teamcommitment

Topic Overview:   How do I get a team to commit (and mean it)

Convenor or Lecturer:    Rich Moran

Participants: 

Paul Field  

Sorry, I didn't get names.   You'll have to add yourselves. 

Session Notes:

The discussion got off to a bad start when people realised that the topic was posed as a question, not a solution.
However, a lively discussion followed.

The Prime Directive was was raised as something that we must keep in mind, if we are to have any real success with Agile practices.
Perhaps people are not commiting because they don't want to be there -  in which case we need to help them find something they can be passionate about.

It was pointed out that some companies doing scrum send everyone on scrum master courses so that they understand what the organisation is trying to achieve and just why some of the practices and rituals are used.  This deeper understanding of "Why" can lead to better commitment.

It can be very difficult to integrate contractors into a team.  You have to hope they have their own reasons to commit to the project, particularly short ones. Some certainly do have that commitment.

Pair programming was postulated as a partial solution.  Pair programming is complex and requires new skills and practice before people get it right, but it is a great way of spreading knowledge and doing mentoring.

The environment is really important - having fun is an important prerequisite for passion.