Overview

“In my opinion, this is the handbook for Agile teams. I have been wishing for this book since we implemented Agile several years ago. In many Agile process books, the team aspect of Agile has been glossed over in favor of the technical aspects; this book is a welcome change.” --Sarah Edrie, Director of Quality Engineering, Harvard Business School   “Cloud Computing, Distributed Architecture, Test Driven Development...these are simple to master compared to building an agile, efficient, and top-performing team. The path from skilled developer/tester to successful manager, team leader, and beyond is now more easily attainable with the insights, knowledge, and guidance provided by Ken Howard and Barry Rogers in Individuals and Interactions: An Agile Guide.” --R.L. Bogetti, www.RLBogetti.com, Lead System Designer, Baxter Healthcare   “This book provides fantastic insight on how individuals act and relate as a team. Ken and Barry give great examples and exercises to help the reader understand behaviors of each individual and use this knowledge to perform better as a team.” --Lisa Shoop, Director Product Development, Sabre-Holdings   “Individuals and Interactions is a masterfully crafted must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding and applying the human-centered values of Agile development. It is like Patrick Lencioni meets the Poppendiecks to write ‘Agile through the Looking-Glass.’ Here the ‘Looking-Glass’ is the powerful DISC framework, and we see it used to enable different kind of TDD (Team-Driven Development) through the use of stories, examples, models, and guidance.” --Brad Appleton, Agile coach/consultant in a Fortune 100 telecom company; coauthor of Software Configuration Management Patterns   “This book is essential reading for any engineering team that’s serious about Agile development. Its chapters on team dynamics and development lay the foundation for learning all of the factors that enable a team to transform itself into an Agile success story.” --Bernard Farrell, Consultant Software Engineer at EMC Corporation   Great emphasis is typically placed on the “mechanics” of agile development--its processes and tools. It’s easy to forget that the Agile Manifesto values individuals and interactions ahead of processes and tools. You can gain powerful benefits by refocusing on the people side of agile development.   This book will show you how. It’s your practical user’s guide to solving the problems agile teams encounter, packed with stories, best practices, exercises, and tips you can actually use. Step by step, you’ll learn how to get teams to truly work as teams, not as disconnected individuals. Along the way, you’ll find profoundly realistic advice on communication, motivation, collaboration, change, group dynamics, and much more.   Whether you are an agile project manager, ScrumMaster, product owner, developer, trainer, or consultant, this book will help you make your agile environment more productive, more effective, and more personally fulfilling.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ken Howard ,  Barry Rogers
Publisher:   Pearson Education (US)
Imprint:   Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.40cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.20cm
Weight:   0.383kg
ISBN:  

9780321714091

ISBN 10:   0321714091
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   21 April 2011
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Preface     xv Introduction     1 A Brief History of Organizational Behavior     2    Stage 1: People Are Machines (Late 1800s—Mid 1900s)     2    Stage 2: People Are Emotional Beings (1940s—1970s)     3    Stage 3: Organization Is a Machine (1980s—2000s)     4    Stage 4: Empowered Teams Transform the Organization (Current Trend)     6 Birds of a Feather...     6   PART I:  INDIVIDUALS AND INTERACTIONS   Chapter 1  Autonomous Securities, LLC     11   Chapter 2  Behavior and Individuals     13 Communication Framework     14    DISC History     15    DISC Definition     15 So Why Is This Important?     17    Understanding and Accepting Others    17    Communicate in Your Own Language     19    The Language of DISC     20    Strategies for Communicating     21 How Do You Take a DISC Assessment?     22 Closing     23   Chapter 3  Team Dynamics     25 An Apoplectic Dilemma     25 A Different Approach to Teams    26 Capitalizing on Strengths     28 The Anarchical Team    30 The Evolution of a Maturing Team     30 Conflict     33 Now What?     40 Closing    42   Chapter 4  Communication     43 Lingo     45 Empathy     46 Eye Contact    48 Ambiguity     49 Body Language     50 Cultural Awareness     53 Reflecting Body Language     54 Small Talk    54 Collaborative Conversations     57    The Power of Shutting Up     64    Communication Latency    65    We the People...     68 Closing     69   Chapter 5  Collaboration     73 Working as a Team    73    Vox Populi     74    Group Survival     77 Problem-Solving Versus Decision Making     78    Individuals and Decisions     79    Groups and Decisions     79    Group Influence    80 Six Degrees of the Perfect Ice Cream Sundae    83 Diametrically Opposing Forces    85 Closing    88   Chapter 6  Behavior and Teams     89 Harmony/Conflict     89 Why Not Hire a Team with Members That Will All Naturally Get Along?     92    Be Prepared for Conflict     93    Stressed Out     94    Fill the Gaps    94 Organizational or Team Culture     95 Closing     95   Chapter 7  Change    97 A True Story     97 Why Is Change Difficult?     99 Change Squirm     102 Change Apprehension     103    Fear of Changes to Self-Actualization Needs     104    Fear of Changes to Esteem Needs     105    Fear of Changes to Love/Belonging Needs    105    Fear of Changes to Safety Needs     106    Fear of Changes to Physiological Needs     106 Change Coach    107 Change Catalyst 108 Tracing to the Roots     109 Grass Roots Resistance to Change    110 Exposing the Origins     111 Exercise    113 Closing    114   Chapter 8  Motivators     115 Individual Workplace Motivators     115    Theoretical     116    Utilitarian/Economic     116    Aesthetic     117    Social     117    Individualistic/Political     117    Traditional/Regulatory     117    Why Is This Important?     118    Strategies for Motivating     119 Leveraging Strengths    122 Leadership and Environment     123 Closing     124   PART II:  WORKSHOP   Chapter 9  Team Dynamics Workshop     129 Preparation     129 Workshop Instructions     130    Pre-Workshop     130    The Workshop    132   Chapter 10  Communication Origami     139 Materials     140 Setup    140 Facilitation     141 Post-Exercise Discussion     141   Chapter 11  Bridge Building     145 Materials     146 Setup    146 Facilitation     147 Post-Exercise Discussion     148   Chapter 12  Moon Survival     151 Setup    152 Facilitation     152    Individual Exercise     152    Team Exercise     153    Scoring    153    Post-Exercise Discussion     153 Moon Survival Expert Analysis     158   Chapter 13  BalderDISC    163 Materials    164 Setup     164 Facilitation     165 Post-Exercise Discussion     166   Chapter 14  Assessing Concordance and Discordance     169 Materials    169 Setup    170 Facilitation     170 Post-Exercise Discussion     171   Chapter 15  Change Exercise     175 Overview     175 Setup     176    The Drawing Board     177    The Teams     177 Facilitation     178 Post-Exercise Discussion     179   Chapter 16  Groups and Decisions     183 Setup 183     DISC-Homogeneous Behavior     185   Appendix  How to Take the DISC     187 References     195 Index    199  

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Author Information

Ken Howard works at Improving Enterprises, where he specializes in helping companies increase productivity through efficient practices and pragmatic organizational dynamics. Ken has been involved in most aspects of software development for more than 26 years with such languages as diverse as COBOL, Smalltalk, and Java. Over the years Ken has provided consulting, training, and mentoring to companies in 12 countries around the world, helping with adoption of software development best practices. He eagerly embraced the opportunity to share many of the things he has learned with a broader audience through the publication of this book.    Barry Rogers is President of Improving Enterprises, Dallas, Texas. He is an accomplished Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Practitioner. Barry supports clients in both a hands-on and mentorship/coaching capacity, helping teams adopt agile/Scrum and improve human dynamics. Barry is a Speaker and also facilitates leadership, agile, and project management training sessions.

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