Teaching agile principles
During a retro, my team talked about how they all know the principles, but they don't think they truly understand them. I wanted to do something fun to help fix this.
I was thinking about focusing on one principle per sprint - For example, Principle 6: Face to Face Conversation. On the first day of the sprint, I present what principle we're focusing on and quick a quick explanation of what it means. Throughout the sprint, the team would call out people who are applying/using this principle.. Maybe each time someone is called out, their name gets entered in to a raffle to win something? At the end of the sprint in retro, we discuss what we liked about this principle, what we could do to improve it and then list it out as an action item to carry over into next sprint.
Thoughts? Comments? Additional ideas?
Has anybody done anything like this before? Was it effective?
That's a fun idea.
If you take a look at the purpose of Scrum, the last section of the sentence reads "...so that you can continuously improve the product, the team, and the work environment.". Becoming more agile, or reinforcing the understanding of agile, to me, falls right in line with the team and the work environment.
Might be fun to ask multiple teams to participate in a comedy anti-pattern sort of way, showcasing what failure of each looks like. Maybe give a prize to the best team performance ... but ultimately it should be a fun time for everyone.
Give it a try. Another option might be to list all 12 principles on the left hand side of an A3 sheet. Throughout the sprint, stick post-its with people's names on next to each principle if they have demonstrated it. This would give you a coaching vehicle, and it could be more timely than focusing artificially on one principle per Sprint. During the retro, the sheet could then be used to evidence things that went well. If it is visible, it might also radiate and reinforce the agile principles to management.
Make them read the principles and then give them a test.
Yeah, I'm not being serious but someone had to say it. I like all 3 of these ideas because they all work for different types of teams. I may at some point use all 3 of them.
I have had similar discussions with teams. One of the teams was the kind that actually liked talking so we did a Lean Coffee type exercise where I wrote all of the principles on a board and then they all used sticky notes to provide examples of what they felt each one meant. And as true with Lean Coffee, conversation ensued. Another team used an approach similar to @Molly Brewer's but it took 24 weeks (12 two week sprints) to get through them and their enthusiasm wained towards the end. Yet another chose to focus on a few of the principles that they felt were least understood. Of course that decision came following a discussion on the principles so that they could determine which ones weren't well understood.
How about a hybrid of the 3 suggested in previous posts. Put them all up where they are visible by the team. Whenever someone encounters an individual that is exbiting what they feel embodies the principle, they will note that individual's name on the sheet. During a retro, discuss them and let the individuals with names beside each explain why they think their name was placed there. Then have everyone with their name on a priniciple do a quick enactment of the principle, negatively or positively. Might make for a long retro but if the team is serious about the need, they might be willing to do it.
Molly - I like your spirit and creativity, as a Scrum Master we have to experiment to see what works. Try it for a Sprint or two, what can it hurt? Try the other ideas too. We use Pocket Principles (google it) in our Scrum Foundations course, that's another way to generate conversations.
Scrum on
If your organization has an appetite to invest in professional development, I would highly recommend that all members of a Scrum Team be sent for an in-person training relevant to their roles. The other option would be to invite a Scrum Trainer to come on-site for a week and hold trainings for the different roles. I have seen Scrum Masters rally for this style of formal training because it creates the foundation on which the Scrum Masters can continue to build on.