Communication Kata Deliberate Practices for Shared Understanding

Andrew Annett Susan Johnston

PLEASE NOTE SLIDES ≠ PRESENTATION

• These slides are designed to be viewed in conjunction with a human being talking and interacting with you.

• They may not make much sense without that

Individuals and

INTERACTIONS over

processes and

tools

Agile Manifesto

Session objectives

Introduce four Communication Kata

Show you how they work

Give you a chance to practise

Who are we?

Andrew Annett

• Agile via: Project Management

• Communication via: Coaching

• Education: Poli Sci + Business

• Mission: Improve outcomes with feedback-driven methods

• Last project: Improve a public sector agency

• Current project: Improve a software product organization

Susan Johnston

• Agile via: Professional Coaching

• Communication via: Journalism

• Education: Psych + Business

• Mission: Help you change the world, one conversation at a time

• Last project: Wrote a book

• Current project: Launch a coach school

Please hold

your

questions

until you

have one!

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

It’s about the Audience!

Conscious Communication

Brooks’ Law

n * (n-1)

2

2 nodes

1 connection

5 nodes

10 connections

12 nodes

66 connections

A structured routine

that makes

skills and mindset

teachable

So What’s a Kata?

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

SCARF

KATA 1

Don’t worry.

We’ll explain the acronym

in a minute or two.

Your brain is

not your

friend

KATA 1

S - Status

C - Certainty

A - Autonomy

R - Relatedness

F - Fairness

SCARF

KATA 1

SCARF POKER

KATA 1

SCARF cards – one set per person

Statement cards – one set per table

Someone reads a statement to group

Group members show the appropriate SCARF letter

Discussion:

• Why you selected that element of SCARF

• If statement violates SCARF, how you’d re-word it

EXERCISE

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

KATA 2

Intention Check

1. Identify your own intention

2. Share your intention

3. Ask about others’ intentions

Get curious

not furious

KATA 2 EXERCISE

• You are on a project where the product

owner isn’t sharing information your

team needs to do its job.

• As the scrummaster, you need the info.

• You want to build a good relationship

with this PO.

1. Check your intention

2. Share your intention

3. Probe for his intention

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

Ladder of

Misunderstanding

Generally

agreed

Myth or

story

Key details

altered

Personal

spin

KATA 3

FACTS

WIDENING GAP IN UNDERSTANDING

KATA 3

KATA 3 EXERCISE

Place each statement where you think it belongs on the Ladder

1. The report is late.

2. You don’t respect my need for information on a timely basis.

3. The new system requires extra steps.

4. We have a difference of opinion.

5. You have a hidden agenda.

6. Every time I give you something to do, you let me down.

7. Nobody around here cares what users think.

8. I’m always last in line. Nobody respects my needs.

9. Only full time employees count around here.

10. You always disagree with me.

11. You’re not listening to me.

12. Jo put her vacation request in early.

13. Someone should have told me the rules about vacations.

14. Long term employees get preferential treatment.

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

Empathy Map

What does the person

THINK + FEEL?

What does the person

SEE?

What does the person

HEAR?

What does the person

SAY + DO?

KATA 4

• Think of someone with whom your conversations are not successful

• Imagine yourself in their context

• Complete the sensory information on the empathy map

• Insights?

• How will that change your communication?

EXERCISE KATA 4

• Mona has been a project manager for 20 years

• She’s a very senior manager and is at a pivotal point in her career

• Even though development teams are adopting agile practices, she insists on traditional plans, schedules and status reports.

• The pain this causes is confusion about organizational direction – are we agile or not?

EXERCISE KATA 4

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

The Communication Kata

1. SCARF

2. Share Your Intention

3. Ladder of Misunderstanding

4. Empathy Map

Practise and

repeat

a new kata

Over time,

this changes

people’s

mindsets

Long term,

this can

change a

culture

Why Practise?

So we will

communicate

consciously

References + Resources

Books

Articles

• Status and Self-esteem, David Rock

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-work/200910/status-more-

accurate-way-understanding-self-esteem

• SCARF, David Rock http://www.your-brain-at-work.com/files/NLJ_SCARFUS.pdf

• Digital Empathy Map http://uxempathy.com/2012/10/digital-empathy-map

• Intention Check, Jim + Michelle McCarthy http://www.mccarthyshow.com/online/

Ready Doing Done

Introduction

Wrap

Kata 4

Kata 3

Kata 2

Kata 1

Andrew Annett

andrew@leanintuit.com

@akannett

Susan Johnston

sue@itsunderstood.com

@itsunderstood

Still Curious? Questions now + questions later