@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialThey were shielded. They were not spared. It landed on them anyway, just without the reasons attached, and that's what hits purpose. New Sidebar out today: In the Loop Is Not in the Room.
The last change that landed on your team: shielded, or spared?
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialBeing overruled is not the same as being excluded. If they brought you in while it was still soft and went the other way anyway, you were in the room. New Sidebar out today: In the Loop Is Not in the Room.
Overruled, or excluded?
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"Our inner guide talks in a whisper. Our inner critic has a bullhorn." When you get still, the guide knows: you belong here. Melanie Shires on New Boss, Same Team.
Which one did you listen to today: the whisper, or the bullhorn?
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"You bring expertise, but the people already there bring knowledge of the environment, and both of those matter." Melanie Shires on New Boss, Same Team.
Your last new leader: asked how it got this way, or started changing it? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"I had control over how I responded and how I treated my team. So what type of leader did I want to be?" Melanie Shires, new episode out today: New Boss, Same Team.
When the room changes around you, what's still in your control? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"I was accountable for work I wasn't being invited to help shape." Her coordinator was in the room. She wasn't. Melanie Shires, new episode out today: New Boss, Same Team.
Ever been accountable for work you weren't invited to shape? Yes or no.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"I'm not your mother. I'm not your assistant. I'm here to help you be successful." Guidelines, accountability, what people need to thrive. Katrina L. Coker on Nobody Asked the Team.
What does your team need from you to thrive? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"But nobody listens." Ten other people just said the same thing, for six months, each one thinking they were alone. Katrina L. Coker (The Scrum Mother) on Nobody Asked the Team.
Who on your team thinks they're the only one saying it? Name a role.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialFine isn't a status. It's the sound a team makes when nobody asks it anything it could answer. From the Sidebar: Fine Is Not a Status.
This week, ask your team one question the survey can't. What will you ask? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialDoes your manager have your back? Good. Second question: can they actually change anything?
Katrina L. Coker (The Scrum Mother) on The Lagging Team: Nobody Asked the Team.
Yours: back and leverage, back only, or neither?
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialThey might even be giving fives. Not because they're happy. Because "I haven't been fired and I'm still getting paid."
Katrina L. Coker (The Scrum Mother) on The Lagging Team: Nobody Asked the Team.
What's a five worth on your team's survey? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialThe cleanest scores come from the team that stopped believing anything will change. Disengagement is quiet. Quiet looks fine. From this week's Sidebar, Fine Is Not a Status.
Which of your teams has the cleanest scores? Now ask why.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"Nothing's wrong" is the absence of a complaint. Thriving teams say it. So do teams that gave up three months ago, and the dashboard can't tell them apart.
New Sidebar out today: Fine Is Not a Status.
Your quiet team: thriving, or gave up? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"Fine" isn't a lie. It's an answer nobody checked. One better question would have found out.
New Sidebar out today: Fine Is Not a Status.
Your team's last "fine": did anyone check what it was made of? Yes or no.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"Do you have any problems?" isn't a hard question. Most people say no.
Katrina L. Coker (The Scrum Mother) on The Lagging Team: Nobody Asked the Team.
What's the last hard question anyone asked your team? One word, or "none."
@thelaggingteam.bsky.social"Nobody quit." Top strength on the review. She was proud of it. She also knows what it meant.
Katrina L. Coker (The Scrum Mother), new episode out today: Nobody Asked the Team.
Has "nobody quit" ever been the win on your team? Yes or no.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialThe leader says nothing happened. The team says they delivered. Same organization, same quarter, and both of them are telling the truth. The information never crossed the room.
What's the last thing on your team that never crossed the room? One word.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialA team's performance isn't a property the team has. It's a relationship with a standard somebody set, and only one side of it ever gets examined.
Last time your team was called behind, who examined the standard? Someone, or nobody.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialHe got somebody he could say a true thing to, in a building where nobody was saying true things.
That was uncomfortable for me. I felt like I wasn't doing my job.
Does everyone on your team have someone like that? Yes or no.
@thelaggingteam.bsky.socialA team that's genuinely slow and a team measured against a fantasy produce the same status report. Red. Behind. Slipping.
They look identical. Are the fixes the same?
Your red project — slow, or fantasy? One word.