Transparency
We are open about the work we are doing, the way we are doing it and our progress. We seek out opportunities to share data and other information about our work. We encourage others to be transparent towards us. Transparency pervades all levels of the organisation and all aspects of its work.
In A Nutshell
Teams share their process and any open events so that others can attend if they choose. We encourage others to attend our open events so they have the opportunity to learn from our experiences and to provide us with feedback. When we learn how to improve we openly share our experiences so that others can benefit.
Transparency is practiced by leaders at all levels in the organisation. Leadership teams behave like any other team, welcoming everyone to attend their open events. Feedback is welcomed and acted upon. Lessons learned are shared so that others can benefit from leaders experiences.
Mistakes are openly acknowledged and corrected by leaders and by everyone in the organisation.
There are sometimes limits on to the transparency that we are permitted to display. Exogenous constraints are imposed by the legal framework and societal norms within which we operate. Further - endogenous - constraints may be introduced by the policies of the organisation. Particular organisational constraints include financial governance and HR policies. As far as possible we should reveal the impact of constraints on our ability to be open. This displays a high level of honesty even if we cannot be completely open with the details of our work.
We have observed that many organisations have a penchant for concealing the details of potentially sensitive work. Even when confidentiality is a necessity we should seek to minimise the amount of work covered by such restrictions. When restrictions are necessary, we should limit them to the minimum necessary level of restriction. In other words, we should strive to be open and transparent at all times.
“The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.”
Customer Focus
In an environment of mutual trust we seek to share as much information with our customers as we can. We expect that our customers will show us the same respect. As a team we seek to be open about our plans, our work, our progress, the difficulties we are encountering and what we have learned. Our events are open to our customers and to others who wish to attend. When an event needs to be private to the team we are clear about why the privacy is important.
Team Focus
The team shares its plans openly as a matter of routine. Sharing occurs in the context of open team events, but also in the context of making its plans available to any stakeholder. Plans include immediate delivery work plans, the backlog of future work and the Product Roadmap. The use of information radiators is a natural part of the teams culture and working practice.
The team shares its progress openly as a matter of routine. Sharing occurs in the context of open team events, but also in the context of making updates to its plans as work is completed available to any stakeholder. Progress is also reflected in updates to the backlog and roadmap. The use of information radiators is a natural part of the teams culture and working practice.
Contextual Focus
We prioritise the expenditure of our budget on delivering features and service by considering the value we believe we can deliver to our customers. We need to ensure that the value we thought would be created by a feature or service is being delivered. This knowledge is used to decide to confirm or to change priorities for future work and service delivery.
Focus on Gemba
Supporting Principles
We validate our work and our ways of working by seeking frequent feedback from customers, leaders, and other stakeholders. We respond rapidly and transparently to requests for feedback from others. Frequent feedback gives many opportunities to adjust requirements, priorities, and ways of working to better need stakeholder needs.
High performance is the expected norm for all teams. High performance is encouraged by a culture that emphasises the importance of Mastery, Autonomy and Purpose for everyone in the organisation. High performance is manifested through the rigour and discipline of teams and individuals and through the imperative to improve continuously.
We take advantage of every opportunity to learn from events and from experience. We learn as teams and as individuals. A key part of the resilience of the agile mindset is how we react to the failures that we will inevitably experience as we work on complex, adaptive problems. Our resilient response is to treat a failure as an opportunity to learn. We seek the causes of failure and to learn how to avoid those causes in the future.
Visualising work is a practice that reflects the agile values of openness and transparency. But what are the pitfalls we can fall into if we attach too much importance to the visualisation?