A team’s ability to deliver value to its user rests in leveraging the sum of the whole.
One of the key focus points for Engineering Leaders is to manage the flow of communication within a team, and between a team and its stakeholders. Online communication leaves a hidden trail of interaction, often overlooked when residing deep in the tools a team works with.
By measuring online interactions, a leader can better support healthy communication practices with immediate impact on the value they deliver.
Timeliness and customer involvement are two important measures of communication and collaboration for Engineering Leaders to foster.
Timeliness
Timely communication (both within a team, and between a team and its stakeholders) allows a team to move faster.
In the highlighted case, Umano identifies a disconnection between how teams communicate internally and with their stakeholders. We see stakeholders prioritising timely interactions with engineering teams, in contrast to the untimely responses of the engineering teams they interact with. Not a great practice for a company ‘obsessed’ by serving its customers.
Customer involvement
Continuous engagement with stakeholders is key to a successful agile delivery process.
In this customer example, we spot a missed opportunity to involve stakeholders in the implementation and maintenance stages of delivery. Including stakeholders throughout the entire process is an easy way of creating deeper engagement and inclusion, directly improving the value of what’s being delivered.
By creating an initial baseline that measures where teams are at, Engineering Leaders and their teams track progress over time and support their continuous improvement journey.
Creating stronger relations between teams and stakeholders directly impacts a company’s culture and building a shared sense of success.
This is post is part of Umano’s 2019 case study “Software Delivery Drivers”. To get a copy of the full case study complete the form below and we will email a copy to you.