#13: What does cross-functional really mean?

Lance Dacy joins Brian to dig into cross-functionality.

Overview

You will often hear people say that Scrum teams are cross-functional. But what do we mean when we say that? Are we talking about a jack of all trades but master of none? Do we want team members who can do anything? How does a cross-functional team actually work together and what should we do as agilists to support and nurture cross-functionality in our teams? Join as we discuss these and other aspects of cross-functional teams.

Listen now to discover: 

02:00 Lance tells us how he defines cross-functional teams

04:34 Brian compares cross-functional teams to the A-Team

08:58 Lance talks about generalists vs specialists

12:39 Brian talks about T-shaped individuals

18:05 Brian discusses the Equity Couch

24:10 Brian describes the Market of Skills tool

27:45 Lance talks about personality profiles

29:20 Brian asks Lance about how to handle cross-functionality on specialist teams

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing… 

Scott Dunn joins us again to discuss the term ‘product-centric.’ 

References and resources mentioned in the show

The A-Team

Market of Skills by Lyssa Adkins

OSEMN Process

What does Scrum mean by Cross-functional?

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This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. 

Lance Dacy is a Certified Scrum Trainer®, Certified Scrum Professional®, Certified ScrumMaster®, and Certified Scrum Product Owner®. Lance brings a great personality and servant heart to his workshops. He loves seeing people walk away with tangible and practical things they can do with their teams straight away.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.