5 Ways to Improve Agile Team Communication & Trust

Trust is crucial for agile teams. It begins with good communication, which is another quality that is necessary for agile development teams to thrive.

Agile development has tight and frequent deadlines — especially with a Mendix project where the deadlines are usually 1-2 week sprints. When companies choose to do agile development after being focused on a waterfall or other restrictive development methodologies, it requires a complete shift in mindset. Change is challenging and has a lot of learning pains. However, change is totally worth it when you get a return on investment. Everyone wants to know that the work they do has an impact. With agile development, it is possible to have a product out the door and make an impact rapidly within weeks or months — rather than years or decades.

A lot of miscommunication starts at the very beginning of a project. Each project should have a clear kick-off with roles and goals defined. During the kick-off, it is important to discuss what the various roles will be and what the expectations for and from team members are. There should be an escalation overview highlighting how to resolve problems when they arise. The kick-off should serve as a guide for the team, but it should not be rigid or set in stone. Changes are bound to happen and the team should be agile and adjust to change.

Always encourage the team to ask questions. Never dismiss a question or make someone feel inadequate for asking questions. Questions lead to clarifications, discovery, and sometimes process improvements. It is therefore important to encourage the team to ask questions and clarifications. Remember, it’s okay not to have the answers and discover them along the way.

People who have never done agile before, or are just learning the development tools, are expected to make mistakes. Mistakes should be encouraged and openly discussed – especially at the beginning of a project. Mistakes force us to learn and become better. However, I see a lot of people afraid of making mistakes. I’ve even seen teams brushing mistakes under the rug and hoping no one notices. In agile development, small mistakes that could be fixed in a couple of minutes or a day, turn into mountains that delay release dates by weeks or months. Whatever you do, do not brush mistakes under the rug. How the team handles mistakes could be a golden opportunity to bring the team closer together.

Retrospective meetings are critical to opening up communication channels. During the introspective meeting, the team should focus on what went right and (most importantly!) what went wrong. The goal is to be productive and not spend the whole time pointing fingers or complaining about things. Here is a helpful guide on how to have effective retrospective meetings. Come up with solutions and suggestions on how to improve and constantly iterate on it. Even after a fully successful sprint, it’s important to debrief with team members in the agile ceremonies.

Retrospective meetings are critical to opening up communication channels. During the introspective meeting, the team should focus on what went right and (most importantly!) what went wrong. The goal is to be productive and not spend the whole time pointing fingers or complaining about things. Here is a helpful guide on how to have effective retrospective meetings. Come up with solutions and suggestions on how to improve and constantly iterate on it. Even after a fully successful sprint, it’s important to debrief with team members in the agile ceremonies.