Summary4 min read

Summary of "Understanding the 'Why' Behind Agile Transformation | Season Hughes"

Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast
Host: Pasco Duarte
Guest: Season Hughes
Release Date: February 26, 2025

Introduction to Change Leadership

In this episode of the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, host Pasco Duarte engages in an insightful conversation with Season Hughes, an experienced Agile Coach, focusing on the intricate process of change management within Agile transformations. The discussion delves deep into understanding the underlying reasons ("the why") behind adopting Agile methodologies and how to effectively navigate the challenges that come with such transformations.

The Essence of Understanding "Why"

Season Hughes emphasizes the importance of comprehending the fundamental reasons behind initiating an Agile transformation. Rather than enforcing Agile as a mere checklist or process, Hughes advocates for a more profound approach that aligns with the organization's core objectives.

Season Hughes [03:10]: "Why is it that you want this change? How are things now? How do you want them to be?"

By probing these questions, organizations can ensure that their Agile adoption is purpose-driven, fostering genuine improvement rather than superficial compliance.

Establishing a Strong Foundational Training

A pivotal point discussed is the necessity of comprehensive training for all team members, especially leaders. Hughes underscores that understanding the Scrum framework's core principles is essential for a healthy implementation.

Season Hughes [05:44]: "If you can get as many people into training to understand the foundation of SCRUM in its pure form, that will set them up for being able to implement it in a healthy way."

He recommends certifications like Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM) Level One to build this foundational knowledge. Additionally, for Product Owners, advanced courses like the Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (ACSPO) can further enhance their capability to manage backlogs effectively.

Practical Tools and Techniques for Agile Transformation

Season shares several practical tools and methodologies that have proven effective in facilitating Agile transformations:

1. Liftoffs Workshops

Season Hughes [07:30]: "Something to put in your toolbox is a book called Liftoffs that I've been doing this now for seven years almost."

Liftoffs are intensive workshops that focus on team formation, vision alignment, and skill assessment. These sessions help teams understand their roles, establish working agreements, and prioritize their work effectively.

2. Skills Matrix Exercise

Assessing the team's existing skills versus the skills required for successful project execution is crucial. This exercise identifies gaps and areas for development, ensuring that the team is well-equipped to handle their tasks.

3. Working Agreements and Backlog Formation

Creating working agreements fosters a collaborative environment, while backlog formation exercises aid in writing and prioritizing user stories, setting a clear path for project progression.

Overcoming Challenges in Agile Implementation

Implementing Agile is not without its hurdles. Season highlights common challenges and provides strategies to address them:

1. Leadership Support and Understanding

A recurring issue is the lack of deep understanding and support from leadership. Organizations often desire Agile adoption without fully grasping its principles, leading to misalignment and ineffective implementation.

Season Hughes [13:04]: "They're going to say, well, we want to increase velocity and we want to do more work... or we want to deliver more value to the customer."

Ensuring that leaders are well-trained and aligned with Agile values is essential for a smooth transformation.

2. Balancing Execution and Planning

Organizations sometimes resist dedicating time to foundational planning, emphasizing immediate execution instead. Season suggests negotiating with leadership to allocate necessary time, even if it's a shorter duration, to establish a solid foundation.

Season Hughes [08:50]: "If we can't do a full day, half day, four hours, okay, that's better, we can do that."

3. Role Clarity and Accountability

Misalignment of roles can hinder Agile processes. An example provided is Scrum Masters being assigned technical analyst roles, which diverts their focus from coaching and process facilitation. Clarifying and realigning roles ensures that each team member can contribute effectively.

Season Hughes [11:15]: "Scrum Masters were being put into a role of technical analysts... while developers were kind of hands off with the work."

Continuous Improvement and Monitoring

Season advocates for ongoing observation and feedback to refine Agile practices continually. By regularly regrouping with teams and leaders, organizations can assess progress, identify areas for improvement, and adapt strategies accordingly.

Season Hughes [12:29]: "Get a shared understanding, get some kind of team working agreements or formation and then to actually watch the teams go and see what happens."

This iterative approach ensures that Agile transformations remain dynamic and responsive to the organization's evolving needs.

Conclusion

The episode underscores that successful Agile transformations hinge on understanding the "why" behind the change, establishing strong foundational knowledge through training, utilizing practical tools and techniques, overcoming common challenges with strategic approaches, and committing to continuous improvement. Season Hughes' insights provide a roadmap for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches aiming to lead effective and meaningful Agile transformations within their organizations.

Season Hughes [14:18]: "Thank you to that organization and those leaders for just being a good example of change and support. That was awesome."

Pasco Duarte concludes by encouraging listeners to rate and share the podcast, fostering a community of knowledgeable Scrum Masters dedicated to improving their craft.

