Supporting Squads

We mentioned earlier in The Science Behind Team Design that J. Richard Hackman’s research indicates that the remaining 10% of team performance (in addition to the 60% attributed to team design and 30% to the way the team is launched) is attributable to how the team is supported once it’s under way. This kind of leader-coaching support should surround the team, and it should include line managers, agile coaches, and mentors.

Assign an agile coach to support and educate each new squad; a coach can also offer further training and have regular check points with each new squad throughout the early months. In our case at Trade Me, we were constrained by the number of full-time agile coaches available, so we worked on growing internal knowledge and support. When people had been part of successful squads for a number of months, the knowledge and experience they had built up meant they would be perfectly placed to support our future teams, and we were establishing a train-the-trainer model almost without knowing it.

However you choose to support your squads, the important thing is to make yourself and others available and able to offer support, guidance, and challenge when necessary.