On an Agile team, the emphasis is on team members taking ownership of their own work and carrying out tasks. The tricky part is that at different stages of a project, people have different knowledge about an item, or the ability to do an item changes. There are two ways to assign work, and each method is appropriate at different times.
A group leader figures out who should do what task at what time. That’s a classic management structure that can work even if the shared goal isn’t clear to everyone.
A group of people that self organizes in the sense that they pick their own tasks, and any one of them can lead the effort if needed. A team can form if people have a strong sense of a shared goal.
Both models are useful and there are specific factors which determine when they should be used.
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Single Leader |
Self-Organizing |
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A leader is in place to make it work New team members are ramping up, they are still learning the vision |
Each team member is skilled and self-reliant. The vision and goal is clearly defined and easily understood. The team members have been on the team long enough to “get it” (understand the vision). |