The study of Group Relations is important to the development of Agile practice. Software development is performed by groups of individuals. When individuals become a members of a group, behavior changes. The group becomes focal & the individuals become background. The group behaves as a system and exhibits system-level behavior. Groups as a system exhibit very primitive emotional behaviors that can derail the group from its stated primary task.

Group relations theory says that a group behaves as a system, and that the primary task of the group is……

Clear definitions of Role, Task and Authority are essential when people assemble to do work.

Unclear definitions of these items leads to all sorts of waste.

Scrum’s very clear Roles and associated Tasks and Authority are a big part of what makes actually Scrum ‘tick’.

A Boundaries ‘collection’ is an attribute of the Role, Task and Authority ‘objects’. This session deconstructs Role, Task & Authority in terms of associated Boundaries. Note that boundaries can come in many forms, including: boundaries of time, boundaries in terms of access to resources, etc.