Comments on: Agility and Effective Communication http://blog.technoetic.com/2006/09/11/effective-communication/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:33:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: Steve Bate http://blog.technoetic.com/2006/09/11/effective-communication/#comment-493 Mon, 11 Sep 2006 20:01:40 +0000 http://blog.technoetic.com/2006/09/11/effective-communication/#comment-493 Hello Mishkin, It's clear we're more in agreement than disagreement here, but I think there are still some minor differences in our perspectives. I don't believe that a team should prefer one mode of communication over another, independent of context. A typical team uses several or many different modes of communication for different purposes and with different groups of individuals. Face-to-face collocated communication is just one mode of communication and it's not always the most effective one. What if we minimized assumptions, axioms and preferences (I know they can never be eliminated), amplify learning as you suggest, and increased awareness of context so we could discover the most effective tools to achieve our goals in a given situation. I believe this could lead to more empowerment by providing informed choices to the team and can eliminate waste through increased awareness of context, goals and results. Again, I think our views are very close on this topic. Regards, Steve Hello Mishkin,

It’s clear we’re more in agreement than disagreement here, but I think there are still some minor differences in our perspectives. I don’t believe that a team should prefer one mode of communication over another, independent of context. A typical team uses several or many different modes of communication for different purposes and with different groups of individuals. Face-to-face collocated communication is just one mode of communication and it’s not always the most effective one. What if we minimized assumptions, axioms and preferences (I know they can never be eliminated), amplify learning as you suggest, and increased awareness of context so we could discover the most effective tools to achieve our goals in a given situation. I believe this could lead to more empowerment by providing informed choices to the team and can eliminate waste through increased awareness of context, goals and results. Again, I think our views are very close on this topic.

Regards,

Steve

]]> by: Mishkin Berteig http://blog.technoetic.com/2006/09/11/effective-communication/#comment-492 Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:11:50 +0000 http://blog.technoetic.com/2006/09/11/effective-communication/#comment-492 Steve, This is an excellent point and it is one of the reasons that whenever I do training or coaching, I emphasize that all of this "agile" stuff rests on some basic assumptions and disciplines that must guide everything else. Just because I've listed these things as core practices, doesn't mean that every agile team in every circumstance uses them exactly the same (whatever that means). Far from it. Everyone on the team needs to remember what I call the Agile Axioms: We are Creators Reality is Percieved Change is Natural And everyone should be aspiring to perfect these disciplines: Empower the Team Amplify Learning Eliminate Waste All the practices, processes, tools, etc. are just results of these axioms and disciplines. How the practices are used in a specific circumstance must take these into account. This is true about modes of communication. The point is: Communicate Powerfully. All those dichotomous examples of communication modes are simply to demonstrate that the team should "prefer" them, not use them exclusively or robotically. The human adaptable element must be there too. Steve,

This is an excellent point and it is one of the reasons that whenever I do training or coaching, I emphasize that all of this “agile” stuff rests on some basic assumptions and disciplines that must guide everything else. Just because I’ve listed these things as core practices, doesn’t mean that every agile team in every circumstance uses them exactly the same (whatever that means).

Far from it. Everyone on the team needs to remember what I call the Agile Axioms:
We are Creators
Reality is Percieved
Change is Natural

And everyone should be aspiring to perfect these disciplines:
Empower the Team
Amplify Learning
Eliminate Waste

All the practices, processes, tools, etc. are just results of these axioms and disciplines. How the practices are used in a specific circumstance must take these into account.

This is true about modes of communication. The point is: Communicate Powerfully. All those dichotomous examples of communication modes are simply to demonstrate that the team should “prefer” them, not use them exclusively or robotically. The human adaptable element must be there too.

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