According to data from Scrum Inc. and the Standish Group’s CHAOS report, decision latency—the average time it takes for a team to make a decision—has a profound impact on a team’s ability to deliver successfully. If decision latency exceeds five hours, the team’s success rate plummets to 18%. However, when decision latency is under one hour, the success rate soars to 58%.

This notable difference underscores the necessity of having direct access to someone who not only understands the business needs but also possesses the authority to make pivotal decisions based on new information.

The fourth principle of the Agile Manifesto states, “Businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project.” This principle is rooted in the belief that continuous collaboration between business stakeholders and development teams is essential for delivering high-quality products that meet customer needs. But what does this principle truly entail, and why is it so crucial?

Definition and Background

In traditional project management, business stakeholders often set requirements at the beginning of the project and then step back, leaving the development team to work in isolation. This separation can lead to misunderstandings, misaligned priorities, and a final product that doesn’t fully meet business needs or customer expectations.

Scrum breaks down these barriers by encouraging regular communication and collaboration. The Product Owner (aka the representative from the Business) and developers engage in daily interactions, ensuring that both sides are continuously aligned on project goals, progress, and any emerging challenges. This frequent engagement helps to quickly address issues, adapt to changes, and ensure that the team is always working on the highest priority tasks.

Cultural Barriers

One of the most significant obstacles to daily collaboration is the existing cultural divide between business and technical teams. In many organizations, business stakeholders and developers operate in silos, leading to a lack of understanding and communication between the two groups. Overcoming this divide requires a deliberate cultural shift towards openness and collaboration.

Strategy: Foster a culture of mutual respect and shared goals. Encourage businesspeople to learn more about the technical aspects of the project, and vice versa. Regular cross-functional training sessions and team-building activities can help bridge the gap. Leadership must champion this cultural change by setting an example and promoting a collaborative mindset.

Time Management

Another common challenge is the time commitment required for daily interactions. Both business stakeholders and developers often have packed schedules, making it difficult to find time for regular collaboration.

Strategy: Implement structured, time-efficient meetings. Daily Scrums, limited to 15 minutes, can be an effective way to keep everyone aligned without significant time investment. Utilize asynchronous communication tools, like Slack or Microsoft Teams, to facilitate ongoing dialogue without the need for constant meetings.

Geographical Dispersion

In today’s globalized world, teams are often distributed across different locations and time zones, complicating daily collaboration.

Strategy: Leverage technology to bridge the geographical gap. Video conferencing tools, collaborative platforms like Jira or Trello, and shared digital workspaces can facilitate seamless communication and collaboration. Schedule meetings at times that are reasonable for all team members, even if it means alternating meeting times to accommodate different time zones.

The Global Manufacturing Company

I recently worked with a global manufacturing company that struggled with missed deadlines. Their culture was built around occasional “all hands-on deck” situations where everyone would work extra hours, including weekends, to ensure deadlines weren’t missed. This approach became so ingrained that managers were promoted and bonused based on their ability to meet deadlines under pressure.

When I started working with them, they had a decent handle on their throughput and delivery. However, as they began to prioritize their backlogs at the team and cross-team levels, a significant issue emerged: their Product Management department, which operated as its own separate entity, simply didn’t have time to participate in the Agile transformation. The reasons for their constant busyness were unclear, but their absence from the process was evident.

As a result, decision latency remained a critical issue. The business side would create detailed product descriptions and pass them to the already overburdened tech team. When these products weren’t delivered quickly enough, Product Management would demand explanations for the delays, further straining the relationship between the teams.

This experience highlighted a crucial lesson: without the active involvement of business stakeholders in daily interactions, decision latency becomes a persistent problem. To truly succeed in Agile, this company needed to integrate their businesspeople and development teams more closely, ensuring that both sides were aligned and working towards common goals.

By addressing these challenges head-on and fostering a culture of collaboration, teams can reduce decision latency, improve communication, and enhance overall project success. In the next section, we will discuss best practices for effective collaboration to further support this cultural transformation.

Takeaway

The fourth Agile Principle, “Businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project,” is fundamental to achieving successful project outcomes. By fostering daily collaboration, teams can significantly reduce decision latency, improve communication, and enhance overall project efficiency. However, implementing this principle requires overcoming several challenges and fostering a cultural transformation within the organization.

Key strategies and best practices for effective collaboration include:

• Regular Connections (Daily Scrum): Short, focused daily meetings to keep the team aligned and address any immediate issues.
• Co-location and Remote Tools: Leveraging technology to facilitate seamless communication across distributed teams.
• Clearly Defined Roles and Responsibilities: Ensuring everyone understands their part in the collaboration process.
• Fostering Open Communication: Creating a psychologically safe environment where team members can share ideas and feedback freely.
• Integrating Business Stakeholders: Actively involving business stakeholders in the development process to maintain alignment and meet business needs.

By adopting these best better practices, teams can create a more cohesive and productive environment where business and technical teams work hand-in-hand to deliver high-quality products. The cultural transformation required to achieve this collaboration is not easy, but it is essential for reducing decision latency and improving project outcomes.

Incorporate these insights into your Agile practices and watch your team’s collaboration and productivity rise. The journey towards seamless collaboration between businesspeople and developers is challenging but immensely rewarding.