We had an IT Exec call us up once and ask us what they
should do to help their team. Over the previous 2 years, they’d gotten good at
iterative delivery and we’re pushing features into production on a weekly
basis. The nature of the systems meant that those deployments usually occurred
on a weekend and he was worried about burning out his teams. (Which is a good
thing that he cared).
Our response?
“Why are you asking us? Ask your team.”
And once you've worked out if it is/isn't a problem, then
ask them what you can do to help.
We continually run into the management trap of trying to
make decisions and solve problems in isolation, when we’re too far removed from
the coal face where the problems are occurring.
Caution: Be
careful that you actually action and are willing to solve the teams issues. It
only takes 1 or 2 instances of “My door is open – please tell me your problems”
that never lead to any solutions before they will stop coming to you. And that
breakdown in trust may be even more detrimental.
