The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly changed workplace culture. Many people forced to work from home, and millions lost their jobs. People have realized that they do not need to work in the office and can do most of the work from home. Even with vaccinations and scientific advances in the fight against the disease, we do not know when the situation will return to normal or the epidemic’s long-term effects. The future still looks bleak.
Scrum teams were also affected by the pandemic, which led to new challenges for Scrum Master as a servant leader for removing the teams’ impediments. Although many scrum teams worked remotely before the pandemic, which is not new, the pandemic has led teams that did not have experience working remotely to move in this direction. In this post, I am going to talk about building trust within remote scrum teams.
What is trust?
Trust is difficult to describe, but we can tell when it has lost. Per Oxford Learners Dictionaries, trust (verb) is “to have confidence in somebody; to believe that somebody is good, sincere, honest, etc.”.
Why is trust important?
Because trust is the cornerstone on which human relationships built, it is so important. If there is no trust, there will be no relationship. It can also lead to the end of a relationship. People need others in whom they can place their faith. Trust is vital in all aspects of life, including personal relationships, employment, and society as a whole. In my opinion, nothing is more critical for teamwork than trust. Lack of trust can make the scrum team sick and dysfunctional. Due to a lack of trust, scrum team members cannot be transparent and truthful within the organization. Team members who do not trust each other are less likely to have open conversations because they are afraid of confrontation.
How to build trust within remote scrum teams?
Based on your faith in another’s potential, as well as feelings of empathy and emotional closeness, trust develops in your head and heart. In other words, psychological safety is essential for building trust. For any scrum team, building robust trust can be challenging. It is also more difficult for remote teams that do not have regular face-to-face contacts.
As a Scrum Master, you can do the following to promote trust.
- Introduce a solution for backlog grooming
Difficult meetings, such as backlog refinement, may be effectively conducted online, but they necessitate some shift. If you are keen to know more about online backlog refinement, check How to: (not just) backlog refinement online
- Develop nonviolent communication culture within the scrum team
According to Wikipedia, Nonviolent Communication (abbreviated NVC, also called compassionate communication or collaborative communication) is an approach to communication based on nonviolence principles. It is not a technique to end disagreements but rather a method designed to increase empathy and improve the quality of life of those who utilize the technique and the people around them.
- Use the right online facilitation tools
Online facilitation is an organizational tool that integrates real-time virtual communications with asynchronous digital collaboration. Online facilitation tools allow users to interact with each other during, before, and after live workshops.
- Encourage the team to stay focused when someone is talking
It has seen many times that team members do not listen to another team member while he/she is talking. It is essential to stay focused when20 someone is talking because the speaking person will feel heard. So, rather than speaking, you give something valuable (trust) to the person speaking by listening.
Reference
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