If no Team, then Scrum events are crappy

If the Team does not see themselves as a Team, does not feel that “we win together or we lose together”, then the Scrum events (Sprint Planning Meeting, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Retrospective) are likely to be pretty lame if not useless.

I think lots of people do not naturally think of themselves as part of a Team.

Why?

• Years of experience being in a “team” that was never a Team.
• Blame game culture
• Uninspiring work
• No common commitment to a single common goal
• Too many distractions, so that it was never clear (1) what are we doing really? and (2) who is on this Team?

Probably some more.

This tends to be a silent problem. Few people say “I don’t want to be on this Team” or “This is not a real Team” or “We do not have a common missions that we all take seriously”.  Those things can be said, and are said some.  They are true and not said — I think — more often.

 

The events will become better as they start to see themselves as a real Team, and as they see the events helping the Team.  And that each person must help the Team become better — must use the information shown in almost every meeting.

This takes repeated explanations before the Team (or those people you want to become a team) really start to get it.  And more after that.

 

Please feel free to comment and add observations.

 

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