to the show.

[Denise Ari]

Hi. Hello.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

So Denise is an innovative driven professional with expertise in agile coaching, delivery management, data science and technology transformation. As a Scrum Master and Agile coach, Denise helps build high performing teams, drives strategic execution and fosters collaboration. She's passionate about continuous improvement, lead cultural shifts, optimizes processes and delivers scalable, high quality outcomes. So Denise, that was a short intro. We'll dive into your stories and what more you have to share with us. Let's start with the first question. How did you end up becoming a Scrum Master?

[Denise Ari]

Actually it's an interesting story because I have a social science background. I was planning to carry on my PhD and after I read a lot I listened so many a books regarding big data, data analysis, you know the. And I tried to apply a couple of, you know, the PhD program about the data science but what I can see I need a more background about the computer science which is I didn't have in the. And and after I decide to move on to take some boot camp like a full stack development. Full boot camp which is I met with code your future. They gave me like a one year full stack. I just learned coding fundamentals, you know the test degree things and yeah and I just find myself it's a very different world and after end of the program we had opportunity hackathon like one competition and I was a part of it as a product manager and it, it went really well and we got some awards and it was a huge experience. It was like a two months but it's a massive Experience because we were on like a proper you know, the software development life cycle and the short time with like as a junior people it was a really interesting. And after this hackathon I job offers as a Scrum Master which is. I never think about it. I'm. I was planning to maybe I can step in you know the more junior developer role and after but they just decide because I have a social science background and some communication master degree and they think I have a strong communicator and this is really good for as a Scrum Master and they just. I just landed this position and I shut off current Scrum Master like a six months, five months. But yeah and I found myself last four years I'm on the same area.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

Very good, very good. That's a very interesting story. Of course also with the shift of areas from social sciences to programming product management and I can totally see why that communication angle would qualify you to be a Scrum Master because of course a lot of what we do as Scrum Masters and agile coaches is about helping others communicate and ourselves communicating clearly and you know, setting direction, getting people to collaborate. That's a very important aspect. Now not all of our stories are success stories though and today is Failed Monday here on the podcast. So we want to explore one of those stories Denise, where things just didn't go as you expected. Tell us that story first and then we'll dive into the details and the conclusions later. But tell us that story.

[Denise Ari]

Yeah, sure. I think it's my favorite parts, you know, the failure stories and because what I see everyone can learn more when you fail. This is a huge experience and yeah because it's. Why when how did it happen? Who involved you know, what was the situation and what was the dependency and this is so excited. But I can give you one example. Last winter in. In my work area it's. We are working for the public sector and the vintage is very busy and but at the same time you know there's some sometimes client wants to bring so many things together, you know the year on year work, some security work, some migration work, everything together and which is. We did very huge winter workload was like a double triple and we did. I had more than 20 engineers, 25 engineers like 10 of them new joiners to kept you know the company and. And it was like so many tasks was waiting for me especially for the new joiners and the 10 of them it's huge number and it happened in like a two or three weeks and yeah and end of the day we delivered so many things in this winter. But I think we lost so many things as well. If you think is a success is deliver on time and the right product with the aligning with the requirement. Yes, we did. But at the same time we lost so many things as a team, you know, as a culture, people's well being. So many people rotate especially expense people in the area because it was a like a big tough moment, you know, because they can't, they can't handle this stress. Pictures very normal. You know, it's not like a blaming anything and I didn't as well, you know. But what I did survive. My survive skills is very high. You know, I. I know work is work. If I have the people, if we have to stick together, we will get through it. But this gonna cost a lot and it cost a lot in this winter time with this huge workload and it was a big failure period.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And one of the aspects of the story that you just shared is this idea that actually when we think about the work that we do, it isn't only about developing software, which of course we support and we want to allow and you know, improve and so on, but it's also about building the long term future of the team that will continue to deliver the software that we are developing. And the story that you just shared is actually quite illustrative of that aspect of building the team, building the community that will be working through the new features, new ideas and future development of the software. When you look back at that story, right, like of course the most obvious reason was the overloaded workload, the high pressure, the stress. But what were some of the other aspects that you think led to this conclusion where the team felt or the individuals in the team felt that this is too much, I need to move on.

[Denise Ari]

Because trust was broken. You know, as a Scrum master, I can't take care of team because I couldn't follow up because the team is Generally it's over 23 for 25 engineers only. And we did with the squats, you know, the. And I was just trying to keep an eye on different squads with other Scrum masters. But the thing is trust wasn't there because they felt alone. You know, the. They. We let them down. Not just like a. Because we have not generally we're not doing like a one big release. You know, it's just like every increment, every period, every environment we keep delivering, it's very constant delivery times and some of them over, you know, the out of office hours, it's and yeah, as a Scrum master I let them down. And as a Scrum master, management let me down. You know the. And it's just like a chain and I think my manager feels same thing because it was not under control, you know the workload and we tried to survive. We did some and we had so many burnout cases, you know, the sickness, some communication problems, especially on the virtual teams meeting. And we had some clash conflicts and sometimes raising voice to each other, which is big. No, no, no. It happened to me from another person and then I just take my actions. But yeah, it was a plenty proper chunky failure for more than 20 people. Not just like engineers, not just like a business analyst, product owner, Scrum Master. It just for all of us it was a very tough time and it was a big failure and I was just. Now we're trying to bring. Because we now we start planning the winter period as well, you know, because it keep happening. You know, there's not something one time it happened. And with this technology improvements, especially in the public sector, they need to keep up. Yeah. Because it brings more security problems if you couldn't migrate or improve the security and you know the encryption things. But yeah, I think hopefully we will learn lesson learned and more calm and push back and stick each other and it's going to be cause some maybe difficult conversation. But I'm always happy to have this difficult conversation. As a Scrum master.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

One of the aspects that you just brought up with, which I think is very important is this idea that when we are using something like Scrum, for example, or Kanban, if that's what people are using, there's a constant pressure to deliver.

