It’s not you, it’s us:Winning over people for yourself and the team

Neha Batra, Engineer at Pivotal Labs@nerdneha

#s1p #springone

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

@nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

@nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

@nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

● Get good teamwork in the first place● Deal with issues as they come

@nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

@nerdneha

My interest in facilitating better team interactions

@nerdneha

My interest in facilitating better team interactions

@nerdneha

My interest in facilitating better team interactions

@nerdneha

People are both the problem

and the solution

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alignment

Planning

Execution

Feedback

Project LevelWeekly LevelDaily Level

Project LevelWeekly LevelDaily Level

Mindset

Making team friends is hard

@nerdneha

Mindset

Making team friends is hard

Ignore yellow flags

@nerdneha

Mindset

Making team friends is hard

Ignore yellow flags

We’re on the same team

@nerdneha

SWOT: What do you bring to the table?

@nerdneha

SWOT: What do you bring to the table?

Write it down

@nerdneha

SWOT: What do you bring to the table?

Share it

@nerdneha

What do you want? Why do you care?

@nerdneha

What do they want? Why do they care? (Empathy)

@nerdneha

What do they want? Why do they care? (Empathy)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯@nerdneha

Inception -- aligns goals and scope

● Overview & Scope● Deadlines & Milestones● Goals (engagement & product) & Anti-goals● Risks & Mitigating strategies● Team & Roles & Stakeholders● Workflow● Story writing & Prioritization● Retro

@nerdneha

Inception -- aligns goals and scope

Alignment

Planning

Execution

Feedback

@nerdneha

Inception -- aligns goals and scope

● Overview & Scope● Deadlines & Milestones● Goals (engagement & product) & Anti-goals● Risks & Mitigating strategies● Team & Roles & Stakeholders● Workflow● Story writing & Prioritization● Retro

Alignment

PlanningExecutionFeedback

@nerdneha

Inception -- aligns goals and scope

● Overview & Scope● Deadlines & Milestones● Goals (engagement & product) & Anti-goals● Risks & Mitigating strategies● Team & Roles & Stakeholders● Workflow● Story writing & Prioritization● Retro

@nerdneha

Inceptions -- align goals and scope

● Overview & Scope● Deadlines & Milestones● Goals (engagement & product) & Anti-goals● Risks & Mitigating strategies● Team & Roles & Stakeholders● Workflow● Story writing & Prioritization● Retro

The moment our nay-sayers (“engineers”) have been waiting for

@nerdneha

Facilitator’s Techniques

● Start meetings with a purpose & set scope● Have parking lot for out of scope● Read the room● Breakouts & Joining● Sticky notes & Sharing● Checkpoints● Summarize

@nerdneha

Facilitator’s Techniques

● Start meetings with a purpose & set scope● Have parking lot for out of scope● Read the room● Breakouts & Joining● Sticky notes & Sharing● Checkpoints● Summarize; relate back to purpose

@nerdneha

Project-level tools sets the tone for collaboration and productivity● SWOT Analysis: what is your team’s combined profile?● Personal Goals: what do we each want out of the project?● Inception

@nerdneha

Project LevelWeekly LevelDaily Level

“People are happiest when people are being productive”- Rob Mee

Schedule -- provides predictable template

Alignment

Planning

Execution

Feedback

@nerdneha

Schedule -- provides predictable template

Alignment

Planning

Execution

Feedback

StandupsPre-IPM

IPM

(WORK)

Pre-CLCL

Retros

@nerdneha

Retrospectives -- circulates feedback

Action Items

@nerdneha

Retrospectives -- circulates feedback

Action Items

Tech RetrosParking Lot

@nerdneha

Weekly-level tools give people a forum; a placeto be heard● Set schedule/cadence● Provide feedback opportunities at multiple levels● Provide “safe haven” to get work done free from scope changes● Have a way to collect concerns and dedicated time to discuss them

@nerdneha

Project LevelWeekly LevelDaily Level

Talk in person & record in writing -- reducesconfusionWalk over to PM

Pair with designer

Schedule check-in

Appear.in/Dedicated video

Call - Batphone

@nerdneha

Talk in person & record in writing -- reducesconfusionWrite into story comments

Write into epics

Take photos & upload

Gdrive / shared folder of info

@nerdneha

Credit: Onsi Fakhouri

Credit: Onsi Fakhouri

Credit: Onsi Fakhouri

Credit: Onsi Fakhouri

TDD + Pairing -- avoids fights

Easier to agree on a test

Go with the simplest implementation

Red, Green, Refactor

No pull requests/judgement day!

@nerdneha

TDD + Pairing -- avoids fights

Alignment

Planning

Execution

Feedback

@nerdneha

TDD + Pairing -- avoids fights

Easier to agree on a test

Go with the simplest implementation

Red, Green, Refactor

No pull requests/judgement day!

Alignment & Planning

Execution & Feedback

@nerdneha

Daily Retros -- circulates feedback faster

How do you think it went?

I was concerned about ______, did you feel that way?

Should we try something new next time?

@nerdneha

Daily-level tools flush out issues early

● Talk in person● Write down conversation/context● Find a way to align first (ex: TDD + Pairing or discussing high-level)● Daily retros

@nerdneha

Project LevelWeekly LevelDaily Level

*When things get tense

Think about the way you want to attack the problem first. What are the ramifications?

Is it better 1:1 (sensitive) or in a meeting (group alignment)?

What do you want out of this conversation?

Establish shared goals and shared interest.

Give benefit of the doubt. Listen. Do they feel the same way?

Share your side objectively (STATE):● Share your facts● Tell your story● Ask for others’ paths● Talk tentatively● Encourage Testing

Addressing the issue head-on (adapted from Crucial Conversations)

@nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us; squad goals

To give you a toolchest of techniques to enable all personalities of your team, clients, and customers to prevent and mitigate issues as they come up with a facilitator’s mindset.

@nerdneha

Tool chest to prevent & mitigate issues as they come up● SWOT Analysis: what is your team’s combined profile?● Personal Goals: what do we each want out of the project?● Inception● Set schedule/cadence● Provide feedback opportunities at multiple levels● Provide “safe haven” to get work done free from scope changes● Have a way to collect concerns and dedicated time to discuss them● Talk in person● Write down conversation/context● Find a way to align first (ex: TDD + Pairing or discussing high-level)● Daily retros @nerdneha

It’s not you, it’s us:Winning over people for yourself and the team

Neha Batra, Engineer at Pivotal Labs@nerdneha

#s1p #springone