Scale Agile to Large Teams: Autonomy (freedom) and Alignment
Autonomous Teams are more productive — agile says!
Freedom or autonomy can results in discipline or chaos. An agile organization wants their teams to have autonomy over their day-to-day execution. But Autonomy without Alignment would result in chaos.
Many teams working independently would not produce a unified, high quality product. Alignment gives teams their purpose. Alignment ensures the teams meet organizational goals. Without Alignment, even the best performing teams would fail.
Relationship between Alignment and Autonomy [To scale agile: enable autonomy for the team, while ensuring alignment with the organization]
Steps to MANAGE the delicate balance between alignment and autonomy
1. Define Taxonomy
a. A clearly defined taxonomy defines the nomenclature for the organization.
b. An agile team needs clearly defined backlog to be successful and the organization needs its goals to be clearly defined in order for its team to be successful.
c. The organization must state how each team needs to contribute in achieving those goals by defining a taxonomy.
d. The names of each level can be tailored to the organization.
e. However, the common taxonomy (Epics, Features, Stories, Tasks) are fairly close to being industry standard.
Type 1: A common taxonomy is Epics, Features, Stories, and Tasks.
A common taxonomy is Epics, Features, Stories, and Tasks.
Type 2: Many organizations introduce a level above Epics called Initiatives, Initiatives break down into Epics.
2. Define Line of Autonomy
a. The line of autonomy is the point at which the team is the clear owner and management does not interfere.
b. In the above diagram, the line of autonomy has drawn above the stories thereby separating the management (alignment) to be owners of epics and features.
c. Teams own Stories and Tasks and have autonomy on how they execute.
d. Management does not extend ownership below the Line of Autonomy. For example, management does not tell the team how to decompose stories, plan their sprint, or execute their work.
e. The team ensures that their execution aligns with the management goals.
f. The team owns the backlog of stories; they must align their backlog with the Features assigned to them.
3. Planning
a. Plan is needed for each level of taxonomy.
b. The plan provides direction for a fixed period of time, with expected calibration on regular intervals.
Vision: expressed through Epics(say in 18 months for example) and sets the long term direction of the organization. The vision is presented at an all hands meeting. The percentage of the vision to be accomplished can be defined, eg: 60%.
Season: expressed through Features and sets the strategy for, say next 6 months. Features determine what we want to light up for our customers. Management owns the Seasonal plan and presents the Vision and Seasonal plans at an all-hands meeting. All team plans must align with the management’s Seasonal plan. The percentage of the Seasonal plan to be accomplished can be defined, eg: 80%.
3-Sprint Plan: defines the Stories and Features the team will finish over the next 3 sprints. The team owns the plan and calibrates it every sprint. The team presents the plan to management via the Feature Chat. The plan specifies how the team’s execution aligns with the 6-month Seasonal plan. The percentage of the 3-Sprint plan to be accomplished can be defined , eg: 90%.
Sprint plan- defines the Stories and Features the team will finish in the next sprint. The team owns the sprint plan and transparency is maintained transparent throughout the entire organization. The plan includes what the team accomplished in the past sprint and their focus for the next sprint. The percentage of the Sprint plan to be accomplished can be defined, eg: 95%.
What is a Feature Chat?
A Feature Chat is a low-ceremony meeting where each team presents their 3-Sprint Plan to management. This meeting ensures team plans align with the organizational goals. It also helps management stays informed on what the team is doing. While the 3-Sprint plan is calibrated every sprint, Feature Chats are held as-needed, every 1–3 sprints.
The Glue that holds Alignment and Autonomy — Trust
Management must trust teams to do the right thing. If management doesn’t trust the teams, they won’t give teams autonomy.
A team earns trust by consistently delivering high quality code. If teams aren’t trustworthy, management won’t give them autonomy.
As you look to scale agile to large organizations, the key is to give teams autonomy while ensuring they are aligned with organizational goals. The critical building blocks are clearly defined ownership and a culture of trust. Once you have this foundation in place, you will find that Agile can scale very well.
Source: Microsoft
