The standard for project management

C

ASE

Since core team members developing this practice guide cannot dedicate 100% of their 

capacity to the team’s efforts, their throughput is substantially lower than what it might be 

if they could afford to collocate and invest their attention full-time to the project. However, 

while it is economically viable to collaborate, even if dispersed and operating at a fraction of 

their full capacity, it is not feasible to colocate and focus at full capacity. Therefore, the team 

identified their dispersion as a potential risk. The team tracks and monitors the progress of 

their work through the use of collaborative tools and adjusts assignments based on individual 

capacity accordingly.

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Section 4

4.3.6 TEAM WORKSPACES

Teams need a space in which they can work together, to understand their state as a team, and to collaborate. Some 

agile teams all work in one room together. Some teams have a team workspace for their standups and charts, and work 

on their own in cubicles or offices.

While companies are moving toward open, collaborative work environments, organizations also need to create quiet 

spaces for workers who need uninterrupted time to think and work. Therefore, companies are designing their offices to 

balance common and social areas (sometimes called “caves and common”) with quiet areas or private spaces where 

individuals can work without being interrupted.

When teams have geographically distributed members, the team decides how much of their workplace is virtual and 

how much is physical. Technology such as document sharing, video conferencing, and other virtual collaboration tools 

help people collaborate remotely.

Geographically distributed teams need virtual workspaces. In addition, consider getting the team together in person 

at regular intervals so the team can build trust and learn how to work together.

Some techniques to consider for managing communication in dispersed teams are 

fishbowl windows

 and 

remote pairing

:

u

u

Create a fishbowl window by setting up long-lived video conferencing links between the various locations in 

which the team is dispersed. People start the link at the beginning of a workday, and close it at the end. In 

this way, people can see and engage spontaneously with each other, reducing the collaboration lag otherwise 

inherent in the geographical separation.

u

u

Set up remote pairing by using virtual conferencing tools to share screens, including voice and video links. As 

long as the time zone differences are accounted for, this may prove almost as effective as face-to-face pairing.

TIP

Form teams by bringing people with different skills from different functions together. Educate managers 

and leaders about the agile mindset and engage them early in the agile transformation.

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4.3.7 OVERCOMING ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS

The best place to start when forming agile teams is by building a foundational trust and a safe work environment to 

ensure that all team members have an equal voice and can be heard and considered. This, along with building the agile 

mindset is the underlying success factor—all other challenges and risks can be mitigated.

Often, siloed organizations create impediments for forming cross-functional agile teams. The team members 

needed to build the cross-functional teams typically report to different managers and have different metrics by which 

managers measure their performance. Managers need to focus on flow efficiency (and team-based metrics) rather 

than resource efficiency.

To overcome organizational silos, work with the various managers of these team members and have them dedicate the 

necessary individuals to the cross-functional team. This not only creates team synergy but also allows the organization 

to see how leveraging its people will optimize the project or product being built.

For more information about teams see Appendix X2 on Attributes that Influence Tailoring.

TIP

As an agile project leader, first focus on how you can create a team that is cross-functional and 100% 

dedicated to one team. Even if it means just getting key team members, such as the developers and testers, 

to work and communicate together on a daily basis, that is a step in the right direction toward agility.

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