In The Wisdom of Teams, the authors describe six basic elements of teams:
1. Team is small enough to collaborate (5 - 9 people)
2. Adequate level of complementary skills needed for team performance
3. Meaningful purpose all team members aspire to
4. Performance goals agreed to by all team members
5. The work approach is clearly understood
6. Team members hold each other mutually accountable
The Scrum framework supports all six elements. For example, Scrum teams are small and work is made visible through task boards so everyone understands and sees the work flow.
You may be thinking, how do you create great teams? Simply combine the six elements and the Scrum Framework with a pattern language for high performing teams.
Agile coaches who are unskilled at helping teams get to done may want to study and practice the patterns found in Teams That Finish Early Accelerate Faster.
Scrum Pattern Language for High Performing Teams
What's the beauty of patterns? Patterns require less effort than the traditional approach. Patterns are about energized work plus creativity.
Look at the first pattern: Stable Teams. Many companies multitask at the corporate level -- If there are only five teams, they ask the five teams to work on ten projects. And the company juggles teams to keep the ten projects in the air.
With the Stable Team pattern, you limit the number of projects to the number of teams, keep the teams together, and bring work to the team.
Simple. Elegant. Easy.
