Agile Structures and Resourcing

Agile structure  is a framework used to arrange the various elements of a team working on agile project.These elements include the project activities, workflows, and team roles. The structure is essentially a foundational model to help guide Agile teams in their work and organize their operating procedures. This flexible framework is favored by Agile project managers because they can use it to guide their teams through various projects. Each time a team member leaves or joins, they can revert to the forming stage and start all over again. This level of team structure is vital for scalling agile teams. A good team structure creates clarity, so everyone knows what their responsibilities are. The added layer of Agile ensures that the team is flexible and can respond quickly and effectively to changes. The aforementioned lack of hierarchy distinguishes the Agile team structure from a traditional one. In this traditional environment, a manager will delegate tasks and dictate how they should be completed. While this structure may work for larger organizations, it is not advisable for Agile teams. Traditional methods of working can often involve waterfall-driven processes with one department completing their part of the project before handing off to the next function to work through theirs. A product development process, for example, may involve designers passing an initial look and feature set to the engineers (who find ways to make it actually work), and then on to manufacturing (who work out how to produce it), and then sales and marketing (who decide how to sell it).

The type of structure followed by an Agile team will depend on a number of factors, including cost, available resources, and the type of project. There is no optimal structure — different frameworks work for different teams, and each option will have its own advantages and disadvantages. In a digital transformation process there are key dynamics that will inevi- tably see a continually evolving balance.

Generalist

As the name suggests, a generalist structure is one where each team member has a general understanding of a wide variety of topics without delving too deeply into any particular one. In simple terms, a generalist is a “Jack of all trades” — they know a little about a lot of things. Because of their versatility, they can work on a number of diverse tasks and switch easily with their colleagues. This Agile structure is typically seen in smaller teams and works well in the sales industry, where professionals can use their base knowledge to sell across many different company sectors. generalist roles that can bring diverse specialist expertise together and marshal that capability towards achieving a shared goal. Similarly, the dynamic between what resource is held at the centre and that which serves more localized needs or discrete divisions and audiences is continually changing. for example, requires increasing levels of technical and functional specialization. We need deep, vertical expertise in key areas to optimize specific capability.

Specialist

The opposite of a generalist, a specialist is someone with a specific area of expertise. In a specialist team structure, everyone has a different niche and is responsible for the tasks that fall under their domain. These “gurus” are highly valuable to a team as they can offer detailed insights into complex areas, leading to better-quality products. This structure is more common in a larger Agile team, where there are enough people to cover every specific knowledge area. Examples of specialists include programmers, database administrators, product developers, and agile practitioners. Harvard professor and specialist in team dynamics Richard Hackman has shown the challenges inherent in attempting to accel- erate pace using large teams, the issues not only relating to the size of the team itself, but the number of links between people and the growing burden of communication.

Reference

Chapter 11 from Book Building the Agile Business Through Digital Transformation. Neil Perkin and Peter Abraham, 2021