Thanks to R. Dempsey on Twitter (@rdempsey), here’s an excerpt from an excellent article from Silver Stripe Blog discussing Agreement #2: the labor exchange agreement:
As much as thirty years ago, Deming listed as Deadly Disease #3 – Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance
This is because performance evaluation kills cooperation, morale and intrinsic motivation. Individual performance appraisal in particular can kill team cooperation. Why should I share knowledge if it would improve other team members appraisals relative to mine?
Structurally, then, we can begin to categorize AgileAgreement types as follows:
- Agreement : Charter
- “Why are we here?”
company commitments [ values, mission, incorporation, Quality standards ]
- Agreement : Labor
- “Who will do the work?”
labor compensation [ W-2, 1099, etc ]
- Agreement : Workflow
- “How is are organizational units bound together to do the work?”
team and business unit working agreements [ workflow agreements, Scrum, Kanban, Lean ]
- Agreement : Partnering
- “How does the organization fit within a business network?”
company/firm partnering compensation agreements [ IP exchange, software development, consulting ]
- Agreement : Financial
- “How does the organization use money?”
financial [ venture capital, insurance, compensation ]
The focus is on commitments that have a significant effect upon a team’s ability to implement Agile principles.
At least in the beginning, there is an intent NOT to categorize agreements with respect to organizational hierarchy or departmental concerns, but rather in such as way that we can identify features of agreements and provisions within agreements (provisions) by impact on an organizations charter (WE’LL REFINE & UPPERCASE THIS CONCEPT LATER!):
- Vision
- Values
- Parties & Roles
- Objectives
- Resources
- Risk
- Strategies
- Methods
- Outcomes
Recently, III remarked that he was not a fan of “scope,” and there is a strong suspicion he’s right. But, we may be able to eke out some meaning, so it is included, –we can always drop it from the list!
Also, you’ll note the inclusion of “Outcomes.” In Agile, we are very concerned with reality and empiricism. Granted, it’s not always possible to get the data we need to support an idea (for example, most IP exchange agreements contain highly proprietary information), but an organization can look at outcomes internally and square them with the public and organizational commitments designed to achieve that outcome.
Lawyers might want to add these aspects to their deal, litigation and contract review checklists.
Just as user stories and persona are used as “invitations to a conversation,” we hope that you will see this blog as a place to discuss the structure of AgileAgreements and contribute when so moved!
4 Posts
Here are 4 Posts on “Agreements : Charter” found recently:
