DARE TO DREAM

It ’ s good to have guidelines that describe the way you work . They provide a map that steers your people in the same general direction . They do not , and should not , replace team support or the company values that your senior stakeholders work hard to promote . Neither should they define expected behaviour in exquisite ( and frustrating ) detail . The idea is to have a high level process that people can shape to fit their preferred way of working .

For example , your process may mandate that teams works in short iterations and demonstrate progress at the end of each iteration . Each individual team should choose the length of their iterations , how they perform their demos and who attends . Equally , you may mandate a set of coding standards to promote consistent development practises . Your teams should decide on the nature of these coding standards and choose the tools that help to enforce them .

In this way , different teams will find their own way of working without diverging too far from an agreed approach . Sharing ideas across teams will promote creativity and help to drive continual improvement at an organisation level . This , in turn , will generate innovation for clients as everyone coaches and educates everyone else .

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