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Ever since COVID-19, the impact of the 'always on work' culture has started taking its toll. This is where the word 'burnout' comes into the picture. Organizations have started adopting the Agile work system in today's highly competitive world. However, the increasing work pressure on today's generation demands them to perform everything perfectly and quickly.
Agile methodology helps developers find better ways to work in a team, adapt to change, and increase market speed. However, often, the workforce misunderstands the Agile methodology, resulting in unwanted problems such as fatigue or burnout. When your workforce starts developing the symptoms of Agile fatigue or burnout, it affects the work quality and deadlines.
It can happen due to many things, such as office politics, appraisal, promotions, etc. However, one of the biggest reasons causing Agile fatigue or burnout is wrong estimations, targets, and deadlines. Opting for the best Agile certifications will aid you understand the concept better.
Burnout or fatigue is work-related stress, which has become a major health issue in fast-paced work environments. However, what exactly is Agile fatigue or burnout? Agile fatigue is physical or emotional exhaustion involving a feeling of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.
COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rise of remote working, where employers have implemented the Agile work system. Employees find it difficult to take a long break from work at such times. This may adversely affect their ability to relax and refresh their minds.
During Agile projects, the workforce starts feeling overwhelmed by the work, resulting in them becoming mentally drained with lowered potential. This is why many employees have started facing extreme fatigue or burnout due to increasing stress levels. Sometimes, this can negatively affect the employees' mental health, resulting in poor work performance.
For instance, in an organization using the Agile methodology, a Scrum Master announces a ballpark estimate to clients. However, the Scrum Master may not know much about the work process. At such times, the IT team must deal with the project's tight deadlines, resulting in extreme work stress. This work stress is what is called Agile fatigue or burnout. Thus, lack of clarity and visibility among the employees leads to extreme burnout or fatigue in an Agile work environment.
A recent survey shows 57% of Tech Workers are burned out by work. Likewise, there are several independent surveys have been carried out which depict the unfortunate part of tech life. A major contributor to burnout involves wrong estimation and deadlines. There are other parameters also involved which comprise Office Politics, Repetitive work for a long time, Appraisal, etc. Let's keep aside the other parameters and talk around the major contributors to burnout which are-
Ideally, before giving the ballpark estimate to the client, a realistic estimate should be collected from engineers who would do the work. There are different ways of coming up with an unbiased realistic estimate.
Some of the popular techniques are outlined below.
Planning poker is a game that team members play during Sprint Planning meetings to ensure that everybody is contributing and his or her point of view is considered during estimation. It starts with one of the team members(#Moderator) reading the story/requirement and giving high-level info around the ticket.
The team focuses majorly on the WHAT part instead of the HOW part.
To start with, each team member is given a set of cards or sticky notes with a number on them. This number represents story point, ideal days, hours or any other units in which team estimate. It is suggested to use Fibonacci, but it is not necessary, one can use a specific sequence which may suit for a team. Our team used sticky notes having hours written that would be needed for the story.sub-task, starting 0.50h, 1h, 2h, 4h and so on. It worked for our team. Once the high-level requirement is read aloud and a team has the visibility around “What” needs to be implemented, then starts the game.
Team members are requested to pick up the card with the number written on it. Initially estimates from members to members can vary a lot, and as a result, estimates can be present all over the graph. Once all the members have voted, members having highest and lowest estimates explain their understanding behind coming up with their estimates. The expert having detailed knowledge about the implementation part can point out the hurdles which the team might face while implementing the story. Above discussion among the members brings up the clear picture around the requirement. Post discussion, based on everybody’s agreement, the Scrum master concludes the discussion and assigns a story point to the task. Through this process, members of the teams have clear visibility around the parameter list that needs to be considered while giving the estimation.
By using the above estimation techniques, we can come up with an achievable estimate and can accordingly communicate the same to the client.
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Explained below are the symptoms of spotting Agile burnout in your workforce.
Exhaustion is one of the very first symptoms of Agile burnout. The employees start getting tired after working for hours without breaks, resulting in energy exhaustion.
Another symptom of Agile burnout is pessimism. Agile burnout starts making the employees question their potential to complete tasks. This can result in changing a positive mindset into a negative one. Further, this may result in a lack of motivation and confidence to work on something new. Employees may also find it difficult to begin their work shift positively. Moreover, they won't feel satisfied with their achievements.
Employees struggling with Agile burnout will find it difficult to pay attention or concentrate during office meetings and working hours. You may observe the respective employees zoning out frequently or constantly failing to retain new information.
When an employee gets exhausted easily during work hours and loses concentration and confidence, it causes them to get frustrated. They start getting impatient and irritated when working in a team or with their co-workers. This is why they may find it difficult to work on collaborative projects.
Employees suffering from Agile burnout may face health issues such as unexplained headaches and stomach problems. Any other physical complaints, such as back pain, neck pain, etc., may also develop.
An employee suffering from Agile fatigue or burnout may not always deliver the same quality of work. Sometimes, they miss out on deadlines. Other times, they may make some mistakes. In short, the employees suffering from Agile burnout may lack the energy to be consistently productive during their work hours.
Agile work environments speed up work and improve stakeholder satisfaction. Therefore, a lot of employers have started adopting Agile methodologies. However, Agile teams start experiencing burnout sooner than traditional teams due to increased work pressure with tight deadlines. Agile burnout or fatigue is a serious mental health issue that needs immediate attention.
However, this does not mean that the Agile methodology is toxic to employees. The Agile work system is one of the best methodologies to work effectively in a highly competitive world. The thing is, it needs to be implemented properly, along with taking care of the employees. Employees must support each other, collaborate, communicate, and set reasonable goals to leverage their skills and bring effective results efficiently. In addition, employers must find new ways to energize and constantly refresh their teams throughout the year. Taking the Knowledge Hut CSM certification training will help you get trained by globally renowned CSTs.
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Agile fatigue is an undesirable situation where team members feel overwhelmed by constant work pressure. It results in energy drainage and potential disengagement of the employees.
Organizations should avoid turning everything into Agile. While doing the same, you must avoid inflexible work hours, lack of team planning, etc., in the Agile work environment.
A scrum master helps a team become self-organized and encourages the team to make decisions and innovations independently.
Improved work communication and clarity can help manage the burnout associated with Agile. Splitting the work into smaller parts can also help manage burnout in Agile working systems.
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