Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile Storytelling from the Trenches

Episode Summary: Scaling with Purpose, Managing Agile Team Growth While Avoiding Conway's Law Pitfalls | Mateusz Komander

Introduction

In this insightful episode of the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, host Vasco Duarte engages with Mateusz Komander, an experienced Scrum Master, to delve into the complexities of scaling Agile teams within an organization. The conversation centers around Mateusz's real-world experiences, the strategies he employed to manage team growth, and the challenges he faced, particularly concerning Conway's Law. This summary captures the essence of their discussion, highlighting key points, actionable insights, and valuable lessons for Agile practitioners aiming to scale their teams effectively.

Background: Mateusz Komander’s Journey with Agile Scaling

Mateusz begins by sharing his journey of implementing change within an organization eager to enhance an existing employee engagement application. Tasked with leading a rapidly growing team, Mateusz encountered the fundamental challenge of scaling beyond a typical Scrum team size without a predefined scaling framework in place.

“I was fortunate enough to be in an organization who are quite open into experimentation and into experimenting with any change and any approaches.”
— Mateusz Komander [02:47]

Scaling Approach: Introducing “Flights” for Agile Teams

To address the growing team size, Mateusz introduced a novel approach involving the creation of small, cross-functional sub-teams referred to as “flights.” Each flight comprised up to four members, including a QA specialist, a backend developer, and an Android/iOS developer. The objective was to enable these small flights to focus on specific aspects of the application, fostering agility and swift delivery.

“The intention was that each of the flights could focus on one aspect of the product, develop, finish it as soon as possible and jump to something else if needed.”
— Mateusz Komander [04:07]

This strategy allowed for focused development while maintaining flexibility. Additionally, there was an initial plan to occasionally merge flights temporarily to tackle larger product components before re-splitting, ensuring scalability and adaptability.

Challenges Encountered: Emergence of Silos

Despite the promising start, Mateusz observed a significant challenge as the team expanded. The flights began to develop silos, not vertically aligned with product areas but horizontally based on technical specialties. Backend developers gravitated towards backend tasks, and similar patterns emerged in other technical domains, undermining the cross-functional intent of the flights.

“The teams started naturally to somehow aim into splitting the work. Not really vertically, but rather horizontally.”
— Mateusz Komander [07:45]

This horizontal segregation led to reduced collaboration across different product facets, as teams became more focused on their specific technical layers rather than the overall product delivery. Mateusz acknowledges that this drift was partly due to differing speeds of development across technologies and a lack of long-term alignment.

Insights and Lessons Learned

Reflecting on the experience, Mateusz emphasizes the importance of understanding team dynamics and technological dependencies when scaling Agile teams. He highlights the need for:

1. Clear Long-Term Alignment: Ensuring that all teams are aligned with the overarching goals and direction of the project to prevent divergence into technical silos.

2. Flexibility in Scaling Approaches: Being prepared to adjust scaling strategies based on the evolving needs and behaviors of the teams.

3. Awareness of Conway’s Law: Recognizing that organizational structures can influence the design of systems, Mateusz underscores the necessity of structuring teams in a way that aligns with desired system architectures to avoid unintended silos.

“As Scrum masters, as agile coaches, as leaders in general, we need to be aware of those dynamics because otherwise we might not detect the silos early enough to be able to do something about them.”
— Vasco Duarte [10:08]

Furthermore, Mateusz suggests considering platform teams that support multiple product teams, allowing for vertical splits aligned with product functionalities rather than horizontal splits based on technical expertise.

Conclusion: Moving Forward with Enhanced Strategies

The episode concludes with Mateusz sharing his optimistic outlook despite the challenges faced. He acknowledges that while the initial scaling attempt had its drawbacks, it provided invaluable lessons that inform his current and future approaches to Agile team management. Mateusz’s experience serves as a testament to the importance of adaptability, continuous learning, and the nuanced application of Agile principles in scaling efforts.

“Definitely nice learning point and place to look more thoroughly in future scaling approaches.”
— Mateusz Kommander [10:41]

Vasco Duarte wraps up the discussion by reinforcing the significance of understanding and addressing team dynamics to foster effective collaboration and product delivery in scaled Agile environments.

Key Takeaways

• Understand Team Dynamics: Recognize and proactively address the natural tendencies of teams to form silos based on technical expertise.

• Align Scaling with Product Goals: Ensure that scaling strategies support the overall product objectives and maintain cross-functional collaboration.

• Adapt and Iterate: Be prepared to modify scaling approaches based on real-time feedback and evolving team behaviors.

• Leverage Platform Teams: Consider implementing platform teams to support multiple product teams, facilitating better alignment and reducing silos.

This episode offers a deep dive into the practical challenges of scaling Agile teams and provides valuable strategies and insights for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches aiming to navigate similar landscapes. Mateusz Komander’s experiences highlight the delicate balance between team structure and collaboration, emphasizing the need for thoughtful, adaptable approaches to Agile scaling.

Notable Quotes

• “The intention was that each of the flights could focus on one aspect of the product, develop, finish it as soon as possible and jump to something else if needed.”
  — Mateusz Komander [04:07]

• “The teams started naturally to somehow aim into splitting the work. Not really vertically, but rather horizontally.”
  — Mateusz Komander [07:45]

• “As Scrum masters, as agile coaches, as leaders in general, we need to be aware of those dynamics because otherwise we might not detect the silos early enough to be able to do something about them.”
  — Vasco Duarte [10:08]

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