[Host]

Right.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

It's not like in the good old waterfall days where you had like this crunch time for a couple of months, maybe three months, whatever, and then you had rest. No, when we are doing Scrum or Kanban, the goal is not to cram a lot of work into a short period of time like we used to have in crunch time. The goal is to have a constant pace.

[Host]

Right.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

Like we talk about sustainable pace in scrum. So when you look at the future and now that you're already planning for the next winter, for example, Denise, what are the things you and the leadership and the teams are trying to put in place to make sure that you stick to that sustainable pace over the next winter season?

[Denise Ari]

We did some lesson learned sessions. It was like a big retrospective sessions face to face in the office, which is we have plenty people from all over the uk. It's not like it's we have a huge, you know the different audience and we did some. What's the outcome and we did some fun facts and documented definitely and raising these points to higher management. Constant feedback. You know the chasing the actions which is, you know as a Scrum master you have a limit, you know that you can do whatever you can but it. Some, some things is tied up with organization, you know and the steps and the levels and the peoples. That's why I'm keep, I'm keep chasing as a Scrum master and I'm advising to people to you know the. Let's put even you know the. Some of them. It's on the backlog because we need to chase it. It's just like it's. Someone's gonna work on it, someone's gonna spend time on it and we need to spare capacity for this kind of things because they just gonna come back. Definitely they're there, they're not gonna disappear. You know the, I mean like improvement wise especially. I know there was a different aspect for improvements like a budget, you know, the time allocation and. Yeah, just still, still catching up with them. Make sure it's. It's happening, you know the. It's not gonna happen overnight, it's not gonna happen fortnight.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

Yeah but it's as you said, it's very important to do that lessons learned and kind of push that information towards everybody, the team, the clients, the management so that they understand how they can also help create that sustainable pace that in the end delivers better outcomes and more sustainable outcomes. Meaning that the team is able to continue. It's not going down with burnout or sea cleaves or whatever, which interrupts the flow and creates even more problems. Yes, thank you for sharing that story, Denise.

[Denise Ari]

No worries.

[Host]

Hey friend. Thank you for staying here. Is all you need to know about the Global Agile Summit. If you've ever suffered or know people who are suffering from Agile fatigue, this event is for you. Agile fatigue is that feeling that settles in when we can't really see a light at the end of the tunnel. We get discouraged. Especially when conversations revolve around the same old frameworks, the same old buzzwords and theories. We don't feel that energy anymore. Well, the Global Agile Summit is a different kind of event. We're bringing you real life first person stories of Agile succeeding out there in the real world that will inspire you to take action and transform the way you work. The Global Agile Summit will happen In Tallinn, Estonia, May 18th. That's the workshop day. Then 19th and 20th the conference day and Tallinn, Estonia is one of the most innovative tech hubs in Europe. The Global Agile Summit is hosted together with Latitude 59, which is kind of a citywide celebration of software, software startups and groundbreaking ideas. And we'll have a share ticket for you to attend those events as well. So who will be speaking? Well, we've got an incredible lineup of thought leaders in software and agile. For example, Clinton Keith, the person who wrote literally wrote the book on game development with Scrum and is busy bringing Agile to the world of game development. You must check his session. The very famous and well known Jurgen Apelo, author of Management 3.0, will be talking and exploring about AI's impact on leadership. We also have Goiko Adsic, who's taking an unconventional look at product growth with his Lizard Optimization keynote. Other speakers include, for example Sixven, who's challenging everything we know about software development by ditching, literally ditching contracts and estimates. Can you imagine his teams deliver software before their competitors are even done with the contract negotiation? How agile is that? But there's more. We'll cover engineering practices in our developer track with talks on, for example, AI assisted test driven development, developing products in minutes with a different approach to how we develop, configure, deploy platforms, and much more. We also have a product track where we cover cutting edge ideas around product discovery, delighting customers with product delight frameworks. We'll have a talk about that. And we also have an Agile business track where we will talk about, for example Open strategy, a very agile approach to managing organizations, and delivering software faster to clients faster than you can even write a contract. Literally. I mean, I already told you about Svendit's story is amazing. It definitely is a must see. I'm sure you'll be inspired and get a lot of ideas for your own own software projects and software delivery. Now, whether you're a business leader, a product innovator or a developer, you'll definitely find value in our three focused tracks. That's Agile Business for those working with businesses and organizations, Agile Product for product managers, product owners and innovators, and Agile developer for the builders making Agile work in practice. The coders, the testers, the designers, the producers, the Scrum masters, you name it. If you join, you will meet over 200 agile professionals from all over the world. People who just like you, want to grow, want to share and want to learn by challenging the ideas that don't work anymore. At the Global Agile Summit, you'll get new connections, fresh ideas and the energy to take your own agile to the next level. And who knows, maybe even find your next career opportunity. So don't miss out. Check out the full program and grab your ticket [e-mail] I'm really looking forward to seeing you all in Tallinn, Estonia in May.

[Rafael Winterhalter]

I'll see you there.