Richard Sheridan (Cofounder and CEO, Menlo Innovations) wrote Joy Inc to share insight into all XP practices that worked for his Org. Here he shares how estimations, show and tells, all contribute to accountability and eventually, working outcomes.
At Menlo, we believe that in order for accountability to produce the desired results, it must be circular.
Take estimations. In a trusted system, I can ask the team to share bad news as soon as they know it. Estimate has integrity. Estimate is honest. However, it is just an estimate, a guess based on the information we had at the time.
If there is no trusted system, they would pad their estimates. Team may start lying about actually being done, and then quality would start to go down the drain. Suddenly, we’d have all kinds of support problems and a demoralized team where no one trusts anyone.
Humans have a good instinct for fairness and will rebel, often silently, when their fairness meter detects unethical imbalance. Without trust and commitment all around the accountability table, accountability doesn’t produce results.
Having removed fear from estimation, the team estimates more aggressively. Knowing they are working toward a goal they set for themselves, a pair of workers will push to hit their own estimate. The client will actually get more work done in less time, as long as they are willing to acknowledge that, sometimes, an estimate will be wrong. Add to this that quality will not be compromised, and you now have the results most teams can only dream about.
Predictable Structures Hold Everyone Accountable
Our strongest mechanism for accountability is our story card driven 5 day iterative cycle. All client work is done within this cycle. No exception. Ever. It would actually take us more time not to use our process. At Menlo, we are all held accountable to our process. We believe in that process. We know it produces quality results.
Showcasing your Work is Accountability in Action
Greatest benefit of our weekly Show & Tell is that it allows us to walk through each completed story card with our client, itself a performance of accountability. S&Ts create a powerful feedback loop between the conceptual process of planning and the practical output of our work. This is a demonstration of circular accountability too!
If we didn’t get everything done that was planned, it will be obvious in the Show and Tell. It can also reveal any difference between stated priority and actual priority.
Actual Actuals
PMs are good at following rules, particularly from authority figures, so they all behave. Fear manufactured by authority figures produces unethical behaviour even int he most honest people.
One of the greatest benefits of accountability that doesn’t rely on fear is that we get actual actuals. “Actuals” refer to the amount of time something actually takes versus how much time it’s estimated to take.
We keep very detailed timesheets at Menlo. This gets each pair a chance to reflect on the accuracy of its original estimate and what may have let to a big underage or overage. Also, there is great value in the data collected. A key advantage when sizing future projects.
Get things DONE
Lot is written about employee engagement. One resonates with me is the ability to go to work and get meaningful things done. Actually done — finished, wrapped up, and delivered. When it really means DONE and behind you, leads to the joy of knowing that a hard day of work produced a valuable and valued accomplishment.
Trust, accountability, and results, these get you to joy.
Alignment
Message you deliver to the world should be the same message you deliver to your customers, your team, your family, the community, tour guests, new hires, magazine writers, and everyone else your company comes into contact with.
Three points that define essence of a business: the world’s outside perception of the company, the inside reality for the team that works there, and the heart of the leadership. Too often, these are not in sync, and are actually based on different values and practices. We never need to “handle” the press!
Visitors frequently tell me that they would never want the world to know their company’s inside reality. This hypocrisy will ultimately kill their company.
Values at Work, Not on a Plaque
Values cannot exist solely for our own people but must be built into our contracts and business agreements as well. We always felt that our contracts — should be one’s we are comfortable signing whatever side of the table we are sitting on.
We are typically the lowest-cost vendor, not the lowest-priced supplier.
altLearners 