Seagull Management

I heard a new term recently which I really love. It’s simple, subtle and spot on.

Seagull Management: A manager that only comes around when something catches his/her attention. They swoop in, drop a load of s**t and then swoop back out.

If you have worked in the business world for any significant time, I almost guarantee this definition brings at least one manager you’ve worked with (or for) to mind. And maybe, just maybe, it makes you think of yourself too.

In the Agile world this is definitely not the type of managers we want. However, I’m afraid that the problem is not all with these Seagulls. Part of the problem is that when most companies introduce Agile methods and mindset they don’t train their managers on what their role is.

Put yourself in their place for a minute. Until Agile came into the organization they knew exactly what their role was. They were responsible for the performance of their direct reports. They could measure that performance by a multitude of metrics and methods. And being their manager, they could apply pressure where needed to squeeze the most out of their reports.

But in an Agile environment we want servant leaders, even with functional managers. We want managers to partner with the teams to provide the support they need. This can include:

• Making sure they have the training they need on a particular tech stack or other skill area
• Ensuring they have the equipment and software licenses they need to be able to work most efficiently
• Researching emerging technologies/products they can recommend to the organization
• Assist in building practice community across their specific area (Testing/Engineering/Etc) for shared learning
• Providing opportunities to their reports for personal and professional growth
• Partnering with the Scrum Master in protecting the team from outside interruptions and clearing logistical impediments
• Identifying skill gaps and or staffing needs and working with HR and upper management to fill those gaps through hiring or training

These are just a few things a functional manager can do to serve their reports and the Agile initiatives of the company. But if they are not told what the expectation is in an Agile environment, how are they to know? We have to do better as an Agile community to help educate these managers as to what is expected of them.

Anytime someone is introduced to change, they are likely to be resistant, especially if they feel their job responsibilities may be taken away from them. So when you try to educate your functional managers you may end up encountering resistance. If this is the case, here is an exercise you can try that may help.

Give the manager a set of sticky notes and ask him/her to write their job responsibilities on them – one per note. Put these stickies on a wall in a column under a sticky with the manager’s name. Ask them if they feel they have enough time to give all the attention to each item they think it deserves. Likely the answer is “no.” Then add a note to the right of the manager’s name with the label “Scrum Master” and another with “Agile Coach” and another with “Product Owner”. (Note: These roles may differ depending on your Agile implementation or staffing.) Then ask the manager to move any notes under their name to another column if they feel that responsibility will be taken from them and moved to that other role.

Several things could happen here. First, they may realize that not a lot of their responsibilities will move. Also, you may be able to point out some responsibilities that may change in nature or even new responsibilities that they didn’t have in traditional management. At the end, hopefully they will see that they still have plenty of work to do and possibly even realize that this will free them up to focus on some of the strategic items that previously they didn’t have time to focus on and address.

In summary, if you are experiencing Seagull Management in your organization, ask yourself if the functional managers have been trained on what their role is within an Agile organization. And if you are reading this and you are a functional manager that realizes you may be working in a traditional way within an Agile organization, have conversations with your Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters and teams to see how you can best adjust to a servant leadership role. You may find that you not only have plenty you can do to offer leadership, but you just might find what you do even more rewarding.