How do you juggle multiple agile teams?

Juggling things is not ideal for Agile world, yet if you have it, here are 3 things you might try: 1. Prioritize communication: Establish regular communication channels and meetings to ensure alignment and coordination across teams. 2. Delegate responsibilities: Empower team leads to manage day-to-day activities while you focus on strategic oversight and support. 3. Standardize practices: Implement consistent agile practices and tools across teams to streamline processes and improve efficiency.

Sharing the vision and goals for your teams is crucial regardless of what are you working for: Program, Portfolio, Product. This allows everyone on the team to clearly see where we are going and understand whether his/her personal objectives are aligned with company goals. When people in a social group want almost the same thing, they can cooperate effectively. Good leaders must take this advantage and build on it.

In most organizations I enter, they do have a vision and goals yet not aligned with everyone. The first thing I do with any client is ask them what is the vision and mission of the organization/ company. Then ask about the associated Goals/ objectives and start from there asking how these goals contribute to the vision and how do they see themselves fitting within the overall business schematic. From there the alignment happens as when you ask anyone down the hierarchy about the vision and goals hardly any one knows or is able to list them. People are aware of how they do their job and what they're doing but don't know why; they know enough just to get them by their performance reviews.

Effectively manage multiple Agile teams by: Prioritizing Work: Clearly define team priorities aligned with organizational goals. Communication: Establish transparent communication channels to keep all teams informed and aligned. Empowering Teams: Encourage autonomy within each team, enabling them to make decisions independently. Cross-Team Collaboration: Foster collaboration between teams, ensuring alignment and shared goals. Iterative Planning: Use Agile planning techniques, like scaled Agile frameworks, to coordinate work across teams. Role Clarity: Clearly define roles and responsibilities within and across teams to avoid confusion. Regular Sync-ups: Conduct regular sync-ups to discuss progress, dependencies, and potential roadblocks.

In an integrated configuration of Agile way of working environment, most important aspect is to have the big picture presented to all the teams, have the strategic theme clarified, what are the business goals and drivers. Once this common goal, vision and alignment across teams are clarified may be Quarter on Quarter/As required, we can expect a smooth collaboration. Currenly for a large banking client, we are following Spotify Eng. Culture. We have cross fleet syncs every month to discuss on major dependecies, seeking help, request for priorities so that the overall integration of work is not impacted. At the end we should find healthy ways of "Right Communication" at all levels ( Teams->Program->Portfolio>Top Management)

Clear roles and responsibilities are vital for managing multiple agile teams effectively. They prevent confusion, encourage accountability, and optimize efficiency by leveraging individual strengths. In the dynamic world of agile development, well-defined roles are essential for navigating shifting priorities and ensuring seamless collaboration among teams.

Despite this, the Agile Manifesto states “Individuals and corporations are more important than processes and tools”, systems with several agile teams win when they have well-defined processes with distinct constraints. "Over" doesn't mean "instead", and when you have deal with several teams it will be better to define complex processes as a flow (e.g. UML flowcharts or BPMN notation) and describe roles using Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) (e.g RACI or DACI)

Do NOT do this. Defining the domain of each team is great and very effective at building expertise. Trying to create a RACI or similar definition of roles within the agile team does not encourage cross skill building, collaboration across the teams. The teams should define their own ways of working with each other based on their skills, guided and helped by coaches and others to be able to deliver value to the government.

A mature agile team doesn't need RACI. They need a properly defined goal. It's a team play and they align themselves according to the goal.

Juggling multiple Agile teams requires strong leadership, organizational skills, and a focus on communication. This is where many Agile leaders struggle when they don't define clear roles & responsibilities Clearly define expectations for collaboration, communication, and information sharing between teams. Have regular Scrum of Scrum or coach sync meetings with team leaders to discuss progress, identify dependencies, and address any roadblocks. Use a central communication platform (like a MS teams ) to facilitate information sharing and collaboration across teams. Establish a prioritization framework to help teams prioritize tasks and features within the context of the overall program goals.

One of the good examples is the Community of Practice (CoPs) from Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). It's an organized group of people with a common interest in a specific business or technical area. If you have several people in your organization who share the same professional interests but work in different teams or departments, you can bring them together. Moderate the first several meetings: encourage collaboration and interaction. If done correctly, you will see that this community can exist on its own and become a source of improvement.

