Lisa Cooney

Here my advice would be to use AI to help you analyze your processes to find efficiencies. Agile and Scrum are NOT processes. They are entire philosophies about how people work together; processes vary radically from organization to organization, and there is not one single best way. Using a tool like an AI agent can help you cut down on redundancies, identify shortcuts and ease workflows.

If roles are muddled, it can mean that the larger organization has failed to define roles clearly, or it could mean that individuals are not aware of their own and others' roles. It is sometimes that case that leaders at the team level have the power to define roles, but have not done so. It is important to diagnose who has the power to define the roles - the organizational leadership? Team leadership? Team members themselves? Without clarity on who has the power to define roles, then people end up with conflicting or overlapping role definitions, and find themselves in pointless debates about who gets to decide who does what, instead of a more productive discussion about how to get all the work done.

Be aware that highly sensitive issues can be very difficult to discuss in a group. Depending on how serious things have gotten, you might want to start with a series of 1:1 meetings with individuals, offering them the psychological safety needed for them to be honest and feel comfortable sharing. Gradually expand your conversations to include 3 people or more, and get the whole group together if and when they are ready for it. While it is important that every voice is heard, this doesn't always have to happen at the same time and all together. Jumping too quickly to a large-group discussion, assuming people will be open and honest, can backfire when people who are either very introverted, or very upset, do not speak up.

Identifying issues is NOT the same as diagnosing a problem. An issue is: we are duplicating effort. A diagnosis is: we lack job role clarity. In other words, issues are symptoms of an underlying problem, or commonly multiple problems. When we jump to conclusions about the causes, we switch into "solving" mode too quickly, and risk missing out on uncovering what is really going on. We solve for the one problem we think is at the root of the problem, and do not notice any others. To avoid this, you need to both identify the issues going on, and gently and openly work to discover the variety of possible problems that cause them. Over time, work out solutions to these problems, and keep track of whether or not the issues go away.

This one seems so basic and painfully obvious, yet many organizations ignore it. The AI language here is pretty awkward (what does AI know about being comfortable in a workspace?!) but the concept is a good one - give people the tools they need to get the job done.

Why are we doing this? Who benefits if we do a good job? Where are we heading with this - what is our North Star? How does the work of this team relate to the mission of our larger group, or the organization's? Whatever method you choose to get and articulate answers, teams need them in order to succeed. Otherwise, they are nothing more than a group of folks trying to get some stuff done.