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teams

Two agile team members on a video call and wearing face masks Team Agility in a Post-Pandemic World

COVID-19 has necessitated entirely remote environments, and people the world over have had to inspect their foundations of working, adapt to a new way of remote execution, and integrate their personal and professional lives more than before. Organizational leaders need to embrace a new outlook in four critical areas.

Gautham Pallapa's picture
Gautham Pallapa
Two goats butting heads Is It Really ‘Us vs. Them’?

Teams often view executives as being "against" them and making decisions that are clueless at best or nefarious at worst. Usually, neither is the case, but there's no way of knowing true motivations if there's no discussion. Teams and directors need to repair their communication rift. This is a tale of two perspectives.

Payson Hall's picture
Payson Hall
Software designers, developers and other team members collaborating The Real Value of Cross-Functional Agile Teams

Agile teams know that cross-functional collaboration is central to the methodology, but there are often barriers to fully embracing this idea. If teams are used to handoffs, it may seem like it makes sense to maintain the status quo. Try collaborating on something small to realize the true value of cross-functional teams.

Steve Berczuk's picture
Steve Berczuk
Computer screen showing emergency alert about the coronavirus Lessons the Software Community Must Take from the Pandemic

Due to COVID-19, organizations of all types have had to implement continuity plans within an unreasonably short amount of time. These live experiments in agility have shaken up our industry, but it's also taught us a lot of invaluable lessons about digital transformation, cybersecurity, performance engineering, and more.

Mukesh Sharma's picture
Mukesh Sharma
Silhouette of team members jumping up to cheer Build Better Teams by Finding Hidden Talents

We’re not all created equal, and it’s counterproductive to act like that’s the case on a team. Every individual has their own unique set of strengths, and knowing what everyone’s strengths are contributes to the team’s success. When you're putting a team together, you first have to discover each person’s strong suits.

Richard Estra's picture
Richard Estra
Green plastic army soldier figures Building a DevOps Army

As you scale DevOps, you need more team members who understand the fundamentals. You could bring in external folks, but they're expensive and in short supply, so start building your DevOps army now by training existing employees. Here's what testers, developers, and IT operations professionals each need to know.

Tom Stiehm's picture
Tom Stiehm
Person about to shoot a rubber band at a coworker Is There a Place for Pranks in the Office?

Some people think pulling pranks in the office is the height of hilarity. But they should remember that what they view as funny may not be viewed that way by those on the receiving end. There are many opportunities in the workplace for a joke to backfire. Before you think about pulling a prank, think it through.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten
Employee frustrated by her absentee leader Absentee Leadership: The Worst Kind of Manager

Absentee leaders are managers who are physically present but psychologically absent. They are incompetent and disengaged, to the extent that they don't support their teams adequately. If you have an absentee manager (and don’t have the luxury of seeking another position), here's how you can try to handle the situation.

Naomi Karten's picture
Naomi Karten