Agile Mindset for Manufacturers: Balancing Workloads

The Action Engineering team embraces an Agile mindset & Scrum practices in our work.
In our Agile articles, we share tips & coaching opportunities that work well for us. 

Developing the Model-Based Definition (MBD) processes is a cross-functional and multi-disciplinary project that requires participation from a lot of folks, but not always at the same level of involvement each sprint. What if dev team members don’t have any work in a sprint? How do we keep them in the loop?

Not all team members have work to do each sprint. This is a side effect of cross-functional development teams – some areas may need more effort at the beginning of a project, others may be more focused near the end.

It’s okay for some members to not have any tasks in a sprint, but be sure to keep them in the loop. They should be given ample notice before their next expected involvement – don’t just invite them to the next Sprint Planning ceremony and expect them to commit to half the work if they aren’t aware of what has been happening. These team members should still attend ceremonies, but maybe they can skip the daily stand-ups.

Having trouble keeping your entire team involved? Send us a message – we are here to help manufacturing teams ensure that they can utilize the strengths of all of their teammates.