Can Agile work without co-located, dedicated teams?

By Paul McNamara, CEO ADAPTOVATE

Working in co-located teams with all members 100% dedicated to the squad is regularly touted as a key success factor for Agile. The logic behind it is powerful: co-located teams will be better able to collaborate effectively, build trust, and resolve issues on the spot; dedicated teams will have greater focus, find it easier to prioritize work, and innovate more boldly.

In the real world, however, it's not quite so simple. Large organizations are geographically distributed, which makes co-location extremely difficult. The economics of having teams 100% dedicated to a single project can be unrealistic. In many organizations, for example, there simply may not be enough data scientists, human-centered design experts, or agile coaches to go around. When this topic comes up, I often hear: "We aren't a startup—and we don't have the luxury of working in dedicated, co-located teams."

I get it. I really do. But the goal is not to transform a large organization into a startup. Nic Jue, CEO of ING Germany, in his previous role as CEO of ING Netherlands said it best: "What I try to do is train our organization, the elephant, to be as fast and as flexible as a greyhound. I want to remain an elephant, because I want to keep the power of the elephant. But I also want to be fast and flexible."

We need to find ways for large organizations to behave like start-ups, yet maintain their advantages of scale. Yes, co-located and dedicated teams are ideal, but they're not always possible, so we need to find ways to make it work.

In my work with clients, I have discovered a few strategies that allow large companies to run like a greyhound—even without the benefit of co-located teams.

• Redesign the work. If you have geographically distributed teams, organize the work so that teams at each location can function independently to deliver end-to-end outcomes. Try to have full squads co-located in each location, if possible. This will reduce the number of handoffs, increase productivity, and strengthen accountability.
• Build personal connections. We are all more willing to go the extra mile for people we know and feel a connection with, so it's important to foster a strong sense of collegiality in the workplace. At a minimum, schedule an annual kickoff meeting so the entire team can meet face-to-face to map out plans for the year—and set up quarterly planning events to ensure that teams are aligned on outcomes.
• Use video. Personal connections are reinforced when teams see each other on a regular basis. Instead of phone calls, make video conferencing the default. One client, a large bank, set up what they called a ‘worm hole’—a video call that live-streamed another team working halfway around the world. They positioned the video screen to make it look and feel like the remote team was working just at the other end of the table.
• Support a remote-first culture. Design meetings so remote teams can participate easily. Include a dial-in number, video conferencing, and screen sharing; send material at least five minutes prior to the meeting; aim the video at the whiteboard when sketching. Make sure there are enough video units to accommodate large groups. When scheduling meetings, be considerate about time zone differences. These are simple steps, but they go a long way toward making people feel that Agile ceremonies—such as standups and retrospectives—can function effortlessly, despite geographic differences.

There are also strategies that can be used to create cohesion for teams that don't have 100% dedicated members.

• Create dedicated team time. Have the team work together on specific days of the week. For example, the entire team may work together on Mondays to Wednesdays (rather than random days with limited overlap).
• Ensure the right people are available for limited periods of time. If a particular expert is needed, whether it be a lawyer or a data analyst, secure his or her time for a specific time period only. For example, if the team is working on a solution with particularly tricky or intense legal implications, get a dedicated lawyer on the team for the first month.
• Leverage part-time support. For very scarce resources, identify the right person to become a ‘dedicated,’ part-time resource so the team knows who to contact with urgent questions. For example, if an HR business partner cannot be dedicated to a team, find a representative from HR who can give input to each squad as needed.
• Modify the timing of your Agile ceremonies. When you run standups, showcases, and retrospectives, take into account the amount of time team members have to dedicate to that project. For example, a legal team working on a new contracting model dedicated 20% of their time to a specific project, so they developed four-week sprints, three-hour planning sessions, participated in standups twice a week (instead of every day), and held a showcase retro at the end. The team was extremely engaged and delivered excellent results.

A perfect world of dedicated, co-located teams is not always practical, so we have a simple choice. We can use it as an excuse for why Agile won't work, or embrace it, make it work, and reap the benefits of this new way of working. If you take the latter approach, your team will thank you.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.