Skills Over Job Titles

Oct 12

Sometimes I wish that job titles could be eliminated when teams start using scrum. No more backend developers, frontend developers, UX designers, business analysts, QA testers, and certainly no leads of anything--they are all product developers. Each team member is a person with certain skills. Cross-functional teams are composed of people who have the skills needed to develop the product.

Don't think about what roles are needed on a team--think about what skills are needed. Focus on the people. Otherwise it's too easy to created bloated teams because each role appears to be needed.

team

Allison Pollard

Allison Pollard helps overwhelmed technical leaders debug their management approach. She teaches them how to manage up, support people through change, and make time for strategic work. Her education in computer science, mathematics, and English from Southern Methodist University helps her connect technical work with people management. As a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Allison focuses on improving product delivery and leadership culture. Her experience includes work in energy, retail, financial, real estate, and transportation industries. Allison regularly speaks at global conferences like Scrum Gatherings and Agile Alliance's Agile20xx. She promotes women's leadership as the program director for Women in Agile's Mentorship program. When she's not working, Allison likes to drink lattes and listen to Broadway musicals. Allison is a proud glasses wearer and co-owner of Middlegame Partners.

http://www.allisonpollard.com

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