We often hear companies, who tried unsuccessfully to adopt agile methodologies, blaming the methodology. But is that the methodology itself, used purely, without any adjustment in management of people that will bring good results?
Successful Agile Projects comes with self-organizing teams and the commitment of every individual of this agile team. The command-control management loses for this new management approach and we now have to pay attention to the motivation of individuals.
One of the 12 principles of the Agile Manifesto talks about motivation and describes well the relationship of motivation and work environment:
Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
Environment + trust = Motivation
We just know the formula!
Simple, doesn’t it?
Motivation
Dan Pink presents 3 factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:
- Autonomy – “the desire to direct your own lives”
- Mastery – “the urge to get better and better at something that matters”;
- Purpose – “the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves”.
Jurgen Appelo in his book Management 3.0 also presents some factors that acts in individual motivation.
To motivate your employees and increase their satisfaction is about know and work intrinsic motivations of each one. And it is just promoting an enabling environment that can foster this motivation.
Work Environment
To deal with individuals which work requires creativity and constantly work on solving problems or building complex systems, it is important to keep them motivated in doing its activities. Thats why an Agile Organization Managment favors, through the environment, the motivation of individuals.
What we have and get on these environment, for example, are:
- Transparency of information – that leads to better decision making and fosters a sense of “purpose”
- Individuals that can contribute with improvement ideas
- Culture of learning that fosters “Mastery”;
- Flexible work policy, that includes home-office;
- Self-management teams;
- Frequently retrospectives to inspect and adapt the working process;
- Participate in hiring decisions;
- others.
Agile Brazil 2013
“Agile Organization Management” was a subject that was very talked about in the conference Agile Brazil 2013. That is because represents the natural evolution in the way companies deal with managment as they wants to work with agile.
Three presentations was interesting in Agile Brazil 2013 talking about this subject:
- Por que o management é dispensável! Como pensar (e criar) a organização ágil, por Niels Pflaeging
- Democracia organizacional: o próximo passo depois da agilidade, por Giovanni Bassi e victor Hugo Germano
- Coragem para empoderar – por Alexandre Magno
And I finally ask: How is in your company the Agile Organization Management? Is it possible to adopt agile methodologies purely and get good results from your team without and adjustment on the organization management?
