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Real Cross-functional Teams for Creating Better Products
At the core of agile development are self-organizing cross-functional teams. Yet, too many products are developed that serve only one kind of client. The reason is that the composition of the teams leads (subconsciously) to the development of products that serve only people who resemble the people in the team. Thus, it is essential to find a way for combining different perspectives from business, markets, cultures, beliefs etc. in your team to overcome not only the limitations of organizational silos but also of a singular view on the market.
Target Audience: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Team member, Leader, Manager, Decision Makers, Coach, Consultant, ...
Prerequisites:none
Level: Practicing
Extended Abstract:
All too often cross-functional teams are understood as e.g. backend & front-end developers working together. Yet, if teams are really cross-functional and are resembling the diversity of the market, the products they’re creating are also better for everyone. This will help to avoid failed products such as the “famous” example of the soap dispenser that only works if your hands are white.
With this real cross-functionality the team can completely understand the product’s purpose, and increasing both the user experience as well as the accessibility for everyone. Thus, if the whole team has the business expertise, knows the market, and especially is aware of the full diversity of the clients, then it can even disrupt the market. Therefore, real cross-functional teams are an essential building block for implementing company-wide agility and the organization benefits not only by offering better products but also by having more options when entering the war of talent.
Jutta Eckstein works as an independent coach, consultant, and trainer. She has recently co-created an assessment for (agile) teams to gauge the environmental, social, and economic impact of their products and services. Besides that, she has published her experience in various books, having pair-written the most recent one with John Buck on Company-wide Agility with Beyond Budgeting, Open Space & Sociocracy (dubbed BOSSA nova).
Jutta has served the board of the Agile Alliance (from 2003-2007) and has recently founded the “Agile Sustainability Initiative” which aims at increasing the awareness of the Agile community’s possibilities to make a difference. She’s a member of the program committee of many different American, Asian, and European conferences, where she has presented her work. She holds an M.A. in Business Coaching & Change Management, a Dipl.Eng. (MSc.) in Product-Engineering, and is trained as a pollution control commissioner on ecological environmentalism.
Product Manager
Maryse Meinen is a product manager, working in IT infrastructure, together with an awesome team. She is weaving sustainability in all that she does, also in her work in product development, because if we don’t… nothing else will matter. Looking for ways to develop products more sustainably (in the whole value chain) the radical economic theory of Degrowth and the idea of “doing more with less” caught her attention. She is now applying these principles practically in her way of working. Maryse is also an active practitioner of Stoic philosophy, which aligns neatly with sustainability principles, because it advocates “wanting what you already have” (instead of striving to have all that you want).
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