I am SM of 5 teams all in 2 weeks sprints. I can not reschedule the sprints and they all start at one and the same time. Definitely, it is a challenge to lead 5 Reviews & Retros in one day, respectively – 5 plannings in one day. In addition to that, the management expects me to be on some ad-hock meetings since “the people are mature enough to make the planning without your presence”. The teams are definitely not mature enough since this is our seventh sprint at all (and even a second one for two of the teams).
Really I am on the edge of explaining that if we would like to apply Scrum, we have to follow the recommendations of the framework. In addition of all, I am overloaded with tons of other tasks.
I know – I have to leave this company, but meanwhile, I would like to do things the best way I can.
Thanks all
Five teams sounds like a lot; building and sustaining an effective trust-based coaching relationship with more than 10-15 people is a significant challenge.
In your context I’d be looking to grow the leadership skills within the teams so that you can adopt more of a coaching stance; this seems to align with management’s expectations.
What shape that tales is context dependent. Things that have worked for me include
– sending everyone on a two-day “team member to team leader” course, across 2-3 cadres in a department of 50 people; you get about a 20% hit-rate from courses on average, but 10 new people showing leadership in the teams is a big help
– run leadership/agile workshops on an open basis; I do these on Friday afternoons. Work on core areas like facilitation, problem solving, communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, as well as agile and lean practices.
– spin up roll-centric and subject-centric communities of practice, who can take the led in developing taking agile practices forwards some of the high-performance areas covered in books like “Accelerate!”;
– look to bring the teams up to speed in problem solving techniques like “evaporating clouds” or Ishikawa fishbone; use tools like Anthony Coppedge’s retrospective radar to pull together systemic issues for management
– get a mentorship group running outside of your employer; that is to say other Scrum Masters and agile coaches who can support you, and you in turn can support them
In terms of influencing management, perhaps reflect on the skillsets you need to do this, and how you would currently rate those skills. Then look to what professional development may help. Things like leadership training, negotiation skills, courageous conversations and coaching training have all helped me.