Unwelcome dynamics problem situations where actions have led to worsening the situation
Consultant has been complaining of tiredness due to extended commuting times during the week. Due to family circumstances, it is not possible to get much rest during the weekend. This becomes a recurring pattern that stretches over a two-month period. The result is an even more tired, nearly exhausted Consultant who raises this problem with the Consultancy.
As a solution to this problem, the Consultancy offers options to work from home one day a week. Consultant agrees.
Because of the nature of SCRUM, face-to-face interaction is crucial to the development of the project.
During this single day that the Consultant spends working from home, there are back-to-back questions on instant messaging, a deluge of emails, as well as the work that a Consultant is expected to deliver and complete.
Upon returning to site, Consultant finds that, although more time was available from not commuting, the gap in face-to-face interaction has created even more work and more time is now needed to deliver.
Possible feedback loops
The more time Consultant spends working from home, the less overall time commuting (but because of the nature of the SCRUM process) and this creates a greater backlog of work due to lack of face to face interaction hence requiring to allocate even greater amounts of time towards getting work completed.
Instances where the models being used, mental or otherwise, may not be appropriate
“Short-termism” (reductionist thinking) - considering that allowing a few individuals (who spend too much time commuting due to project location) will “make up for additional time” by working from home.
Although, in principle this is true, in practice it does not provide long-term solutions as the whole team and project have been assembled using a simplified and standard approach which assumes mainly that:
A) each individual assigned to the project will work 8 hours every day
B) the whole team will be working based on the same physical space
TU811 - Activity 2.9 - Situations to focus on
Consultant has been complaining of tiredness due to extended commuting times during the week. Due to family circumstances, it is not possible to get much rest during the weekend. This becomes a recurring pattern that stretches over a two-month period. The result is an even more tired, nearly exhausted Consultant who raises this problem with the Consultancy.
As a solution to this problem, the Consultancy offers options to work from home one day a week. Consultant agrees.
Because of the nature of SCRUM, face-to-face interaction is crucial to the development of the project.
During this single day that the Consultant spends working from home, there are back-to-back questions on instant messaging, a deluge of emails, as well as the work that a Consultant is expected to deliver and complete.
Upon returning to site, Consultant finds that, although more time was available from not commuting, the gap in face-to-face interaction has created even more work and more time is now needed to deliver.
“Short-termism” (reductionist thinking) - considering that allowing a few individuals (who spend too much time commuting due to project location) will “make up for additional time” by working from home.
Although, in principle this is true, in practice it does not provide long-term solutions as the whole team and project have been assembled using a simplified and standard approach which assumes mainly that:
A) each individual assigned to the project will work 8 hours every day
B) the whole team will be working based on the same physical space