1. Performance Management
in
SCRUM Teams
Vinod Vijayakumaran
2012 September

2. My path was clear in waterfall…
• In a waterfall model; every individual who joins
an organization as a fresher had a chance to
visualize his career path in the
organization with some clarity
• Now with LEAN & Agile;
there’s only ambiguity around
• HR is coming up with more
flatter org structure
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

3. Did agile make my career path skewed…
• Agile software development , is good for the
organization and for the deliverables.
• But what about
o my career path…my future
o my market value
o my designation
o respect among peers
o compensation
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4. Has anyone delved into the details?
• Majority of the work done is focused on theoretical implication of
motivational theory that doesn’t assure for efficiency in real time
scenario.
• Although some effective framework has been design using Agile
methodology but they fails to address the cumulative optimization of
skilled resources.
• The survey also explore a work done considering self-organizing
team, but gaining the team-commitment is most challenging task. The
guaranteed framework is yet to be designed posing obstruction in
implementation of SCRUM.
• The survey has also seen some publication using Lean Six Sigma, but
reliability of the model along with its impact on the human resources
and their profile upgradation is still yet to solve.
• An effective team selection or work allocation process for skilled
human resources using Agile process are yet to be explored.
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

5. So, where is the problem?
• Edward Deming (PDCA) mentions in his 14 principles that
“Eliminate Management by Objective” and " …abolishment of the
annual or merit rating …”.
But, we cant really do that. Performance Management, is a
necessary evil. The manager has to strike a balance between
satisfying the organization’s need and also to satisfy his top rated
employees.
All appraisal systems followed in the industry worldwide; is
diametrically against the Agile philosophy. Because; the appraisal
system is individual centric and Agile is team oriented.
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

6. Factors for a ‘better’ situation …
• Talent Management
• Predominance for team in goal setting
• Utilization Factor within the SCRUM Team
• Progression & Promotion
• Minimize the compensation differtials
• High Performance Team
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7. Talent Management
• Talent Management
• ROAD
• Respect Employees
• Clarify Objectives
• Increase Awareness
• Create Dialogue
• Important Aspects of Talent Management
• Maintain Accountability
• Integrate Development Into Work
• Provide a Picture of High Performance
• Give Your Employees Visibility to One Another.
• Support People at Different Phases of Career Growth.
• Evaluate Potential and Experience
• Help People Figure Out What They Want
• Create Processes that Strategically Engage People’s Attention.
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8. Predominance for team in goal setting
• Manager assigns a wholesome goal for the team
Ex. Release of XYZ 1.0
• Individual goals sum-up to team goals and every member in the SCRUM team will share
a common goal.
• Year end rating is given to the team for the deliverable and not particularly to an
individual
• Individual goals are also required; but that need to be set carefully keeping in mind the
career path of the individual and his/her efforts summing up to the team goal
• Care should also be taken to make individual goals as generic as possible. Many
traditional engineering goals for people are structured around owning a particular
component or designing or implementing a component. These goals are inappropriate
for an Agile team member because there is no room to redirect someone from
contributing to the team’s goal of building value to a non-value-oriented goal of
completing a component.
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

9. Utilization Factor within the SCRUM Team
• There’s no one better to know what you are doing that your team.. this phrase holds
good in a SCRUM team. Manager can get a 360 degree anonymous feedback and then
share it with the individual
• Capacity burndown chart for the SCRUM team need to be maintained with the details
possible ; which would enable the manager to identify the key performers of the team
(based on the effort and topic) can be identified.
• This will also help the manager or senior management to acquire new projects as per
the available bandwidth and expertise.
• Talent Management can also be achieved via this method
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

10. Progression & Promotion
• Model of progression and promotion would be more appropriate in an Agile
environment. This would provide enough time for the manager and the peers to
identify the strength of the individual
• Individual also gets enough time to exhibit the required qualities that is required for
him to move to the next level.
• Ex: A default expectation from an individual in Tier 1 will be to act as a mentor for new entrants into the same level. This will be
one of his yearly KPI.
Level 2
Promotion
Tier 1
Level 1 Progression
Tier 2
Tier 1
Progression
Tier 2
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

11. Minimize the compensation differentials
• Despite having signed the CoBC; we very well see employees being
curious about other’s remuneration , especially during the appraisal
outcome period.
• Individual gets demotivated and a drastic change in behavior is
witnessed when he/she gets clear indication that peers are rewarded
than them.
• One reason people put so much weight onto such small differences is
that they are looking for signs of recognition and appreciation. Give
them the recognition and appreciation all of the time, throughout the
year, and you will find that the need for a symbolic but
inconsequential raise will shrink.
29/09/12 www.agiletour.com

12. High Performance Team
Three main factors come into play in the shaping of a high-performance team:
team structure, team relations, and the team's processing capability.
Team Structure Team Relations Processing Capability
•The team's vision is clearly defined. •A clear division of competences exists, •The team is empowered to make good
•The team's goal is measurable, clearly so that power struggles and self- decisions on its own.
prioritized, translated into daily tasks positioning are avoided. •The team has clear plans for the
and agreed to by the team. •The team's discretion in relation to the solution of the tasks.
•The roles are discussed, clarified and rest of the organization is clearly •The team has well performing
the appropriate knowledge exists team- defined. procedures that enable them to work
wide. •The division of powers among the effectively in the various activities that
•Scope in relation to time, quality and management groups related to the are involved in forming the solution.
economy is clear and communicated to team's work is clear. •The team has developed the capacity
the team and stakeholders. for learning as an integral part of the
work.
•The team has developed agreements
and rules of the game on inclusiveness.
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