Apr 20, 2020
Anti-patterns in agile product development — Part IV
Anti-patterns in any work can be caused by individual or group behaviors. The main drawback of patterns of individual behavior (from a psychological point of view) is that in most cases, the individual cannot diagnose the problem unless they are at a high level of self-awareness. In other words, we are better at seeing problems outside of our inner world than seeing our own internal and behavioral issues.
Let’s start with one of the most familiar anti-patterns
Micro-Management:
We have heard and used this word so much that perhaps its English phrase is more familiar to us than its Persian translation. This expresses the generality and pervasiveness of this problem. Micro-Management occurs when a person from the management layer tries to know and comment on the most detailed points about the product.
I’ve seen people interested in CC in all the emails exchanged, even if the email is for ordering disposable paper cups. Because they think that under the influence of this information and intervening in the minor issues, they can advance the team, product, and organization in the direction of strategies (if there is a strategy at all).
They want to know exactly what developers are doing right now, so they’re either constantly coming to their workplace in person or using monitoring tools.
Innovative management stems from a lack of trust.
Based on the teachings of emotional intelligence, micro-management stems from a lack of trust, and a lack of conviction stems from fear and stress. To do or to master every detail of it.
Also, being dominant in their eyes does not mean awareness, but it implies awareness and intervention. These people have not learned that they can trust their teammates to do something, and they have chosen this based on their past experiences and even their childhood by default.
Such a spirit negatively affects the team’s mood, how things are done, and the final product’s success. No one likes to work in an environment where their mental health is at risk.
The change in such behavior is due to the depth of the roots of that time, and in the first step, one must realize that one is acting negatively. Then he has to practice trusting people and reduce the burden he puts on himself. Because this behavior is not corrected, the team will not be able to do its job correctly.
Choosing the wrong communication tool:
One of the necessary countermeasures is choosing the wrong tool to connect team members. One of the most likely is to use email to get your message across. The nature of email in today’s agile environments is more for legal purposes and organizational announcements, while we emphasize individual communication in agile development.
People who are “framed” and like to have many templates can easily use email, but the other person, the recipient, will face many problems and send and receive emails that both parties misunderstand. It only destroys interpersonal communication and delays concluding.
Every time people read an email, they are biased and try to write more tooth-breaking responses than the other person sends. As a result, they are caught in a vicious circle. If you are in this situation or want never to enter this situation, always consider time for short and face-to-face meetings and talk to each other.
End of part four
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