How to Build an Agile Team

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We believe the people who are closest to the problem are the best people to solve it. And that when you empower your teams, you prepare them to solve today's biggest problems.

That’s why teams are the foundation of agility.

Traditionally, teams have started as functional silos—for example, discrete groups of developers, testers, and BAs.

But in fast-paced technology environments, this structure can lead to obstacles.

One major issue is limited transparency. Or, put another way, what happens when we can’t see past the walls of your own silos.

For example, not knowing what occurred before the work arrives on our desk— or what will happen to it after we toss it over the next wall.

This means you can’t know how a change in your part of the process might have a negative impact on another group.

As a result, change is discouraged. And when it does happen, it’s often difficult and painful.

So how do you actually embrace change as a way to help continuously improve?

The first step is learning how to build an agile team. You begin by breaking down silos and bringing together cross-functional teams of five to ten people who have all the skills you need to deliver value to your customers.

When each team represents multiple functional areas, you get more perspective into the whole system. And more easily find ways to improve the system for the team and for the customer’s benefit .

So who makes up an agile team?

First, you need a delivery team with all the skills needed to build, test, and deliver full value to customers and stakeholders. And when we say full value, we don’t simply mean code, but code that’s working and tested and deployed.

Next, you need a product owner that represents the business and deeply understands the customers' needs. They know delivering the highest-value products to customers means focusing on outcomes, not outputs.

And finally, a scrum master to help teams continuously improve on their ability to predictably meet commitments.

So, to summarize, teams are the foundation of agility.

When you build agile teams, you build a strong foundation for agile practice.

And when you empower your teams, you prepare them to solve today's—and tomorrow’s—biggest problems.