you don't have all the answers: so stop giving advice and start asking questions

BT11 ConcurrentSession11/12/153:00pm

“You Don't Have All the Answers: So Stop Giving Advice and Start Asking Questions”

Presented by:

Judith Mills

Judith Mills LLC

Broughttoyouby:

340CorporateWay,Suite300,OrangePark,FL32073888-268-8770·904-278-0524·[email protected]·www.techwell.com

Judith Mills Judith Mills LLC

Judith Mills is interested in people. Rising through the ranks from software engineer to VP Development at a global software company, Judith is equally comfortable talking with teams about building great applications as she is working on organizational strategy in the boardroom. Her interest in people and her desire to create great work environments where people can thrive and do their best drive her to continually learn more and seek new opportunities to effect change. Judith has worked with leadership teams and implemented Scrum and kanban for hundreds of teams on three continents.

Judith Mills Consulting Transform Your Environment www.judithmillsconsulting.com

Copyright (c) 2015 Judith Mills LLC @judithmills linkedin.com/in/judithmillsconsulting

When%NOT%to%Have%All%the%Answers%

Stop%Giving%Advice%and%Start%Asking%Questions%



Introduction%

�  30%years%in%the%software%industry%�  14%years%as%an%executive%�  9+%years%as%a%coach%practicing%Agile%�  Ran%many%departments%–%Development,%

Support,%Customer%Services,%IS%�  Worked%with%On%Premise%software%and%

SAAS%for%many%product%lines%–%Healthcare,%Insurance,%CRM,%ERP,%Factory%Floor,%SCM,%HRM,%Customer%Complaint%Management,,%Customer%Feedback,%Call%Center%Quality%Monitoring,%Desktop%Automation%&%Monitoring%



Addicted%to%Advice%

When%I%was%at...%

You%know%the%best%way…%

I’ve%seen%this%before…%

There’s%really%only%one%way%to%successfully…%I%ran%this%

project%at….% The%easiest%

solution...%Been%there…Seen%that…%

Oh%that%one’s%easily%fixed…%I’ve%got%the%

perfect%answer%for…%

Let%me%tell%you%about%a%situation%I%fixed%with…% I%had%a%friend%with%a%

problem%just%like%that…%Well%I’ll%just%deal%with%

that...%



Lay%Blame%

Justify%

Shame%

Obligation%

Responsibility,

______________________,

Coping%%methods%NO%Learning%occurs%

Quit%

Denial%

____________________________,



Questions%Empower%





Teams%of%THREE%�  Role%1%–Mentor%

Stay%in%Power%cycle%

�  Role%2%–%Mentee%

Stay%in%Control%Cycle%

�  Role%3%–%Observer%

Stop%the%game%if%either%falls%out%of%their%cycle%

%

%

%

%

%

a.  Team%not%closing%stories%until%last%day%of%sprint%

b.  I%can’t%get%the%team%to%even%try%pair%programming%

c.  We%have%too%many%stories%open%at%once%

Choose%a%Scenario%

Role%Play%



Transferring%Ownership%

4RENT%

MY%1CAR%



Technical%Management%









Recognizing%Opportunities%to%ask%Questions%

I%need%some%help…%

I%swapped%Scrum%

Masters%on%that%team.%

How%do%you%think%we%

should%deal%with%this?%

We%had%to%stop%the%sprints%to%deal%with%some%critical%bugs.%

How%would%you…?% HR%won’t%let%

me%do%that.%

I%don’t%have%the%authority%

It’s%hard%to%guess%what%she%wants,%you%just%can’t%get%her%to%speak%up.%

Tell%me%how%to…%

We%weren’t%getting%anything%out%of%the%retrospectives%so%I’ve%

cancelled%them.% I%just%can’t%get%him%to%turn%up%for%the%

meetings%on%time.%

I%need%your%advice%



Recognizing%

Opportunities%to%ask%

Questions%

Recognizing%Opportunities%to%ask%Questions%



When%not%to%ask%a%question%

We%did%it!%

Can%you%fill%your%time%sheets%in?%




So%what%would%you%do%

differently%next%time?%

So%do%you%think%that%could%have%gone%better?%

I%am%such%a%loser%






Thanks!%



Sprint%Board%

Ready To Do Done In Progress To Accept

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you don't have all the answers: so stop giving advice and start asking questions

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