Agile Errors: 1. Not avoiding Halo Effect

Marcello Semboli
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

This article starts a series about agile errors.
I’m not an agile guru, I’m not a genius, what can I offer to the agile community?
I made a lot of mistakes, I can give you those.

Not avoiding Halo Effect

Every time you manage a team, you are aware that always there is a member smarter, or with more experience, or more power, or simply more passionate about the project.
He or she is respected by the team and usually people listen at him, as if he’s surrounded by a sort of halo. Here the name, “halo effect”.
Sometime halo effect can be dangerous, because can harm communication. It happens that when this guy states something the team accepts it and doesn’t discuss it. When a technical decision is needed the team needs to analyze all options and to agree on what is the best for the project.
Well, is common that the option presented by the guy with the halo wins. And also happens that you feel the team is uncertain about the best option was choosen.
So I think to myself: “Is it the halo effect? Have the team chosen for the best?”. Many times the option was the right one, but sometime, after some days/weeks/months it appears clear that wasn’t the best option, and you need extra work to change direction.
How to avoid halo effect?
Coach your team to avoid emotions and discuss options’ pro and cons using science.
I recommend Six thinking hats system (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats) for discussion and Popcornflow (https://popcornflow.com) to track problems and options.
Using these methods, discussion will be more efficent and your team will take better quality decisions.

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