Have you ever been told your Scrum team is not as good as you think it is? I am the Product Owner of a team that is responsible for a system that sends emails and text messages to our insurance policyholders. My team excels at estimating the time needed to complete stories/tech tasks/etc. and we finish most, if not all sprints with no carryover to a subsequent sprint. Recently, each scrum team in my organization was assigned an Agile Coach and during my first interaction with this coach I informed him that he was selected to represent a highly functional team that finishes most, if not all sprints on time with 100% completion. I thought he would appreciate this information and be glad that he was assigned an easy team to work with. Instead, his response was “that is not possible.” The coach went on to say that if we are finishing every sprint without any carryover, it is because we are not accurately story pointing our stories, not accurately estimating the time it will take to finish stories or we are just flat out lying. I was SHOCKED! If you have encountered the same or a similar situation toward your team, here are my top tips for dealing with those people who want to bring your team down:
- Put your team’s success on display: When people are negative toward your team and it is undeserved, display your success to show that their opinion is wrong. There are numerous ways you can do this such as invite them to your sprint demos so they can see the features that have been created, invite them to view your sprint and team reports, and share any recognition your team has received in public forums for all to hear.
- Stand up for your team: As a product owner it is my responsible to stand up for my team and consistently be at their defense. I have always been fond of the leadership principle that says Pass the Credit and Take the Blame. Good leaders take the credit on behalf of their team and give others credit when things go well and take the blame on behalf of their team when things go awry. This brings up to tip number 3.
- Consistently praise your team: When your team members go the extra mile, step up to the plate or just do a good job, make sure you praise them. This could be a simple recognition in a stand-up meeting, a recognition through a corporate recognition program, a praise in Microsoft teams, or a virtual happy hour dedicated to celebrating the teams wins.
Bottom line is there will always be negative people who want to project their negativity on to you, but you can do everything in your power to project a positive image and that will go a long way in making your team look good! I love this saying; “I love haters. They keep me motivated!” My challenge to each of you is to do one thing in the next week to make your team look good!
