Explore ideal DevOps team members
For a successful DevOps transformation, the aim is to find team members with the following characteristics:
- They already think there is a need to change.
- They have previously shown an ability to innovate.
- They are already well respected within the organization.
- They have a broad knowledge of the organization and how it operates.
- Ideally, they already believe that DevOps practices are what is needed.
Mentoring team members on agile practices
While it's desirable to have formal agile training for staff members, no matter how good any agile course is, there is a world of difference between learning a concept within a few days and putting it into practice.
When they first start an agile transformation, many teams hire external coaches or mentors.
Agile coaches help teams or individuals to adopt agile methods or to improve the current techniques and practices.
They must be agents of change by helping people understand how they work and encouraging them to adopt new approaches.
Agile coaches typically work with more than one team and remove any roadblocks from inside or outside the organization.
This work requires various skills, including coaching, mentoring, teaching, and making easier. Agile coaches must be both trainers and consultants.
There is more than one type of agile coach.
- Some coaches are technical experts who aim to show staff members how to apply specific concepts—for example, test-driven development and continuous integration or deployment.
- These coaches might do peer programming sessions with staff members.
- Other coaches are focused on agile processes, determining requirements, and managing work activities.
- They might help how to run effective stand-up and review meetings.
- Some coaches may themselves act as scrum masters.
- They might mentor staff in how to fill these roles.
Over time, though, team members need to develop an ability to mentor each other. Teams should aim to be self-organizing. Team members are often expected to learn as they work and to acquire skills from each other. To make it effective, though, the work itself needs to be done collaboratively, not by individuals working by themselves.