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Marsha Acker

How Leaders Show Up: Learning to Be an Agile Leader

At TeamCatapult, we believe that the single greatest predictor of high performance and successful change lies in who leaders are BEING in conversations and how they are ENGAGING. We don’t operate from lists of “do this—not that.” Instead, we hold the perspective that all behaviors are choices that either produce the intended outcome or produce an unintended consequence. From this lens, becoming agile is less about right and wrong and more about awareness and choice.

The Quality of Leadership Communication

Research consistently demonstrates that team effectiveness is highly dependent upon the quality of communication between team members. The quality of communication is how we explain why some teams are high performing and others struggle. It’s how we explain why some organizations are successful at large organizational changes and others are not. And it’s how we explain why we might have very engaging and productive conversations with some people and end up in complete frustration with others. What often inhibits a team’s potential is how they show up and engage (or not) in the conversation. 

Being Agile vs Doing Agile

Organizations that are successful at agility did not get there because they implemented the latest best practices. It’s not that they figured out the holy grail of team development or that they took the latest Kanban tool and prioritized work. They are likely DOING these things, but that’s not why they are finding success. 

It’s not WHAT they are doing, it’s HOW.

  • It’s how their leaders are BEING when they show up in the room
  • It’s how they ENGAGE when they’re talking with their teams 

How we show up and how we engage makes all the difference. Who are we being when the bottom drops out of the stock? How are we talking when a delivery does not go as planned? 

“As a leader, the single MOST effective thing you can do to change your organizational culture and grow agile leadership at all levels is to develop your ability to understand and to choose how you show up and how you engage.” 

How Leaders Show Up

Awareness precedes choice, precedes change.

What kind of leader do you want to be? 

In agile leadership, who we are being when we show up in the room can make or break a team’s dynamic, its ability to work through complex problems, and the quality of its solutions.

That’s why it’s important to understand the characteristics of who you want to BE as a leader—and feel at choice in how you show up to every conversation. In our work with leaders, we start by introducing 4 characteristics that we’ve seen modeled by successful agile leaders time and time again:

1) Leaders Show Up Focused

What’s your vision? What are you saying ‘yes’ to? And, more importantly, what are you saying ‘no’ to? 

The choice here is focus. It is clarity for yourself and for others about what’s important—and what’s the most important thing next. Focus has a cadence. It means you’re maintaining just the right level of strategy, purpose, and intent. You’re not so detailed that your focus changes every minute, and you’re not so broad that you don’t have the benefit of clarity.

When you are choosing focus, you are committing your attention. You are choosing to feel focused over feeling frazzled, scattered, and busy. 

2) Leaders Need To Be Creative 

Zig Ziglar once said, “It’s not what happens to you in life that matters. It’s how you respond to what happens to you that makes a difference.”

You can choose to create; to focus on the future and away from a past whose outcome you can’t change. Being creative comes from a place of hope, vision, and taking a systems perspective. It’s about asking, “what do I want to create?” If you don’t like the current situation, what would your ideal be?  What’s possible? What’s next? 

Being creative is the belief that you can create what you want. And tapping into vision and creativity is far more productive than being fearful and reactionary.

3) Leaders Should Be Adaptive 

Being adaptive means choosing to inhabit the space of emergence, to be okay with not knowing, and to be open to sensing what’s needed next. 

Ron Heifitz, in his book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, makes an important distinction between “technical problems”—problems that have a clear definition and are easily solved by experts—and “adaptive challenges.” Adaptive challenges are problems whose solutions require exploration, experimentation, new learning, and changes to beliefs, values, and mindsets. 

Becoming Agile as a business is the very definition of adaptive.

There is no roadmap, only hypotheses and learning to determine the next action.  

4) Leaders Choose to Be Dialogic 

William Issacs, in his book Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together, defines dialogue as a shared inquiry—a way of thinking and reflecting together, particularly when the stakes are high. 

Choosing to be dialogic is about seeking the collective intelligence in order to unfold new thinking and innovation that we would not or could not get to on our own. 

Basically, it’s a way of being open and curious. Of joining with others in exploration. Of being aware of your own perspective and willing to share in a way that is not about convincing or influencing others. 

There is a balance between having a clear opinion and perspective (advocacy) and genuinely seeking to understand others without clinging to our own viewpoints (inquiry). Being dialogic means choosing to find that balance.

Curious?

Read more in this next article titled “How Leaders Engage: Learning to Be an Agile Leader” 

How To Gain Agility by Giving Up Control

Giving Up Control to Gain Agility

This past year, I was asked to be a guest on the Women in Agile Podcast titled ‘Giving Up Control to Gain Agility’.