Key Takeaways:

Understand the Purpose: Delve into the reasons behind adopting Agile to ensure alignment with organizational goals.
Comprehensive Training: Equip all team members, especially leaders, with foundational Agile knowledge.
Practical Workshops: Utilize tools like Liftoffs to facilitate team formation and backlog management.
Address Challenges Proactively: Ensure leadership support, clarify roles, and balance planning with execution.
Commit to Continuous Improvement: Regularly assess and adapt Agile practices to foster sustained success.

By embracing these strategies, Scrum Masters can lead their teams through successful Agile transformations, fostering environments that prioritize value delivery, team engagement, and sustainable growth.

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Transcript13 lines

[00:02]
Pasco Duarte
Hi there. Pasco Duarte here, your host. I wanted to share a story with you. You know how sometimes Agile just feels like following another checklist when like processes and frameworks feel more important than what we are trying to achieve and sometimes even like handcuffs. I was talking to a customer of the Global Agile Summit and he used a term that kind of stuck in my he said, I have Agile fatigue. And I've heard that a lot from people since then. But here's the thing, it doesn't have to be this way. So we started thinking and at the Global Agile Summit, which is happening this May, we're bringing together practitioners who've actually done that, who've broken free from this, you know, install the framework kind of mindset. We want to focus the summit on real life, first person stories of Agile all succeeding that inspire you to action. We're talking real experiences, practical solutions, and of course, amazing insights from leaders like Gojkoacic, who will be one of the keynote speakers, and Jurgen Apelo, who will be one of the keynote speakers as well. If you're ready to leave the Agile fatigue behind, just join us in Dalit. The early birth tickets are now available@the globalagilesummit.com and mark your calendar. We will have workshops on May 18th, that's a Sunday. And then the conference itself will happen on May 19th and 20th of 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia. So let's make Agile exciting again. And remember, go to agile globalagilesummit.com that is, and get your early birth ticket. Now, it will only be available until early March, so grab it now. And now onto the episode. Hello, everybody. Welcome to our Wednesday the Change Leadership episode. This week we have with us Season Hughes. Hey, Season. Welcome back.
[02:15]
Season Hughes
Hi. Happy Wednesday. Glad to be back.
[02:18]
Pasco Duarte
Absolutely. Happy Wednesday, everybody. So, season, on Wednesdays we talk about change because it is, after all, a very big part of the work that we do as Scrum masters. And it doesn't need to be about adopting Agile or Scrum. There's so many other things that are changing, like the direction of the product or the episode from Monday where the product was disappearing and that causes change.
[02:44]
Season Hughes
Right?
[02:44]
Pasco Duarte
Big change there, big change there. So tell us a story of a process of change that you were involved with and walk us through the process from beginning to end. And as you go, highlight for us the tools, the tips, the tricks and the techniques you learned back then that you still apply today.
[03:01]
Season Hughes
Yes. Yeah. So just stepping back, especially when I was working in a consulting role and I would come into different companies or Organizations, the expectation was that we were going to make them do Scrum. Like, make the company, the department, the organization, the teams. Like, we were there to make them do Scrum. And what I want to encourage people to do and what I tried to do was to dive into that and ask, why is it that you want this change? How are things now? How do you want them to be? And why is it that you want to do Scrum or do Agile? And what does it look like when this is successful? And this is the most interesting data point or one of the most interesting data points that you can get about a leader or an organization. Are they going to say, well, we want to increase velocity and we want to do more work? Or another answer I would get is, we want to deliver more value to the customer, or we want to have our internal people be able to take more ownership of their work, more interest in it, be more engaged and be happier. So this is an organization that I consulted with very recently, and they were the latter of that. They were the ones saying, we want to make sure that customers are getting the most from our product. And they were very, very focused on burnout, sustainability, engagement and ownership of the work. And when leaders give that answer, I can feel my shoulders kind of like relaxing. And I just know that this is going to be a really good start to the engagement. So this is an example of that. I believe that the best place to start when in this type of change is with training. And that is to get every person, ideally leaders in there, to understanding the process, the purpose, the foundation, the mechanisms. Just especially that, why do we do these things? How do we do them? Like in. If you haven't listened to. I think it was Monday's episode, Scrum Guide. Getting into that, like, what book?
[05:42]
Pasco Duarte
The Tuesday episode. Yeah, yeah. Yesterday's episode.
[05:45]
Season Hughes
You should listen to Monday and Tuesday, But Tuesday's episode where we go back to the Scrum Guide. If you can get as many people into training to understand the foundation of SCRUM in its pure form, that will set them up for being able to implement it in a healthy way. And not what we talked about of that Scrum butt or the basketball game where people are wearing different jerseys. Like, we're okay. We're all here at all levels. We're all aligned on what we're going to do. And in this particular engagement, everybody, including the leaders, got the foundational training of Scrum, which is the Certified Scrum Master Workshop. I think that if you're going to send people to a certification or a SCRUM training. That or I've heard good things about PSM Level one as well. Getting them that foundation. As a Scrum master who needs to really understand the guide and to be able to coach people on it, I usually start there. And then with the product owners, we also offered a lot of them already had their CSPO for any that didn't. We got them that training and we also developed a course that was our