By sharing my story, I hope it inspires others to realize that the process of creating the work arrangements revealed opportunities for collaboration and alignment that helped a distributed team deliver better value. Please note that while I am unable to disclose the name of the company, I can only share that it is a Texas-based financial services company. The names of all parties have been changed to protect privacy. Finally, review and iterate on the effectiveness of your work arrangements to improve your team`s knowledge. Remember that every team is different. Clauses that work for my team may not work for your team. So, find your own style and find out what works for your team. The short answer to “When should my team create an agile teamwork agreement” is now (if you don`t already have one). However, the best time to create these agreements is the initial phase of a project, especially if it is a new team. This is most important at this point, as the team may have preconceived ideas about how the team will work. I found that it is also the right time for a team to have a healthy debate. It breaks that wall at the beginning of the project lifecycle, so the first issue they disagree on in the project is not the first time they have to discuss among themselves.

However, in my experience as an agile consultant, the most productive product development teams all have one thing in common: consensus. They all felt included, heard and respected and were able to clearly establish the link between their individual goal and the vision of the product or project. Working conditions have quickly become an essential part of modern and successful teams. You may have heard the term being launched, especially when new teams are forming, but is it worth discussing with your own team? In sharing my observations, I was surprised that the DM and the PO validate most of these observations. The SM had already been embarrassed to admit that her team needed help because she feared it would mean failure, so I appreciated her honesty and assured her otherwise. I have asked the DM and OP for permission to share the observations with the team at the next retrospective for comment. This turned out to be a mistake that didn`t go as I had hoped.