We’re growing used to talking about the importance of autonomous, high performing teams, and of bringing different technical disciplines together. But most organisations are more than their technology, and delivering great services requires organisations’ operations, policy, strategy and other functions to pull in the same direction. Drawing on experiences of bringing together teams across a broad range of disciplines in the UK and globally, James Stewart will look at why now is the time to really think multi-disciplinary and what some of the foundations are for much more inclusive digital work.)
Returning to Agile India in 2023 I presented a keynote with tips for building genuinely multi-disciplinary teams. As technologists get ever better tools and practices for working iteratively at scale, we create new opportunities to bring more people together and get to the real heart of solving problems. I called that the agile dividend.
Exploring examples from the UK’s Universal Credit system in contrast to California’s employment unassistance programme, and pulling in experiences from around the world I focused on five techniques to build collaborations.
- Be curious
- Give something up
- Find shared outcomes, right metrics
- Test & learn
- Work all the levels (start where you can)
You can find a video of “truly-multidisciplary teams” on youtube.