Listen: It’s A Required Skill When Implementing Scrum In Your Organization

Really.

Listen.

Listen.

It is a skill.

Are you a good listener?

What makes you a good listener?

Really?

Why is being a good listener vital when you are Implementing Scrum?

Listen: You have two ears and one mouth for a reason

Think about that.

While you are thinking about that, remember that when you are “present” with others that part of that contract you hold with others is to listen with intent.

That means putting away your other distractions (other stuff happening in other windows, on your mobile device, or even IRL (In Real Life).

That means not interrupting someone mid-sentence or mid-thought.

That means shutting up.

That means using an extended pause before answering.

That means not thinking of an answer to blurt out before the other person (the one you are now actively NOT listening to) finishes their thought(s) with you.

That means…

What else?

Focus. #deliver

What Next?

Think about this idea of becoming a person who listens with intention, is present during a conversation, and is respectful of not interrupting.

Have a conversation with your Scrum Team and check-in with each other about how you can up your game — as a team — by becoming great listeners. Bonus: Use this in conjunction with establishing communication preferences when creating team norms together.

Pro Tip

You can use this conversation as a topic at your next Scrum Retrospective.

It might be a good break from your normal, “What’d we do good, what’d we do bad, what can we improve” or “red - yellow - green”; remember, one of the symptoms of doing “the same old same old” is that you have a list of 80 things you suck at — err…. need improvement — and nothing is getting done [read: nobody is listening to my concerns]. Huh.

Need some help with this?

I can help with the conversation.

I am listening (smile).

Contact me or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss this more together.

Also, check out AgileMentoring.com while you are here; it’s a great community of agile practitioners from around the world who are figuring things out together!

One final thing…

Subscribe to my weekly Saturday morning emails about Implementing Scrum in the real world. And get an “every two week” check in from me too.

What could be better?