Chronicles of a Scrum master #4 : Team dynamics

What makes a scrum team that works well ?

In reality, I do not think there is a straight forward one fits all answer.

This depends on the organization culture and the standards that has been set.

The dynamic nature of such projects and products are very diverse. Each team has its own traits and behaviours.

Hence, the team dynamics play a vital role in the success of the project or a product. This is commonly known as high-performing teams.

What exactly then is team dynamics that makes up this high performing teams ? Taking into context from a Product perspective, the following may apply (depending on your organization and culture context) :

1. the vision and mission of a product determines the intent and direction of the product and cascading down to the team will ensure how the product features can be accomplished.
2. the constant reminder and clarity of the vision needs to be continuously communicated by scrum master (besides the usual sprint ceremonies) so that everyone is aligned with those vision and mission.
3. the team consisting of various individuals such as technical lead, developers, QA and UI / UX team members are able to interact with one another without any communication barriers to ensure any issues are ironed out and impediments can be removed.
4. skillsets matter – each individual has their own skills which encompasses both the functional and soft set of skills. this includes not only ability in programming / development (for IT products), but also the capability to interact with others and in certain times, empathy for other team members.
   

So, in the end the team dynamics refers to the amalgamation of all the above to make sure the team can work as independently as possible but at the same time helping each other to overcome any obstacles and challenges.

Below is an illustration of mistakes from an organizational perception and what mistakes is made on team dynamics.

Disclaimer: What I am sharing is purely from my point of view and does not reflect anyone else’s. What I present in my posts doesn’t necessarily mean tat it is applicable to your work, organization and culture. Would love to hear from you if you have any different opinions or feedback.