Methods for Handling Key-Person Dependencies in Agile Teams

On any team, from infrastructure engineering to development to HR, there is always a looming danger of one individual being the only person capable of performing a key task, either because of their technical skills, domain skills, or business experience. The risks of having key-person dependencies—reduced productivity, inaccurate project estimates, morale problems, delays, and business-impacting defects and downtime—are hard to identify and can be even harder to resolve. Lee Eason is a leader and coach who has experienced this problem for so long, he finally decided to do something about it. He will reveal a technique that helps him identify and fill those skill gaps and eliminate key-person risks. The approach helps you realize how skills and expertise are distributed on your teams. What are the key areas, how often do you experience impacts, and what are the hard (business- and project-level) and soft (people and team) areas of risk? Visualizing and understanding these elements is the first step toward mitigating or eliminating potentially derailing dependencies.