Victor Fateh

How I build teams

This is the short version of my talk on building teams that actually deliver.
How we work changes over time, the core principles do not.

Invert the pyramid

The team makes the calls. Leadership makes the goal clear and sorts out whatever’s stopping them. If every decision needs my approval, I’m the bottleneck.

Give people challenging work and room to grow.

McGregor on Theory Y · Maslow on motivation · Sutherland & Jordaan · Muñoz Pérez & Irún Molina

An organisation built to support its teamAn inverted pyramid places teams at the broad top, managers beneath, and leadership at the base. Support flows upwards.TeamsManagersLeadershipSupport & context

Context is critical

A ticket can be a keyhole view of the work. Everyone sees a small part and fills in the rest themselves.

Show the whole picture. Who’s this for, what are we trying to change, and what’s getting in the way?

Drucker on shared goals · Scrum Guide on transparency · Dale on learning through experience

From an isolated task to shared contextOne isolated task becomes a decision connected to the customer, their problem, the goal, and constraints.TaskDecisionCustomerProblemGoalConstraints

Shared understanding of scope

We don’t have scope until we have a shared understanding of scope.

Problem:
What are we solving?
Boundaries:
What’s included and excluded?
Done:
What has to be true before we call it finished?

Agree on all three with the people building it. Take turns, ask before telling, and give people time to think.

Scrum Guide on planning & Definition of Done · Woolley and colleagues · Seagal & Horne

Scope lives in shared understandingThree overlapping circles represent agreement on the problem, the boundaries, and what finished looks like. The green centre marks shared scope.ProblemBoundariesDoneShared scope

Understand cognitive bias

Bias shapes which evidence we notice and what we dismiss. Past experience, money already spent and who’s in the room can all influence the call.

Ask what would change our minds. Would we make the same call if we were starting today?

50 cognitive biases

Questions that check our assumptionsThree examples pair a biased assumption with a question. Confirmation bias: evidence backs our idea, so what says we’re wrong? Sunk cost: we’ve spent a lot, so is it worth starting today? Authority bias: the boss likes it, so what does the evidence say?The assumptionThe questionConfirmation biasIt backs our idea.What sayswe’re wrong?Sunk costWe’ve spent a lot.Worth startingtoday?Authority biasThe boss likes it.What does theevidence say?

Estimates are estimates

The people doing the work own the sizing, that’s it. Before arguing about hours or points, ask who needs the number and what decision it helps them make.

We’re all too good at imagining everything going to plan. Look at what similar work actually took, split up the big stuff, and leave room for what we don’t know.

Buehler, Griffin & Ross on the planning fallacy · Scrum Guide on sizing

Uncertainty widens with the planning horizonAn illustrative range is narrow for work nearby and grows wider further into the future. It represents uncertainty, not measured data.NearFurther outPossible outcomes
A sketch of planning uncertainty.

Inspect and adapt

Pick a goal, deliver something people can use, then look at what happened. Keep releases small so customers get value sooner and we can change direction quickly.

The team runs the process, including the meetings. If we keep finding the same problem, we probably haven’t changed anything.

The original agile principles · Scrum Guide on reviews & retros

Plan, deliver, learn, adapt, repeatA continuous loop connects planning, delivery, learning, and adaptation, with customer value at its centre.PlanDeliverLearnAdaptValue

Summary

My sources

Here's where I got my ideas from. No single person has all the answers, including me.