How to Coach Yourself and Others Happiness Is No Accident | Page 98

Value stream mapping is one particular tool that can be used by a team or organization to identify
wasteful activities. The team describes the amount of time that work takes to go through each
activity in their overall work process. Next, the team determines if each activity adds value or does
not add value to the end goal. All activities are subject to speed improvements, and activities that
do not add value are subject to elimination.
In order to determine the causes of waste, special attention should be paid to incentives and
motivations. Wasteful behaviour often exists because there is some incentive for people to do it.
Sometimes these incentives are explicit, but sometimes they are the side-effects of other things
going on in the team's environment. Changing the incentives can be an effective way of reducing
waste.
By eliminating waste, the team will find it has reduced frustrations, and enabled greater
productivity and creativity. The team will also increase its speed and delivery of value, and at the
same time reduce defects.
Removing Obstacles
The ability to identify obstacles and understand why they are causing problems is only the first
step in removing obstacles. In Agile Work, the person primarily responsible for identifying and
removing obstacles is the Process Facilitator. The Process Facilitator has several approaches
available for the removal of obstacles. A process facilitator has similar responsibilities to a change
agent.
Direct
Deal with the obstacle directly without involving other people. This can be as simple as getting up
and moving an obstacle impairing vision, or as nuanced as running interviews and workshops
throughout an organization to gradually change a cultural obstacle.
Command and Control
Identify the obstacle and give precise instructions for its removal to a person who will directly
perform the removal. This can sometimes work if removing an obstacle takes a great deal of time,
effort or specialized skills that you yourself do not possess. However, the overall approach of
"command and control" is not recommended for Agile environments since it is disempowering.
Influence
Identify the obstacle and suggest means to deal with it to a person who has the authority or
influence to get others to deal with it. This indirect method of obstacle removal can be slow and
frustrating. However it usually has better long-term effects than command and control.
Support
Offer to assist and encourage the removal of obstacles that have been identified by other people. In
many respects this is a very effective method. It can assist with team-building and learning by
example. People are usually grateful for assistance.

93