ACSPO Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner certification that they took as well. So that's where we started was with that foundation. That's the first thing that I love to do because there are so many aha moments that we see and especially if you can get that as just your department or your company, hearing the questions that get asked or hearing the improvements and the ideas or that like, oh, we were doing it this way, we should do it this way. I love being able to kind of be in those private trainings, whether I'm giving them or I'm a participant. Love that. And then after that, we did Liftoffs, which is time to shout out another book. Something to put in your toolbox is a book called Liftoffs that I've been doing this now for seven years almost, and I still go back to that book all the time. They're one of my favorite things to do with the teams. And this is where you can take a full day with the team or a half day if that's all you can get. And you just talk about forming a team like we talked about on Team Tuesday, like an actual team of why are we here? Who are the people involved? What is our vision? How do we contribute to that vision? What skills does the team need? From just an execution standpoint, we'll actually go through kind of a skills matrix exercise of maybe this team needs front end development, back end development, manual testing, automated testing. What do we have? What do we not have? What are people willing to learn? We also talk about how we will work together. So we create working agreements, another great thing in your toolbox. And then we go through like a backlog formation of what is the work that we need to do. Let's write stories for it, let's start prioritizing them. It's a lot of planning and it's a lot of people. And here's where it can be hard sometimes not in this organization. They're like, yeah, do what you need to do. Oh, my gosh, it was just the best and a very rare engagement as an agile coach or when I was stepping in and helping them with Their Scrum Masters is take all the time you need, do whatever you need. But sometimes it can be very hard to sell to leadership. We are going to take some time away from execution to start planning as people and a team. So something I try to do that's worked for me. Another sneaky toolbox thing is I may go to leaders and say, okay, with this team, we're going to take a full day to really do some team formation. We are going to take a look at the skills we need for execution and they'll go, oh my gosh, no, we can't do a full day. Like, that's too much. We need to get to work. Oh, okay. If we can't do a full day, half day, four hours, okay, that's better, we can do that. So that's a little bit more sneaky. But just to be, I think, a good Scrum Master, what you need to do is to at least know how to do everybody's accountability on the team. And this, if it is something you want to pursue being an agile coach in later, it's about seeing once you've gone through this change, how are the accountabilities and processes being executed and maybe where are the opportunities for improvement. There's usually room for improvement in all three Scrum Master developer, product Owner but what I saw in this particular engagement was Scrum Masters were being put into a role of technical analysts. Like the proposed title for them was actually Technical Scrum Masters. And I saw them taking on roles that I would expect developers to be doing on the team. So things like writing and understanding requirements, for example, like they were very, very technical and acting as technical advisors, which meant that the product owners were the ones coming in and managing stakeholders and expectations and what it looks like to interact with the team. In Scrum, they were checking in on people who were needing a bit more like coaching and handholding, like they were doing that coaching. So they were stepping into that role. While developers were kind of hands off with the work, daily Scrums were status updates. So we saw opportunities there to free up Scrum Masters to really focus on the people and the processes. So just taking a step back, what I like to do in any kind of change is get a shared understanding, get some kind of team working agreements or formation and then to actually watch the teams go and see what happens and then regroup with them and the leaders and just say, here's what I'm seeing, maybe here are some proposed solutions, but mostly just here's what I'm observing and change is really hard, too. It's really hard.
[12:30]
Pasco Duarte
And one of the things that I usually say is that it's not that it's just hard. It is hard. Plus it requires support. Right. Like one of the things you said also on Tuesday, you need to know the Scrum Guide. Well, we can't expect all the team members to know the Scrum Guide because it's not their focus. Right. So we need to help them with that. Right. We need to be present. And I think it's important to recognize that last aspect that you mentioned is very important, which is to, at regular intervals, regroup, figure out where we are and what could be the next step to take.
[13:05]
Season Hughes
Exactly. Patterns that I see over and over again are, we're going to do Scrum now. Okay, go. Like what? Like what? There's no understanding of what Scrum is or why we're doing it. A small common example is they will go. They being the organization or leadership, will go to product managers and just say, okay, you're a product owner now. But they have no training or support or understanding of the expectations of. This means that you are going to prioritize the backlog. Just. I see that a lot, that kind of lack of support, and I don't. There's good intentions and there's enthusiasm around these kinds of changes, but the support and execution can be lacking. And as a Scrum Master, you can come in and hopefully be listened to, or sometimes it's no, just go with the program. We don't have time for training. Make it work. I hear that a lot as a Scrum Master, and that's. That's unfortunate.
[14:13]
Pasco Duarte
This was wonderful. Thank you for sharing all of those tips and ideas with us. Susan.
[14:18]
Season Hughes
You're welcome. And that thank you to that organization and those leaders for just being a good example of change and support. That was awesome.
[14:30]
Pasco Duarte
We really hope you liked our show. And if you did, why not rate this podcast on Stitcher or itunes. Share this podcast and let other Scrum Masters know about this valuable resource for their work. Remember that sharing is caring.