Mistakes in creation of an AGILE Team

To create a highly productive Agile Team which is focused on a fast delivery, to get things done efficiently, you have to compose a project Team properly.

Mind the three common mistakes made at the beginning in creation of an AGILE Team (based on Hackman's study):

1. The assumption that similar people to each other will get along better.
   Hiring similar personalities and set of skills in fact creates too homogeneous Teams.
   
   
2. Pay too little attention to the interpersonal skills which help people to work as a group.
   A majority of managers focus on a technical expertise when do they create Agile Teams, they think only about task-related knowledge and skills which is critical to ensure a delivery. However, relying only on a Scrum Master experience may hugely impact a Team productivity. It is also good to think in advance about an interpersonal aspect.
   
   
3. The assumption that "the more the better" and therefore put too many people on a Team.
   The Hackman's study shows that the most efficient and productive Team size is around 5 people, to be precise 4 or 5. It is related to our capabilities, communication channels and emotional involvement as human beings in a complex engineering project.
   The Scrum framework has proven that concept of 3 to 9 people working on a Development Team. However, there is no point of forming 9 people Team when 5 might be sufficient, just to secure activities in the future. It is better to exclude certain skills from a Development Team rather than build an overhead. Do not be afraid that people will struggle later or they will have to work externally with a different SME, take that risk in favour of reduced communication channels and higher involvement. LESS sometimes means MORE.

Inspired by J. Richard Hackman