Self Organizing Teams

The optimal mode of organization in agile contexts, according to AgilePrinciples.

A comparatively little-discussed practice of agile processes.

The subject of a workshop at XpTwoThousandAndFour; see http://selforganizingteams.com/ or the CFP below.

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Call for Participation: "Be empowered (that's an order)"

 A workshop on self-organizing teams

 June 6, 2004
 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
 Part of XP2004 Conference

Workshop Wiki:

• http://selforganizingteams.com

Workshop description:

• http://www.xp2004.de/xp2004/workshops/w02.pdf

Background

"The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self- organizing teams," argues the Agile Manifesto.

Yet the opposite principle is built into the corporate model of collaboration: "someone has to be boss" - sometimes to the extent of attempting to mandate self-organization! Self-organization cannot be decreed from above, but conditions can be created which favor it; one such condition is that team members have experience with and can recognize self-organization. Drawing on lessons from the theatre, this workshop will provide just such an experience, as well as explore the conditions of self-organization.

Objectives

Participants and presenters will

• learn about the conditions under which self-organization can be expected
• experience achieving a purpose without the need for a leader's direction
• generalize and extract insights from their own and each other's experience
• have fun!

Submissions and participation

Workshop attendance is limited to 20 participants, on a first-come, first-served basis. To attend, simply list your name on the workshop Wiki, within that limit.

Participants are invited to submit a position paper in the form of a page on the workshop Wiki, however this is not a requirement for attendance. Our intent is to have the Wiki support a pre-workshop conversation to identify issues of interest.

Organizers

 LaurentBossavit (Exoftware)
 EmmanuelGaillot (Independent)