The Human Side of Agile: How to Help Your Team Deliver

Does your Agile team experience the following common problems?

• Members use established Agile practices and tools, yet with little motivation or buy-in.
• Even though the team is cross-functional, members don't collaborate effectively or leverage everyone's abilities.
• Rather than act empowered, they wait for permission and approval.
• Improvement has stalled -- the team performs okay, but it can do so much better.

You can't solve these problems with more practices, rules, and tools. These are people problems.

If you're a Scrum Master, project manager, delivery lead, or manager - or you aspire to be - you can make all the difference to your Agile team. Not by being a taskmaster, administrator, or process enforcer, but by leading your team to greatness. Take this book on your Agile leadership journey, and it will help you to:

• Build and cultivate an engaged team that can handle almost any challenge
• Catalyze team communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Establish yourself as a confident and capable leader who adds value
• Reap the full benefits of Agile in the real world with real people

"I've rarely seen so much useful, concrete advice packaged in such a simple and accessible way."

~ Henrik Kniberg, Agile coach and author, Lean from the Trenches

"I just found the next must-read book for our entire leadership team."

~ Tricia Broderick, Director of Development, TechSmith

"Agile teams need effective leaders who 'get' the people stuff. Without that you're merely going through the Agile motions."

~ Scott W. Ambler, co-creator of Disciplined Agile Delivery

While readable from cover to cover, the book is written as practical answers to the 80+ most relevant and pressing questions that team leaders ask, such as:

• "How Can I Help the Team Buy In?"
• "What If I Can't Work Full-Time as the Team's Leader?"
• "What Actions Will Build the Team's Trust in Me?"
• "How Can I Mitigate the Damage of Performance Reviews?"
• "What If a Member Doesn't Fit With the Team?"
• "How Can We Focus on Our Work With So Many Meetings?"
• "How Do I Get Stakeholders and Managers on My Side?"
• "How Do I Defuse Resistance?"
• "How Can I Make Changes Stick?"
• "How Do We Avoid Reverting to Old Behaviors?"

The book's forewords are by Jim Highsmith and Christopher Avery.