While tools like OKRs and VSMs are valuable for visualising goals and value streams, fostering open communication channels across teams is equally important. This can involve regular cross-team meetings, shared communication platforms, and liaisons or Scrum of Scrums meetings to address dependencies and impediments. This encourages a culture where teams learn from each other and collaborate on solving common problems can be more effective than just focusing on tools and methodologies. This includes sharing best practices, lessons learned, and success stories across teams.

Facilitate regular collaboration sessions between teams to share insights, challenges, and best practices. Utilize collaborative tools and establish communication channels to encourage the exchange of information. Cross-team collaboration enhances synergy, reduces duplication of efforts, and promotes a culture of shared learning.

Managing multiple agile teams isn't a circus act. It's about setting a clear, overarching vision and then getting out of the way. Use Scrum of Scrums, Communities of Practice, whatever – but the real trick is in fostering a self-sustaining ecosystem where teams naturally align, communicate, and innovate. Reward those who bridge gaps, not just those who excel in their silos.

Use SAFe and other scaling methods. Keeping multiple agile teams moving smoothly is like conducting an orchestra – everyone has their part to play, but they gotta be in sync! Encouraging cross-team collaboration is like building bridges. Organize regular knowledge-sharing sessions, or create channels for teams to connect and ask each other questions. By helping teams work together, you'll avoid silos and ensure everyone's on the same page, creating a symphony of agile awesomeness!

Don't forget to encourage others to be a leader. If you lead several teams with tens and hundreds of people, you will not have enough time to pay much attention to everyone. So encourage the autonomy and leadership potential of your teammates, and they will stand side by side with you in achieving your team goals.

Recognize that different teams may require different leadership approaches based on their unique dynamics and needs. Be adaptable in your leadership style, shifting between hands-on guidance and providing autonomy as needed. Tailor your approach to each team's maturity, composition, and specific challenges.

It's straightforward: tailor your leadership to each team's unique vibe. One-size-fits-all leadership won't cut it. Be flexible, tune into each team's maturity and needs. Use tools like the Situational Leadership Model, but don't rely on them blindly. The real trick? Listen to your teams, adapt, and keep your ego in check.

Leadership is all about influence and trust. Agile leadership is no different. Leading multiple teams is part of an agile leadership role and as a leader you need to adapt to leadership style to the culture of each team as each team will be at different levels and stages of their agile transformation journey. You may need to wear different hats (coach, mentor, teacher, consultant) with different teams. Whichever style you adapt, you need to root it to the agile values and principals

Each team may have different dynamics, strengths, and challenges, requiring a flexible approach to leadership. Being able to switch from a directive to a supportive role, or from a coaching to a delegating style, depending on the team's maturity and specific needs, can significantly enhance team performance and cohesion. This adaptability in leadership helps to foster an environment where teams feel supported and empowered to navigate their Agile journey effectively.

Shared vision and goals, team and process structure, encouraging self-organization, and constant learning are crucial factors in effectively organizing multiple agile teams around one strategic goal.

Don't. Empower the teams. Allow them to identify and remove dependencies. Provide an environment where they can raise impediments and assist in removing them.

Juggling multiple agile teams requires a thoughtful and well-structured approach. It's essential to balance the autonomy of individual teams with the need for overall alignment and coordination to ensure that all teams work together effectively to achieve the organization's goals Regular Coordination Meetings: Schedule regular meetings for cross-team coordination, such as Scrum of Scrums or program increment (PI) planning sessions. These meetings allow teams to share updates, dependencies, and potential roadblocks.

The juggle between multiple Agile teams can be challenging. A few practices can help here. 1) Prioritize your tasks and activities across all teams based on their importance and urgency. 2) Delegate tasks and responsibilities to team members and empower them to make decisions whenever possible. 3) Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing between teams to prevent silos and duplication of effort. 4) Be flexible and prepared to adjust your plans and priorities as needed based on changing circumstances, emergent issues, or new information.

Before everything else, I believe assessing the teams' experience with Agile and related ways of working is of primary importance. Based on that assessment, one can devise the approach to collaborate with these teams. Additionally, every team is different and may need more/less involvement. This structure may help in handling multiple teams.