I recently facilitated a Scrum Master community of practice (CoP) session where one of the Scrum Masters mentioned that they had seen a few posts/articles on LinkedIn about measuring team happiness. They were sceptical that a team would be honest in their responses, which would result in the happiness of the team being ‘gamed’ and the team always being ‘happy’.
Other members of the CoP questioned this assumption, offering alternative options as to how such a measure could be captured, frequency of capture and how the measure could be analysed or interpreted.
| Method | Frequency | Analysis/Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Scale 1-10 Fist of Five Emoji scale | Daily Weekly Per Sprint | Individual tracking Team tracking (average) Net promotor score |
The conversation about team happiness reminded me of a book that I had previously read. In ‘Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time’ by Jeff Sutherland, there is an entire chapter on ‘Happiness’.
Jeff discusses how happiness could actually be a forward predictor of productivity, providing details of how to capture, measure and apply it. Through measuring happiness, and the identification and implementation of things that would make individuals/the team happier, Jeff was able to triple productivity (velocity) in just a few Sprints.
Over time they graphed the data that was captured. They found that a fall in happiness preceded a fall in productivity by a number of weeks. Had they only been measuring velocity, there would have been no notice that there was a problem.
Although the concept of team happiness could benefit a team and/or organisation in predicting future impacts to productivity/velocity, the ability to capture an accurate reflection of happiness will take time to build. The scepticism show by one Scrum Master in the CoP is not uncommon, however, it is something that can and should be addressed.
Measuring happiness requires several of the Scrum Values to be in play – openness, respect and courage. The team need to be open and have the courage to say that things are not great, along with the need that all members of the team respect what is said. This allows the team to ’rally around’ and provide the support that may be required.
Instilling these Scrum Values within the team and creating an environment of trust is potentially something that the Scrum Master could be measured on. But where do they start?
The Scrum Mastery Pathway™ is a new, exciting and unique way to become a great Scrum Master. As part of the initial 2-day ‘Explorer Workshop’ delegates work through every aspect of Geoff Watts RE-TRAINED model and develop skills to become more:-
- Respected
- Enabling
- Tactful
- Resourceful
- Alternative
- Inspiring
- Nurturing
- Empathic
- Disruptive
Utilising skills such as ‘Respected’, ‘Nurturing’ and ‘Empathic’, Scrum Masters should be able to create a safe team environment where every member of the team can provide a honest happiness measure.
Although creating a happy team and increasing their productivity/velocity is a good thing and something that Scrum Masters should support, real success comes when one (or more) team members provide a low happiness score. This shows that a Scrum Master has created a safe space for the team.
But unhappiness is only the beginning. You may have achieved success in one area, but as a Scrum Master you now have an opportunity to create success in another, by helping to resolve/remove a potential problem or impediment before it impacts the team.
Find out more about the Scrum Mastery Pathway™ at https://enigmacas.com/courses/scrum-mastery-pathway/