Common Ways of Working

The term "ways of working" describes the processes, practices, and cultural norms that are followed by teams to deliver products or services. For many of us, company, organization, and team ways of working just happen. We might consider them if we're evaluating whether to take a new job. Otherwise, they are simply context in our day-to-day work lives. While the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" might be true, it can be a mistake not to give ways of working deliberate consideration. In organizations that practice certain flavors of agility, specific practices are mandated. Our accepted ways of working can act as a productivity multiplier powering up our delivery, or an anchor holding us back from our true potential.

Why should we care about our ways of working?

Let's pretend you're on the fence about what's said above. There are several other reasons we should care about our company's, organization's, and team's ways of working:

1. Productivity: Ways of working have a significant impact on productivity. For example, a company that asynchronously works on multiple parts of a deliverable at the same time will very likely be able to ship its work earlier than a company that is locked into rigid, ...