Podcast host Leslie Morse and I met at the Agile 2019conference in August, where we discussed my upcoming book ‘The Art & Science of Facilitation – How To Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams’

What is the ‘Women if Agile’ Podcast?

The ‘Women if Agile’ Podcast series exists to amplify the voices of outstanding women in the Agile community by telling our stories, being thought leaders and having open conversations with our allies. 

I encourage you to not only listen to my interview but to learn more about Women in Agile, subscribe and download the many wonderful conversations that have gone before me and continue to be told. 

Facilitation Conversation and Then Some!

I was introduced on the Podcast with this intro:

“She shares stories of working in a huge corporation and a tiny startup and the learnings she’s had – including how to give up some control to let agility emerge naturally. Her passion for facilitation was her entry point into Agile, and the need for it is as strong as ever: 

“To truly facilitate requires this unbiased, neutral perspective where you’re not taking sides… When the group gets stuck, you’re helping them get unstuck; you’re not solving something for them.” 

The quote the Podcast host Leslie Morse used to describe the conversation is this:

Find your own voice. “It’s not that I didn’t have it, it’s that I would have these moments of insights or thoughts, and I didn’t always share it.” 

My Personal Agile Origin Story

One of the many things I loved about doing this interview was the first question asked of me.

“What is your Agile origin story?”

It’s a story we all have but isn’t often told. Everyone who works in the Agile community has this defining moment as to when Agile entered their life and career. Most of us can also pinpoint a specific meeting, conference, book or Agile moment we knew where were hooked. 

Can I just say it took me a whole year to wrap my head around Agile? 

Have I sparked your curiosity? 

Listen to my Agile origin story first, and then learn more about why giving up control is needed to gain agility! 

Enjoy!

8 Tips to Successful Virtual Team Facilitation

Remote Teams Require Virtual Team Facilitation

There is an overall positive impact of going remote for companies.

Data shows that remote work can lead to astonishing productivity, increases employee retention, decreases sick days, and increases workforce diversity, just to name a few benefits.

While remote teams have an overall positive impact on companies, remote teaming does create a few challenges. 

Facilitating a virtual team successfully means adjusting what you know about facilitating team meetings and making a few changes in how you structure and facilitate these virtual team meetings.

 

Virtual Team Facilitation is a Necessity!

In today’s digitally-driven world, mastering the art of virtual team facilitation is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. From online meetings to dynamic online sessions, the way we communicate and collaborate has transformed significantly. With an array of online tools at our disposal, the potential for productive virtual interactions has never been higher.

Yet, the success of these online engagements often hinges on the adeptness of facilitation.

Whether you’re a seasoned virtual team leader or stepping into the realm of online facilitation for the first time, these eight essential tips and best practices will elevate your approach, ensuring that your online meetings are not only efficient but also engaging for all participants.

8 Tips for Remote Teaming Infographic

If you are new to remote teaming, here are 8 ways to start facilitating remote team meetings and achieve success!

remote team facilitation infographic

When first starting out facilitating remote teams, you might be tempted to copy the exact facilitation formula used for in-person meetings. While that is not a bad place to start, we’ve put together a list of 8 tips of small changes to implement starting with the fist remote meeting you are in charge of!

1) Build Trust Early and Often During Remote Meetings

Make time for frequent, short activities that foster connection in remote meetings. Activities that help people get to know one another as people, not just someone they rely on for information or to help them complete a task, subtly increase the level of trust in your team. While those activities might look a bit different in a remote meeting, the same principles and ideas do apply. Traditional Agile games and learning activities can be adapted to work during a remote team meeting. 

build trust in virtual meetings

2) Create Ways for the Remote Team to Connect Outside of Meetings

Use social and professional channels to keep people in touch with one another as they work. 

An example of this would be using an online application like Slack to create a sense of group unity. Slack’s motto is ‘Where work happens’. The tool is designed for intimate and direct group communication. 

A second example is using a social media messaging channel or group like a LinkedIn Group, Facebook Group, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or another messaging service. 

remote teams should connect outside of meetings

3) Design Virtual Group Meetings With Care

Think about what things really call for a team meeting, and intentionally design those meetings so people can participate actively and collaboratively. 

Creating an agenda and sticking to it is important! 

design virtual group meeting with care

4) Plan The Right Amount of Time for Remote Meetings Tasks

Don’t try to cram too much into a remote meeting. Take your time, chunk it up and remember everything takes a little bit longer to do well when it’s remote.

While technology is an amazing tool, not every team member will initially be as comfortable as the facilitator using this technology. Allow ample time for the sign-on process and be aware of potential glitches and time restraints. 

plan the right amount of time for remote meetings

5) Make Time to Hear Opposition

Plan for a rich discussion with opposing views rather than trying to rush the group into agreement because of time restraints.

