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Expectations & Responsibilities alignment

I like to run this exercise when starting with a new team. I have done it several times and always got positive feedback from the team. 

I am curious about how they perceive their roles and responsibilities. This helps me to see where they are in understanding of Scrum roles and whether there is an overlap or misunderstandings.

Firstly I align with the Product Owner. He is my ally and the first source of the team’s dynamic. By alignment, I mean to explain my intention and what I want as an output. I listen to the Product Owner and include his ideas.  

I prepare the MIRO board and schedule a meeting for 90 minutes. This always depends on the size of a team. To have a buffer I reserve 15 minutes to wrap up the discussion and double-check outputs from the team.

As you can see above, the board is split based on role. At the end of the exercise, we will have a nice matrix of roles and responsibilities filled out and clarified by the team.

Instructions:  

1.) “Think about each role in the matrix. What do you expect from these roles? What do you think are their responsibilities? Write it down, one item per sticky.” 

Each participant prepares stickies for each role, his/her included. I set a timer for 10 minutes. Before time is up I double-check who needs more time. 

2.) One person at a time, place your sticky in a row of your role and in the column of the role you are addressing to. Read it out loud and clarify, if needed. Stickies left in the matrix are considered a common agreement and acceptance of the role and its responsibilities. 

For instance, the first who speaks is the Product Owner. So he places his stickies next and under his role. You can see here two aspects. First, the Product Owner presents what he thinks is his role and responsibilities. Second, the team have the opportunity to react and clarify their understanding of the Product Owner’s role and responsibilities. 

When all participants spoke, all questions were clarified and no objections raised, I wrap up the session with a message that now we know what we expect from each other and we all agree to fulfil these expectations. 

I usually do this exercise again after some time to check, whether all expectations are still met. It also helps when a new team member joins the team so I can easily introduce how the team works and what is expected from the new team member. 

 

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