176: Reputation over Positional Power

Reputation over power to establish Agile team structures and how to manage time for meetings

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Unrelated: Time Management in Meetings

To make meetings more effective, assigning someone to manage the structure, flow, and output of every meeting is essential. Two key roles are the facilitator and the scribe. The facilitator ensures the meeting stays on track and follows the agreed-upon format and ground rules. If the meeting starts to stray into unrelated topics, it's vital to intervene and bring the focus back to the main agenda.

Let's kick off our meetings with a check-in process. It's important to connect on a personal level. We value everyone's input and encourage open communication. We'll ask a simple question such as "What's on your mind?" We'll also have rounds where everyone can speak and take part. Instead of pre-planning an agenda, we'll build it together during the meeting to focus on what's important. There are two ways to manage meeting time. The first is to assign a limited number of hours to each manager and ensure they stay within this budget. It is important to remember that the most valuable resource in any company is the time of individual contributors. Unfortunately, many companies focus on the time of managers over workers. If you spend all your time in meetings and replying to emails, you'll have little opportunity to think and lead. Making time for thinking and creativity is crucial as your schedule gets busier. Plan your day the night before to focus on essential tasks and deprioritize meetings that add little value. Without clear goals, you'll be busy but unproductive.

Off Topic: Reputation over Positional Power

Focus on the input of teams that interact with the market rather than those at the organization's center. For Agile teams to deliver valuable software, they must trust programmers to make decisions and give them autonomy in their work. Clear communication of project goals and objectives is needed. Agile teams should review the project's progress, reflect on the decisions made by the programmers, and adjust.

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