Critical vs Growth Tasks Quadrant
Besides delivering a quality product, one of the important aspects of Agile Development is to grow the team. The quality of the product is as good as the quality of the team. So one of the key responsibilities for the leads is to find suitable opportunities to empower the juniors to grow them.
However, the tasks in Agile Development are not all equal, some tasks may be too critical to be empowered while others can be not useful to be empowered. Hence, “Critical vs Growth Tasks Quadrant” is created to serve as guiding principles for leads to find suitable tasks to empower to juniors.
Critical Aspect of Task
- Cannot afford to fail
- Others tasks have high dependencies on
- Timeline is tight
Cannot afford to fail: The task is too important with no room for failure. Failure will mean serious and non-recoverable consequences. Some examples are project failure, damage in reputation and safety issues.
Others tasks have high dependencies on: If many other tasks have dependencies on the task, the task has to be completed before other tasks can start. So if the task is delayed, all other tasks will be delayed too.
Timeline is tight: A task can be not critical three months ago, but now it can be critical although the requirements have not changed. As learning takes time, so when time is not enough, it will be very hard to try and experiment.
Growth Aspect of Task
- Able to stretch a junior
- Great value to learn
- Leadership opportunities
Able to stretch a junior: A task that is great for growth is one that will push one outside his comfort zone. So the first step is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the junior and find suitable tasks to develop that area.
Great value to learn: Industry is always changing and demanding new skills. So a task can be useful to learn if it can help to develop the skills in demand, which will help to increase the long-term career market value for the junior.
Leadership opportunities: One can only do so much, the only way to deliver more outcomes is through teamwork. To lead a team, leadership is essential and it should be developed as early as possible with other technical skills.
Approach
Very Critical High, Growth Quadrant: The tasks should not be empowered to juniors as it will be too risky to do so. Failure will have serious consequences for the junior to bear and can result in a loss in work self-confidence in the long-term. Leads should up the tasks as they are committed to delivering the tasks, and more importantly, the tasks are good for their growth.
Very Critical, Low Growth Quadrant: Similarly, the tasks should not be empowered to juniors due to the high risks. As the tasks do not have much value for growth, so it is not useful for the leads to take up and should be reduced as much as possible or move outside the team.
Not Critical, High Growth Quadrant: The tasks are suitable to be empowered the juniors for their growth. The junior will be sufficient time and room to try and experiment. When there is a failure, the damage is under control and manageable. As the junior grows, he or she will develop the necessary capability and become new leads to groom the next generations of juniors.
Not Critical, Low Growth Quadrant: The tasks are not critical and do not have much value for growth, so they are not useful for anyone in the team to take up and should be reduced as much as possible or move outside the team.
Conclusion
The ability to empower the right tasks to the right person is crucial for project success. To find suitable tasks to empower a person, the first step is to identify the stage of career maturity and “Competence Commitment Leadership Quadrant” can be used for this. With proper planning and good tasks empowerment, it will be possible to deliver a quality product and building a high-performing team at the same time.
