Trust Me, I'm a Manager

Since my last post (has it really been 6 months?) I have taken on the role of Iteration Manager for a team of 6 developers, part of a larger long running Agile project.

despite my fervent belief that the most important attribute of a good agile manager is Demonstrating Trust I've had some unexpected problems doing just this.

The first week in the role, I found myself checking up on the team every 10 minutes. I'd look up from my machine and say things like "do you want a pair for that?" and "How is that story card going?". To put it mildly, this behavior started annoying the team very quickly.

Since that rocky start, I think I'm getting better at letting go. I've restricted my outbursts to a couple of times a day (often at the standup), but I still get the feeling I am powerless to control the outcome of the iteration without direct intervention.

The big surprise for me was that after years of judging my managers ("They're showing a total lack of trust, and are clearly lacking people management skills") I find myself suddenly in their shoes. And their incompetence suddenly seems different from here. Ouch.