In this presentation you will learn how to identify and treat most common behavioral dysfunctions, how to build consensus and how to run effective meetings in an Agile environment. Presented at the Scrum Gathering New Orleans 2014 by Marcos Garrido and Rafael Sabbagh.

1. FACILITATION
TECHNIQUES FOR
EFFECTIVE
SCRUMMASTERS

2. ABOUTUS
MarcosGarrido
RafaelSabbagh

3. UNDERSTANDING
THE FACILITADOR'S
ROLE

4. Goal:analyse,discussanddefinethefacilitator'srole.
Each group must fill the flipchart, covering the following
fourquadrants:
IS
ISN'T
DOES
DOESN'T
Time:8minutes
EXERCISE-GROUPDISCUSSION

5. FACILITATOR’SROLE
"Facilitation is a process in which a person whose selection is
acceptable to all members of the group, is substantively
neutral, and has no substantive decision-making authority
diagnoses and intervenes to help a group improve how it
identifies and solves problems and makes decisions, to
increase the group’s effectiveness.“
Roger Schwartz

6. SCRUMMASTER
AS A FACILITATOR

7. SCRUMMASTERASAFACILITATOR
SCRUMMASTER FACILITATOR
S"mulates
team's
autonomy
S"mulates
team's
effec"veness
Creates
visibility
to
team's
problems
Guides
the
team
to
improve
their
processes
Does
not
influence
team’s
decisions
Does
not
represent/manage
the
team

8. EXERCISES

9. SIMULATIONS
• YourgroupisaScrumTeam;
• Eachparticipantwillreceiveaspecificsetofinstructionstofollow;
• Don’tshowyourinstructionstoanyone!

10. SIMULATION 01

11. SIMULATION01-INSTRUCTIONS
Setup:
• Your group must define who will facilitate the session;
• The facilitator’s goal is to help the team to solve their
problem in an effective way;
• Don’t forget your instructions;
• The following session is a Sprint Retrospective;
• Time: 6 minutes

12. SIMULATION01-BRIEFING
!
• ThisisaSprintRetrospectivemeeting;
• DevTeamdidn’tmeettheSprintGoal;
• Dev Team members struggled with a lot of questions about the
product;
• Anewdevwashired,buthefeltlostthroughouttheSprint;
• Product Owner didn’t show up throughout the Sprint, but he was very
upsetbecauseteamdidn’tmeettheSprintGoal.

13. SIMULATION 01
DEBRIEFING

14. DYSFUNCTIONAL
BEHAVIORS

15. DYSFUNCTIONALBEHAVIORS
• Behavinginawayto-intentionallyorunintentionally-
expressdiscontentwith:
!
• the subject of the discussion;
• the pace of the session;
• other external factors.

16. DYSFUNCIONALBEHAVIOR
Arriving
late,
leaving
early
Silence,
lack
of
par"cipa"on
Folded
arms,
facing
door
or
windows
Side
conversa"ons
Doing
other
work
in
session
Nega"ve
physical
reac"on
to
a
discussion
audible
sighs
of
displeasure
Nega"ve
comments
about
a
par"cipant
Verbal
aGack
directed
to
a
par"cipant
Leaving
the
room
in
disgust
Physically
aGack
someone
Degree
of
the
Dysfunc;on
Severity
of
the
Disrup;on

17. TOP7DYSFUNCTIONS

18. • TheDominator:hasalltheanswers
• TheInvisibleMan:nooneknowshe’sthere
• TheMultitasker:doingsomethingelse
• TheTangentTalker:anybutthemainsubject
• TheJoker:drawsalltheattentiontohimself
• TheAttacker:everythingispersonal
• TheFenceSitter:goeswiththeflow
TOP7DYSFUNCTIONS

19. GroupDiscussion:
• eachgroupselectsadysfunction;
• as a facilitator, what actions/steps would you take
topreventand/ordealwiththedysfunction?
TOP7DYSFUNCTIONS

20. • TheDominator:hasalltheanswers
• TheInvisibleMan:nooneknowshe’sthere
• TheMultitasker:doingsomethingelse
• TheTangentTalker:anybutthemainsubject
• TheJoker:drawsalltheattentiontohimself
• TheAttacker:everythingispersonal
• TheFenceSitter:goeswiththeflow
TOP7DYSFUNCTIONS

21. SIMULATION 02

22. DINÂMICA02-INSTRUÇÕES
Setup:
• Each group must define a new facilitator;
• The facilitator’s goal is to help the team achieve consensus
in an effective way;
• Forget your previous instructions - Get new ones!
• The following session is a Budget Meeting;
• Time: 6 minutes

23. SIMULATION02-BRIEFING
The Dev Team's got a limited budget to invest on an action plan
to improve its own knowledge.
There are many options. Here’s a few suggestions:
- technical trainings;
- Agile conferences;
- buy a new tool;
!
Team members: choose an option and try to convince others
Facilitator: do your job :-)

24. SIMULATION 02
DEBRIEFING

25. REACTING
QUESTIONS

26. REACTINGQUESTIONS
Michael Wilkinson

27. REACTINGQUESTIONS
Michael Wilkinson

28. SIMULATION 03

29. SIMULATION03-BRIEFING
Problem:Themarketingcampaignmanagementsystem
• Noreportsmodule
• Newcampaignscreated:requestsforfollowupreportsaccumulate
• Every new request = unplanned and urgent work for the Dev Team to
manuallygeneratethereport
!
Dev Team met to resolve the problem. But no consensus on which
solutiontochoose.
Twopossiblesolutions…

30. SIMULATION03-BRIEFING
Option A Option B
Details
Keep the manual reporting
process (by scripts)
Build a new plataform to
support and deliver reports
automatically
Advantages
Small adjustments in
existing scripts are made
and a new report is
created in 30 minutes
Ceases once and for all
the unplanned urgent tasks
that disrupt the Dev Team's
work
Disadvantages
Generates unplanned and
urgent work for the Dev
Team
The team estimated the
work needed to create the
reporta module in 2
months

31. SIMULATION 03
DEBRIEFING

32. CONSENSUS
B U I L D I N G

33. CONSENSUS
Everyone believes this decision
is the best option among others

34. WHATCONSENSUSREALLYIS
Ok, it’s not my first option, but I
can live with that!
I’ll support it.

35. DISAGREEMENTLEVELS
LEVEL
3
Outside
factors
(personal
issues
-­‐
past
history)
Possible
solu"on:
call
for
a
break
and
talk
to
the
people
involved.
LEVEL
2
They
have
different
values
or
experiences
Possible
solu"on:
make
sure
everyone’s
on
the
same
page
LEVEL
1
They
are
not
listening
to
each
other
Possible
solu"on:
address
the
dysfunc"onal
behaviors

36. TECHNIQUES
- Majority voting / Dot voting;
- Buy a decision;
- Planning Poker / Five Fingers;
- Strengths and Weaknesses;
morediscussion
Nodiscussions=poorersolutions(andpoorersupport)

37. WRAPPINGUP
Let's review the Facilitator role

38. •mgarrido@k21.com.br
•rsabbagh@k21.com.br
THANKS!