Collaboration & Team Dynamics

Agile is built on human collaboration. These principles highlight the group dynamics, expectations, and interpersonal patterns that shape how teams form, perform, and evolve. By applying them, teams build trust, reduce friction, and navigate the messy, creative, and rewarding nature of collective work.

Concept	Agile Relevance	Usage in Agile
Prime Directive	Psychological safety is foundational for team learning and improvement.	Read aloud at the start of Retrospectives to promote trust, defuse blame, and create a space for honest reflection and continuous improvement.
Tuckman's Ladder	Teams go through Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing stages.	Helps Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches navigate team development, conflict resolution, and long-term team cohesion.
Five Dysfunction of a Team	Teams struggle when trust, accountability, and shared results are weak.	Used by Agile Coaches to diagnose root causes of team friction, improve collaboration, and build high-performing, trust-based teams.
Flexible Framework for Retrospectives	Structured flexibility improves the effectiveness of reflection.	Guides facilitators in designing adaptive Retrospectives that match team maturity, goals, and psychological readiness for change.
2-Pizza Team Rule	Small teams reduce coordination overhead and improve agility.	Guides Agile team sizing (typically 5-9 people), promoting faster decisions, clearer ownership, and more effective communication.
Johari Window	Trust and self-awareness grow when individuals share openly and seek feedback.	Used by Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters to build psychological safety, enhance Retrospectives, and strengthen collaboration by expanding the team's Open Area.
Hackman's Law	A well-structured team with clear roles and autonomy performs better.	Reinforces self-organizing Scrum teams, cross-functional collaboration, and stable Agile teams to boost effectiveness.
Prisoner's Dilemma	Short-term individual gains often conflict with long-term collective success.	Highlights the value of collaboration over competition, encouraging teams to adopt Agile values like trust, transparency, and shared goals.
Pygmalion Effect	High expectations lead to high performance.	Encourages servant leadership, positive reinforcement, and a growth mindset to help Agile teams reach their potential.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs	Unmet basic needs can block team motivation, focus, and self-actualization.	Helps leaders recognize that psychological safety, belonging, and purpose must be supported for Agile teams to thrive and sustain high performance.
Agile Mindeset Model	Mindset shapes how individuals and teams respond to change, uncertainty, and failure.	Used in Agile coaching to promote growth, curiosity, resilience, and a commitment to learning over fixed outcomes or rigid roles.
Ringelmann Effect	As team size increases, individual contributions decrease.	Reinforces the need for small Agile teams (5-9 people per Scrum team) to maintain efficiency and accountability.
Dunbar's Number	The limit of stable social relationships is ~150 people.	Guides Agile team scaling models (SAFe ARTs, Spotify Tribes, LeSS) to prevent communication overload and fragmentation.
Brooks' Law	"Adding more people to a late project makes it later."	Encourages stabilizing Agile teams rather than last-minute hiring to meet unrealistic deadlines, supporting sustainable team dynamics.