Insistent, but not always
Knowing when to be insistent is a difficult task for several Delivery Managers.
A lot of people reading this will have swallowed the whole “Servant Leader” spiel as part of their Agile indoctrination and will be aghast to find that there are still times when they must, you know, just tell folk to do stuff.
At the same time, there will be Delivery folk – let’s not call them managers, as that’s not really what they do – who happily bark orders from dawn to dusk. Consistently insistent in their approach.
Consistently insistent sounds like a tongue twister a voice coach might use. You know, “How Now Brown Cow” or “Moses Supposes His Toses Are Roses” *.
And while it might be good for elocution and pronunciation, being consistently insistent just makes you sound like a military leader due his comeuppance in Act Three, of whatever War Film your Delivery or Project is based on.
Delivery Managers can be insistent with clear context. We need you all to turn up to Daily Stand Up. We’d like you to have your camera on in virtual meetings. Don’t bring any new scope into a sprint, once it has started. Sorry, not even I can keep a straight face when typing that last one.
You can also be professionally insistent. As a client I expect you to provide. We need a decision on this based on the clear information we are providing you. Once we have met the Definition of Done, we will complete a sign off process as per the agreement tabled in the Statement of Work.
All good, clean healthy insistence.
The issue is when you stray into the whole – JFDI everything. Sign this now. Finish your story points with no thresholds or assumptions allowed. Do it. Do it. Do it!
Once something slips, isn’t signed – drifts on without recourse - your people will quickly realise that the bark, has no following bite.
So, when should you be insistent?
Here are just some examples – that might not always be relevant, but worth keeping in mind and adapting, to your working practices:
If there is an undue, negative impact on the team or an individual within the team
When the project is likely to be derailed without a decision made
If there is a financial implication to an action or lack of action
Where a decision can result in penalties, or worse, the safety of others
When it changes what has been agreed – and someone is just pushing it forward for ease
Be insistent when you need to hold a line. Be that contractual, scope related or when common decency around the team and your team members applies (Which you might have documented as part of a team charter).
Being consistently insistent just makes you look weak as a leader when nothing happens. Choose your moments and be the leader the team needs – not the Sergeant Major who loses more than just a stripe, when it all goes wrong.
* Yes, I have recently watched the film ‘Singin’ In The Rain’
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