Agile Humans Meetup #52 The Dark Side of Autonomy

The Dark Side of Autonomy

Downsides of self-organisation in the agile way of working

Strengthening autonomy and reducing formal leadership is a top priority in the agile world. We want teams that independently shape their daily work and take responsibility, because we know that the best architectures, requirements and designs emerge from self-organising teams (11th principle of the Agile Manifesto).

Even though it is well proven that autonomy comes with major advantages, it cannot be neglected that more autonomy also comes with higher demands for individuals, and teams. Sometimes we ask ourselves: “Do I prioritise my work correctly? When is it okay to call it a day? Can I satisfy everyone's expectations? When am I even doing a great job?”.
Facing the challenges that come with autonomy and a lack of support can lead to overwhelm, lower performance and burnout. Therefore, we want to shed some light on the dark side of autonomy and discuss how we can support teams and individuals to master self-organisation.

We will answer the following questions:

• What role does autonomy play in an agile setting?
• What are the downsides of self-organisation in the agile way of working?
• How can we help people master autonomy?
• What methods and tools support successful self-organisation?

Agile self-organisation embraces the individual competences of every team member, but at the same time brings a lot of challenges. We have the opportunity to introduce to you two exceptional speakers - Carolin Huck and Arabella Berger, who will help us understand the power of autonomy, but also teach us to overcome the obstacles that come with it.

We enter the year of 2023 with a strong determination to take down the boundaries that hold us back, to make ourselves and our organisations better, and to grow in many new exciting ways. Let’s start together on February 2nd at 6:30 p.m. online.

ABOUT SPEAKERS

Carolin Huck is fascinated by teams that grow beyond the sum of their parts. In her role as Scrum Master and agile coach, she has found her calling in empowering people to do just that. Her Master’s degree in “Psychology in IT” provides the perfect foundation to work on agile software projects on an individual level, team level and in the system of the organisation. In doing so, she pairs pragmatism with scientific approaches and her knowledge as a systemic coach.

Arabella Berger supports people in taking action and building a motivated and effective work environment. As a Scrum Master and Agile Coach, she is committed to successful collaboration and leadership in agile and cross-functional contexts. With her background as an organisational psychologist and systemic coach, she empowers both teams and individuals in their communication, development and decision making. Her motivation is purpose and passion at work as well as innovation through continuous learning.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82727634629

Meeting ID: 827 2763 4629
Passcode: 720727