Taking risks can be uncomfortable, but when we choose to experiment bravely, we have the chance to find the best solutions. Doing something in a new way and learning from it was also something Fabian did.
This article is about how do we work at eBay Kleinanzeigen: We are open to experiments.
by Fabian Schwarz, Agile Coach
I am Fabian, an Agile Coach at eBay Kleinanzeigen. I still remember starting my job back in June 2021. In one of my first sessions, my people manager Noel asked me "What is the essence of your job? The most important thing?" Such questions can make one nervous, it surely made me. Because in the first weeks of my new position I wanted to prove myself worthy of such a great opportunity - working and learning in a company like eBay Kleinanzeigen.
At that time, I was intensively studying Lyssa Adkins and her bible of the agile profession called "Coaching Agile Teams". According to her, agile coaches fulfil various purposes. So, I answered Noel's question with "coaches mentor, facilitate, teach, solve problems, navigate through conflicts, and conduct collaboration." Noel smiled but repeated "And if you had to sum it up in your own words?" I thought about it. What is my role? When everyone fulfils their tasks and responsibilities, how can I be of any value to a team full of experts? For a long minute I was silent. What was the summary of what I have read in this incredible book on agile coaching?
"To help the team improve step by step?" I answered, almost questioning myself. Noel looked a bit surprised, as if he needed to think about how to translate my answer into what he himself would silently answer on the question. Another long minute. Then, he smiled. "Yes. That's true. If you support the team in getting better every week a little bit, you're doing a great job. That is the essence!"
Today, over a year later - how is it going? How did we improve over the last months? I'd like to give you one of many little examples of improvements our team came up with by experimenting bravely.
Situation: We are a huge cross-functional team (about 20 people: Developers, UX Designers, Product Managers, and additionally colleagues from Business Development, Marketing, Customer Service, someone from Legal etc.), we meet on a weekly basis, while the development people have their daily standup.
Complication: In a retrospective session, we asked all team members to show their 1-5 fingers on the questions "How well am I informed to perform the best work I could." 1 finger = not sufficient. 5 fingers = I know everything - I must deliver excellence.
The outcome spoke for itself. All Dev team members gave 4 or 5 fingers. All non-Dev team members gave 1 or 2 fingers. We started to discuss it. It became emotional and really stormy for some of us. It came out that most of our non-Dev team members felt excluded from the team. There was no mutual understanding on "What is currently going on?", "What is important to know?", and "How long do some things take?"
Question: How can we ensure non-Dev team members gain a better understanding of what happens within our team without creating an extra meeting or without documenting that would force anyone to invest a lot of extra time?
Answer: We run an experiment for three weeks and invite all non-Dev team members to the daily to improve information flow.
Hypothesis: By being present in the daily for three weeks (4 dailys a week with 15 minutes each = 1h time invest per week) we aim to create a mutual understanding of the questions "What is currently going on?", "What is important to know?" and "How long do some things take?"
How to measure the success of the experiment: We met at the beginning to determine our success criteria. At the end of each week, I sent out a short google form to determine each person's ROTI (return on time invested). That helped to reflect on information flow and information transparency. We also included the question: Would my rating improve if I had to rate again (finger rating)?
Set-Up / Constraints: Non-Dev team members take part in the daily as silent observers. As soon as the daily is over (5–8 minutes), the remaining time to the end of the full meeting (up to 15 min) is reserved for questions.
Outcome: After some silence in the first dailys together, the questions started. I guess no one wanted to be the "one stupid person asking this". But with the bravery of a few, some of our dailys became very valuable for all non-Dev team members. "What does it mean when you say you work on google analytics?", "What is a PR?", "Who is Jenkins and what is an API?" It turned out it was really helpful to show empathy with the non-Devs to create a shared understanding of how things work within our team and at eBay Kleinanzeigen. We had a great time together, and believe me: there is nothing more heartwarming than a Senior Developer using a metaphor explaining what "peer reviews" are. That made us feel close again in a parted Corona set-up. Even if not every question could be answered or sometimes we shy away from being the "stupid person to ask," curiosity and bravery to ask always pay back. Sometimes I even observed these magical moments when a developer learned something new thanks to a powerful question.
How we handle it today: The daily is still open for all non-Dev team members. They don't show up all the time but in most dailys they are present. We learned that for new team members it is essential to join at least for the first three months to get into our work. There is still time for questions, and our non-Devs enjoy having a mutual meeting to check in with the team. Sometimes, we use the questions slot to share another important thing, sometimes someone asks questions, and sometimes the time is not used, and we have a shorter daily. All in all, all non-Devs taking part in the experiment see a huge value in our newborn artefact:
The daily with silent observers and a short Q&A.
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