Step 3: Introduce the Day

This is the part when you step in front of the group and set the context for the day. Get ready to reiterate the purpose and desired outcomes and to introduce the agenda.

Here’s what you need to cover:

• Thank everyone for their time and openness of mind to attend the event.

• Re-emphasize the purpose of the day: to form a number of squads that are capable of delivering solutions to their customers.

• Reiterate why you believe that self-selection is the best way to squadify. Explain why you and your company’s management have chosen self-selection. Express your confidence in their ability to come up with the best solution to a complex puzzle. If you’re not sure what to say, reread The Science Behind Team Design.

• Go through the agenda for the day. Explain the outline, including timing.

• Remind participants of the answers to the most commonly asked questions, such as how to deal with those who aren’t here or whether people are signing up for life. Talk about anything from the FAQs that’s worth mentioning explicitly.

• Let everyone know your expectations. If your self-selection is more than fifty people, it’s unlikely that all of the desired squads will be fully formed. Let the group know what success looks like by describing acceptable, desirable, and ideal outcomes.

• Explain what will happen if self-selection doesn’t bring about the desired results. Will you go back to managerial selection or try another approach?

• Ask if anyone has any questions. Answer them if they do.

• Express trust and confidence.

• Tell everyone to get ready for the next item on the agenda: the product owner pitches.

The following graphic is a sample agenda for an event with seventy to one hundred people. If you have more or fewer participants, you should adapt your times accordingly.