Middle Management and Lean-Agile. A Conversation with with Dr. Tom Grant

Middle Management and Lean-Agile: A Conversation with Dr. Tom Grant Dr. Tom Grant and Jim Trott discuss the implications of Lean and Agile software development for middle management. The role is changed, with different skills and behaviors required. Managers transition from being directive to enabling teams to be self-organizing. There are changes in performance evaluations, metrics, and power dynamics. They get into the team's life "just enough" in order to be helpful. Coaching middle managers in the transition to Lean-Agile is also different: helping them acquire new skills at just the right time, learning how to do retrospections. Tom suggests using "Serious Games" as a way to help this transition. He also discusses the influence of the various Agile frameworks on management and the transition to Lean-Agile ​Dr. Tom Grant is an analyst covering software development and delivery. His specific focus areas include Agile, Lean, application lifecycle management (ALM), requirements, serious games, and the innovation process. He has also taught political science at UC Irvine and Chapman College. This show is part of a regular series of conversations with Net Objectives consultants and thought-leaders on a variety of topics. We call this series, "The Doctor Is In!" Recommendations - Reading and Sites You can use the forums on the Net Objectives Portal to ask questions about the webinar.  Note, you will have to register on the portal to do so. The Importance of Leadership and Management in Agile by Al Shalloway TastyCupcakes.org for serious games for Lean-Agile Music used in this podcast: “And So It Begins” and “Easy Lemon” by Kevin MacLeod © Incompetech Inc. Blog Type: Podcast   Transcript Introduction In this show, Dr. Tom Grant and Jim Trott talk about the implications for Agile and Lean for middle management. View Full Transcript Jim Trott:  It's July 19, 2016. This show, "The Doctor Is In." with Tom Grant. [background music] Jim:  Hello, and welcome to another edition of Lean‑Agile Straight Talk, a regular podcast series from Net Objectives. I'm your host, Jim Trott. In this show, Dr. Tom Grant and I talk about the implications for Agile and Lean for middle management. Dr. Grant is an analyst covering software development and delivery. His specific focus areas include Agile, Lean, application lifecycle management requirements, serious games, and the innovation process. He's also taught political science at UC Irvine and Chapman College. In this show we're going to discuss many issues that impact middle management, in a Lean‑Agile organization, including things such as what changes are required for middle managers and what new skills are they going have to acquire? When should middle‑management be trained in the Lean‑Agile process, so they can be better enablers of Lean‑Agile for their own teams, implications for managing performance on self‑organizing Agile teams, implications for retrospections and power dynamics and metrics, the dynamics involved in coaching middle‑management for the transition to Lean Agile, and the use of serious games that coaches can use for developing Lean‑Agile culture. It's a really interesting podcast. You're going enjoy it. Before we get started, I want to remind you that you can explore more about this topic and other topics by jumping over to the resources section at www.netobjectives.com. At Net Objectives we are committed to discovering effective software development methods, so that we can assist organizations in becoming more successful. We combine our experience to continuously extend the capability of what is possible in creating effective software development organizations. We provide these approaches to our clients and the community in general, so that we can assist people in achieving their goals, in making their organizations more successful. Our scope includes a Lean, Agile, Leanban, Kanban, Emergent Design and Acceptance Test Driven Development. We welcome the chance to work with