You might find that you need to schedule more remote meetings than what you’d expect if the meeting were in-person. Go with it, don’t force the issue trying to fit everything in. 

make time in your virtual meeting to hear opposition

6) Level the Playing Field

Set it up so that if some people are remote, everyone is.

No one should be ‘left out’ or made to feel they are a burden or a nuisance for having to dial into a meeting. Instead, if one or two team members need to be remote, require everyone to dial in and access the meeting remotely. 

take time in your remote meeting to hear opposition

7) Let Go of The Belief That Virtual Is Never as Good as Face-To-Face

In truth, remote teams can be cohesive, thriving powerhouses, and virtual meetings can be productive and engaging.  If you’ve never tried to facilitate a virtual meeting or a remote team, just know it can be done by adjusting and tweaking a few things.

virtual meetings are just as good as face-to-face meetings

8) Never Ask ‘Does Everyone Agree?’ in a Virtual Meeting

That question is hard for people to answer because asking a group for agreement is a tall order and often it’s either rhetorical, meaning the facilitator is moving on regardless of agreement or the facilitator then needs to take time to hear a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from everyone. 

Instead, use effective tools and methods for exploring options and making decisions that everyone can commit to. You might say “What are we missing?” “Is there anyone who is not ready to move on?” By phrasing it this way you’re inviting people to offer a different point of view and if no one speaks then you can move forward. 

virtual meeting wisdom

Take Our Next Online Workshop Virtual Team Facilitation

We invite you to check out our next online Virtual Facilitation Masterclass to learn more.

 

Top 5 Reasons to Join an Agile Team Coaching Cohort

There are many ways to learn and deepen your knowledge and skills.  Finding the format that works best for you is key to being able to develop mastery of a craft. 

For Agile Team Coaches there are plenty of learning opportunities available from a variety of organizations. At TeamCatapult we made a choice many years ago to be one of the first Member Training Organizations with the International Consortium of Agile (ICAgile).  The choice included the offer of a facilitation course, and a few years later, an agile team coaching course to help those who wanted to coach and lead teams who were pursuing the art of agility. 

One of the primary reasons we aligned so well with ICAgile was their approach to framework agnostic in learning agility. It aligned well with how we wanted to talk about facilitation and coaching skills in the context of the values and principles of agility –  creating a space to focus on deepened knowledge of human systems dynamics and how teams and groups develop. 

A secondary reason we aligned well with ICAgile was the emphasis placed on learning journeys. 

Learning Agile Facilitation and Coaching

For those unfamiliar, ICAgile has two levels of certifications: 

  • Certified Professional – means that you have acquired knowledge and skills
  • Certified Expert – means that you have demonstrated competency

In the ICAgile Agile Coaching track there are two Professional certifications:

  • Certified Professional: Agile Team Facilitation (ICP-ATF)
  • Certified Professional: Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC)

…which culminates in a final Expert certification:

  • Certified Expert: Agile Coaching (ICE-AC)

The learning objectives for the professional certifications are often covered in 2-3 days of classes. These certifications lay down the basic level of knowledge for agile team coaches.

Then comes application, experience and practice. 

How Do You Learn Best?

We all have different styles and ways of learning. 

There are some, perhaps you, that are social learners, meaning you prefer to learn in groups or with other people. Joining a cohort is a great way to accomplish your next goal of becoming a masterful Agile team coach! 

What is an Agile Team Coaching Cohort? 

The dictionary defines a cohort as “a group of people banded together or treated as a group.” An agile team coaching cohort is a group of agile team coaches who learn and upskill together.

So why would you want to join a cohort? 

We’ve put together the Top 5 reasons to join a cohort, and for good measure, we’ve added one bonus reason. 

Here are The Top 5 Reasons to Join an Agile Team Coaching Cohort

1) Meet Like-Minded Colleagues

We learn so much from our peers. Belonging to a cohort for 7 months will allow you to connect with fellow cohort members on a deep level in many aspects including social and professional, coupled with a mutual understanding of Agile leadership. Cohorts, in a way act like mastermind groups, but with clear leadership and an end goal.

2) People Learn Better In Groups 

The traditional models of learning where an instructor does all the knowledge sharing and talking is not effective. Research shows that community plays an important role in our learning. Cohorts provide rich opportunities to learn from experiences and stories; ours and the others in the cohort.  Plus, feedback can be just as valuable, if not more.

The experiences of others will be different than yours.  Sometimes the difference will help you to clarify and try things that you haven’t, possibly because they are not in your practice model…yet. And then others will share things that inspire you, invite you to step outside your comfort zone and current range. 

