Agile Project Management: Developing Teams With The Right Skills
On cross-functional teams, having the right skillset within the team is of undeniable importance. However, often times, we find ourselves working with teams where members were chosen because of their primary skillset or one unique skill, and do not have all the skills needed to complete the project.
The Problem... none of the team members have a needed skill.
The Solution... sponsor one team member to receive training in the needed skill.
Not everyone may need to be "certified" in every skill. There may be a particular team member that already is starting to fulfill a particular role, or may be requesting more training or responsibilities.
The Problem... only one team member has a needed skill.
The Solution... have the skilled team member train other members on the needed skill.
Cross-training can range from basic to advanced. Basic cross-training can be used to solidify terminology across the board on a project, which is beneficial especially for good communication and documentation. Basic cross-training can also be used to grow the scrum values of openness and respect between different parts of the team. The team may also be able to continue workflow in the absence of a specific team member. Cross-training can be formal, informal, one on one, meeting, or a group lunch-in setting.
The Problem... one part of the team tends to blame another part of the team.
The Solution... cross-train team members, review individual job expectations, and scrum values.
Sometimes when we hear a team member continue to blame another person without evidence or reason, one potential factor is that they do not understand the job of another team member. For instance, I worked with a team where one member repeatedly blamed the API team members even when the problem was identified as another area. It became clear that the team member did not understand how API fit into the bigger picture of the project and also did not understand how other areas of the project could interfere with a perfectly functioning API. There were many smaller teams and people were shifted to different teams frequently as the project grew, so this continued to be a problem until it was addressed and the majority of the teams had some cross training on API and there were more voices on the team that could quickly identify that it was not likely going to be an API issue. So in this example, the lack of knowledge of one team member disproportionately influenced the entire team until the entire team was cross-trained enough to speak up. I find this situation to be extremely common in my experience when part of the project has a lot of moving parts that may boggle the minds of people who have not yet had formal training and worked with it. Certain technologies seem to easily fit this profile and to name a few: API, Cloud Computing, Big Data, robotic process automation (RPA), etc.
Having the Growth Mindset And Responding to Change
A team that has the right skills sets will likely be very productive and the product value will grow. A team that does not have all the skills needed is an opportunity for re-evaluation and growth within the team. An Agile project manager's job is to bring skilled people or new skill training to a team with a skill deficit, so it can grow. Having the correct skillset on your team is critical to a team's progress. Brainstorm with your team to see how everyone can reflect a growth mindset!
