Tell us a little about your day-to-day role?
I have two roles I try to balance. I am the Delivery Lead for two contracts in two different, but aligned, customers. I am responsible for the overall delivery of the teams in line with the contract requirements, and I am the key point of contact for our customers and Naimuri. My main role, however, is as the Agile Lead/Scrum Master for one of the teams. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t just arranging and facilitating ceremonies! I am constantly checking in with the team, helping to remove blockers, making sure they are all doing okay, coaching them in agile behaviors, and making sure we remain focused on our objectives. The other side of this is also working closely with our customers and coaching good agile behaviors.
What is the biggest challenge you find in your role/industry?
The biggest challenge from my perspective is people's understanding of what being agile actually means and what it takes to be agile. Lots of organizations believe that being agile will help them do things quicker in a world of constantly changing market positions so that they can deliver greater value to their stakeholders and customers and see an improved return on investment percentage. What they don’t take into account is the effort and commitment from the top of the organisation down to the delivery teams for everybody to be fully engaged and committed to delivering in an agile way. For example, work packages for teams need to be prioritised in a way that adds the most value at the right time; backlogs need to have well-thought-out requirements ready to be picked up and moved forward. This is where a lot of organisations let themselves down, as they don’t have Product Owners properly aligned to products and teams who either understand the products or have the time to commit to the process.
How has the industry changed since you joined?
I’ve been in Agile software engineering for 8 years now and, by and large, concepts and principles have remained pretty much the same. However, the term “Agile” is so widely used now that it’s losing its way a little due to the organisations I’ve mentioned having fallen out of love with it because they didn’t buy into it properly in the first place and haven’t seen the returns that they expected. There is a wealth of training materials and certifications that an entire industry has been created which people have rushed to get certified in, because that will make them agile, yet have no experience or free thought to actually make being agile a reality.
Why did you want to work for Naimuri?
Having worked for big organisations previously, I was intrigued by the prospect of working for a local company (with my smallest commute ever!), with a startup mentality, small teams, and with agile at the core of its foundations. Having worked in big teams in the past, I was keen to work in small agile teams to enhance my agile coaching abilities. The small, friendly environment was also a draw and such a tidal shift to what I was used to, and with the flexible working options, everything on my wish list for a new job was ticked off.
What tools or technologies do you use most?
Technology is pretty agnostic in my role, and nobody wants to know that I read/write emails, manipulate spreadsheets, write monthly reports, and use an HR system to drive performance and support my team. The tool I use the most, and I know this is cheesy before I even write it, is my brain, calling on all of my experience over the years engaging stakeholders, managing people, even troubleshooting problems from back in the day when I worked on the other side of IT.
How do you keep yourself ahead of technological advancements?
Interesting question, with a pretty boring answer, I’m afraid. As per the above, technology is pretty agnostic for me. I listen to my team of highly talented and skillful engineers, pretending to understand everything they say, and try to pick out the low-level details that I can actually explain to other people. Rather than technologies, I try to understand other ways of working that I could leverage to make me a better coach, manager, and person.
What excites and scares you about developments in the technology sector?
AI is the answer to both of those; it can be used for so much good, but there is the obvious flip side that anything used for good can also be used for the wrong reasons. We are rushing to get to grips with AI and find the most value in it before anybody else does. There are so many applications for AI in the real world, but I grew up in 'The Terminator era' and can’t help but feel we are heading in the same direction in one form or another. This also leads into the big data side of global information and what it can be used for. Companies, especially social media companies, are collecting so much data that it does scare me as to what they actually legitimately need it for. Being a lightweight conspiracy theorist doesn’t really help me on this though! :-D