3) Get Support

A supportive environment enhances the overall learning experience. Working through a problem or issue alongside someone often shapes the overall outcome to a positive experience. 

“Taking on a challenge of any kind is easier to accomplish if you have a support system—people you can go to for answers to your questions, for advice, as a shoulder to cry on, or encouragement.”

4) Develop Your Skills

Enhancing current skills or developing new skills certainly is the main focus of joining a cohort. However, a secondary and equally important reason to develop new skills as an adult, includes life satisfaction as well as improving and maintaining your mental well-being. What better way to do that than with like-minded, enthusiastic peers who will share this 7-month journey with you?

5) Learn to Work With Live Group Dynamics

In a cohort, you will be in community and relationship with the other members of the group, including your co-leaders. As you learn together you will also be developing relationships that transcend the material. Group dynamics naturally emerge and we will work with what shows up as a way to model the skills you will be using to coach relationships and team dynamics in your work. 

Bonus TIP: Continued Support Long After the Program Ends

Because the format of learning relies on you building relationships with other cohort participants, you will likely build lifelong relationships that will endure beyond the end of the program. This will become a supportive network of colleagues who “have your back” when you need it.

Learn More About Coaching Agility From Within and Apply to Join!

We invite you to our in-depth, 7-month program. 

It is rigorous, placing an emphasis on practice and feedback opportunities through skill drills, peer coaching, team coaching, ongoing group work, professional one-on-one coaching and one-on-one supervision of actual Agile coaching sessions. 

You will have ample opportunity to learn from your peers and bring real-world scenarios to the group for feedback and guidance.

Apply now! 

How Courage Can Create Safety

Research shows that the number one contributor to team effectiveness is psychological safety. According to research by individuals like Amy Edmondson and the Project Aristotle study by Google, this means that it is critical to create a space where team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable in front of each other.

Let All Voices Be Heard!

Leaders (that’s you!) are able to use skills like facilitation and coaching to help create spaces where all voices can be heard and where people feel safe to take risks without fear of retribution. With leadership and guidance, it becomes the collective work of everyone on the team to create a safe space.

While psychological safety is something that we strive for in teams, it’s not something that every team currently has. So I am often asked about what can be done in circumstances where safety is missing. My response is to encourage leaders to take the first step. 

What if our work as leaders is:

  • To be comfortable being uncomfortable?
  • To take risks in service of others?
  • To say what needs to be said, even if it feels scary? 
  • To find our authentic voice in order to help others see what we see?

Name What You See Happening

One of the most powerful things you can do for a team is to name, in a morally neutral way, what you see happening. It might be to simply say, “I’m confused about what direction we are going.” Other examples might include,

  • “I notice that we have been talking about this same topic for three weeks and that we have been unable to come to a decision.” 
  • “I’m not sure what you want me to do; I need help.”
  • “I have things that I would like to contribute, but I wonder if they would be valuable here.”

The Speech Act of Bystand

David Kantor calls this the speech act of “bystand.” It’s a vocal action taken in a conversation to bridge competing ideas or name what’s happening. It can be a powerful speech act for creating a shift in the conversation, but it is often underutilized or inactive in team communication.

Making a bystand is not about advocating for your solution, metaphorically poking someone in the eye, making a judgmental statement, personally attacking, or telling someone what’s “wrong” with their actions. It’s simply about naming what you see or what you are experiencing in a manner that holds no judgment.

When you model the speech act of observing without judgment as a leader, you help create a safe space for your team to join you in moving the conversation forward. Though it might feel uncomfortable at first, it is your demonstration of courage that can be an important first step in cultivating a team culture where diverse voices feel heard and acknowledged.

Here Are Some Reflection Questions To Help You Take Action To Create Safety:

  • Have you had the impulse to say something 3 or more times? I have a general rule about looking for patterns versus reacting in the moment. So notice what’s happening and look for a pattern.
  • What is your intention? Does saying something further your own agenda or is it in service to the teams’ agenda? Both may be valuable, but be clear for yourself about which it is.
  • What’s at risk if you speak up? Sometimes we create fear for ourselves by making up a worse outcome than what really might happen. Be honest with yourself about the answer to this.
  • What’s at risk if you remain silent? This is about looking at the bigger picture. What opportunity might you or this team be missing?

Your Turn!

Where do you need to be courageous today? Someone has to go first.

If not you, then who?

Marsha

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Recent Posts

  • Why We Need to Invest in Behavior Change – Not of Another Tool
  • Why Thinking you Need to Have All the Answers is Counterproductive for your Team
  • How to Welcome Disagreement Within Your Team (and mean it)
  • How to Welcome Team Opposition from a Space of Confidence and Curiosity
  • Why a Difference of Opinion Makes Your Team Much More Effective

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