Q&A with Robin Hackshall

Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Robin Hackshall, Scrum Master, Agile Coach & Agile Transformation Consultant.

How could you describe your career path in a few words? 

I would say that I have had an unconventional journey into agility. My background is not in IT or project delivery, but in data analysis. After university, my first roles were in the police force and NHS analysing data, linking information and drawing conclusions.   

While working in the NHS I was lucky enough to be asked to perform the role of Product Owner. This opportunity introduced me to agile and Scrum. After 18-months as a Product Owner, I decided that didn’t want to go back to my previous analytical role. With no Product Owner opportunities within my organisation, I moved into a Scrum Master position.  

After five years as a Scrum Master across a number of organisations, I moved into my first Agile Coach role. I have since supported individuals, teams and organisations adopt agile ways of working and continuously improve their working practices.  My evolution as an agilest has continued in the couple of years as I became and licensed Guide with the Agile Mastery Institute to delivery Scrum Mastery Pathway™, Product Mastery Pathway™ and Team Mastery Pathway training.  

How do you think agile practices have transformed companies over the past two years? 

In the last couple of years organisations have attempted to move from working within the boundaries of pandemic restrictions to a ‘new normal’. For many this has seen a move from fully remote teams, with individuals working from home, to hybrid working, where individuals may only be in the office one or two days a week. Very few have returned to the office full-time, although this may still be an ambition.  

The reduction in co-located teams fast-tracked the development and use of collaborative tools, with these quickly becoming indispensable to teams. Tools like Miro and Mural have played a crucial role in enhancing agility, particularly in the context of creative, strategic, and design processes. 

Without the availability and continued development of these tools, the ability for teams and organisations to adapt and remain agile in a rapidly changing environment would have been significantly hampered. Remote and hybrid work models would have been far more challenging. 

These tools that would have once only have been predominantly used by teams within an IT department, are now regularly being used throughout organisations. This opens the door to agility beyond IT.  

What successful cases of agile transformations have you had the opportunity to observe that have particularly stood out to you? 

The most successful agile transformations are those where increased agility is a by-product of wider vision or goal. Transformations, or change, as a mandated program use an old way of thinking to apply new ways of working. It fails to apply an agile mindset when introducing agility. 

It is important that a team or organisation adopting an agile way of working, start with ‘why’ they are changing and articulate the outcomes that they want to achieve. The ‘why’ or ‘vision’ should become the focal point for initial, and ongoing communications.  

As teams experiment with an agile mindset and agile practices in order to achieve the outcomes, you may find that some individuals and teams have already started working in this ‘new’ approach. This results in the adoption to be both top-down and bottom-up.  

This allows the early adopters of agility to demonstrate practical value, reliability, and showcase success stories. This will build trust and reduce perceived risks by those that are still to be introduced to this new way of working. 

Will agile practices continue to generate interest? What challenges do you see in the context of deploying these practices? 

There have been many social media posts that have declared that ‘agile is dead’, however it is my opinion these are wrong.  

Agility is not  dead.  

What is taking place is the way that individuals, teams and organisations are working is being inspected and adapted, with a view to continuously improving, just as any team may regularly retrospect their working processes and practices. 

The challenge facing many teams and organisations is the speed at which they are able to inspect and adapt, while continuing to deliver the required outcomes. This pressure is causing decisions to be made that are challenging the structure and format or some of most tried, tested and popular agile frameworks and methodologies.  

The decisions that are being made with regards to roles and responsibilities are changing team dynamics and who is doing is doing what. For example, with Scrum Masters being made redundant, their responsibilities, such as event facilitation and impediment removal, are being picked up by the team. Although members of the team can fulfil these responsibilities, undertaking these stops them from performing their primary function.  

It is my belief that in time, through inspection and adaptation, we will go full circle and we will return to a time when agile will be alive and kicking.