Investigate, Review, Reflect, Act

Investigate the why of your team's performance

Go take a look at the most recent four sprints—which stories weren’t done on time? Then, do some more research—why didn’t those stories get done on time? What was the obstacle? Was it a bad estimate? Was there a blocker that you could have removed?

Identify a high performer

Look at the team you are on (as opposed to the team you manage): Who among you, do you think, is the “highest-performing” individual on your team? (Not the “highest-paid” individual, but the person who consistently comes in on time, under budget, etc., meeting whatever metrics are used to measure the performance of you and your peers.) What evidence do you have to support that thought?

Reflect on poor performers

Can you think of a time when you were on a team and it was clear to everybody on the team who the worst performer on that team was, yet your management seemed ignorant of that fact? How was that individual able to “hide” their performance? List the factors that contributed to this fact being overlooked. How would you uncover such a situation as the manager without turning into a micromanager or “Big Brother”?

Make a status report

Challenge yourself: Put together a “status report” for the activities your team did last week. Can you account for half the 40 hours in the week that each member of your team put in? More importantly, can you point to results they accomplished during the week? Can you identify where they hit blockers?