Is Working on a Team for Everyone?
Agile, especially Scrum, is all about working on a team. For many people, teamwork can be rewarding and a great way to learn from others. However, some people find teamwork excruciating and would rather fly solo.
We recently asked members of the Agile Mentors Community (AMC) this question:
“Do you have someone on your team who would rather fly solo? How far should you go in trying to get someone to work as a team player? At what point do you set her free?”
We got a lot of great responses and unique perspectives on this topic from our members. Here’s what they had to say:
The Lone Wolf
One member shared how a highly productive developer on his team was very anti-agile. He was disruptive during meetings and brought the team down. The organization moved him off of the Scrum team to do maintenance and bug fixing and he seems happier, and so does the team.
The Aggressive Architect
Another member added that her team had an architect who acted unprofessionally, provoked people into arguments when they expressed new or different ideas and often changed passwords just to punish developers. Everyone hated him. It was easy to see he was a huge cancer on the team. However, two developers took a chance on working with him and it was amazing how much better this architect did in a small group rather than as an architect for several teams. While this was an improvement, he ultimately got fired. If you create a hostile work environment, the company shouldn’t be afraid to make a change.
The Scrum Sabotager
Another member shared a similar experience he had many years ago working for a small software house. They had just started their journey into Scrum and had one developer who was deliberately sabotaging things. This was having a detrimental effect on the team and to some degree on the wider adoption of agile in the organization. They were very patient with him, but sadly, in the end, they had to ask him if he really wanted to be there or not. Soon after he left, the team really excelled.
“For a long time I felt I had failed this individual, but more recently it dawned on me that maybe he failed himself and hopefully it is the start of his journey. You can’t win them all, but that should not stop you from trying,” added the contributing member.
To join the conversation and to hear more comments from team members and leaders on working on an agile team, join the Agile Mentors Community. Visit https://www.agilementors.com for more information on membership.