Skip to main content

the roles different than SM,PO and development team

Last post 04:31 pm September 26, 2019 by Timothy Baffa
6 replies
10:01 am September 25, 2019

Hi,

Our scaled agile eco system has an architect role. This architect is responsible for all the design approvals. Upper management works with architect and listens all the  possible solutions from him. Also architect is working with 6 different teams. All groups uses different kind of technology. Without asking the final approval of architect we can not create a US. I share retrospective results about this role with upper management and they have told me architect is pre-defined role within the organization and also we have to learn some information from him. In my opinion this role brings hierarchy and against self organization.

 

Our management also take agile coaching and they got certifications as well. Actually they know agile. But when we discuss this topic I see this role known as a promotion for any emplooyee's carrier.

 

Under the light of all this informations and situations what would you recommend to me?

Thanks


11:42 am September 25, 2019

I share retrospective results about this role with upper management and they have told me architect is pre-defined role within the organization and also we have to learn some information from him. In my opinion this role brings hierarchy and against self organization.

Our management also take agile coaching and they got certifications as well. Actually they know agile. But when we discuss this topic I see this role known as a promotion for any emplooyee's carrier.

Do management have a plan for reducing present dependencies upon the "architect" role, so teams can become more self-organizing?


11:54 am September 25, 2019

To add to that....it sounds like this architect must do a tremendous amount of context switching between 6 teams and working with management. I'm curious to know if the team's find this to be an impediment to achieving their goals. 


08:14 pm September 25, 2019

In addition to the above comments, I view your organization's approach as extremely fragile.   

You basically have a single person as a bottleneck to Product Backlog item creation, nevermind that this individual is also a gatekeeper to any work a Development Team may want to perform in a sprint.

What is your organization's strategy to keep work moving forward if this person becomes unavailable, for reasons such as vacation, illness, or personal emergency?   Does the line simply stop?   If so, this is an organization begging to be put out of its misery by a competitor who doesn't have such an overwhelming dependency on a single individual.


07:23 am September 26, 2019

Hi All,

One person seems to be impediment to upper management and they decided to solve giving another role definition to one single development team member which is called key developer. this new role belongs to one single scrum team and he will responsible for working with architect and responsible for all the design and design decision. Upper managament killed self organization but never claim that.


08:59 am September 26, 2019

Upper managament killed self organization but never claim that.

Why then do you claim that "actually they know agile?"

It sounds as though there are significant gaps in management awareness. As a Scrum Master, do you see yourself in a position to put transparency over this shortcoming, including its effects?


04:31 pm September 26, 2019

Those that know me, know that I am a huge fan of analogies and quotes.



This situation, where Upper Management implemented a "solution" to an identified problem (command and control), reminded me of a quote from Steve Jobs:

"It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

Perhaps this quote can be helpful when illustrating to Senior Management why their behavior is stifling the self-management of the team?


By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.