COVID-19 was the biggest driver of culture change in the last year

COVID-19 was the largest influence of change in the culture and methods space in 2020 and the knock on effects in 2021 are driving many of the trends we see at this time.  The previous trends report was released early in the pandemic and we now have a year’s worth of content to explore how the IT world has adapted and responded. There have been many examples of great collaboration, teamwork and adapting to new ways of working along with plenty of stories of hardship, Zoom Fatigue, mental and physical health challenges and other impacts as people have adapted to working from home, managers have changed long-held beliefs about remote work and organisations have adopted new technologies to support the shift.

Source: Culture & Methods Trends Report March 2021

Source: Engineering Culture Trends Report – March 2021

The January 2021 draft of Code of Ethical Conduct consists of 18 points covering 9 subject areas:

• Confidentiality and information security
• Acting within your ability
• Introspection and continuing professional development
• Conflicts of interest
• Social responsibility, including diversity and inclusion
• Ensuring the relationship is valuable for both coach and the client
• Agreeing on boundaries
• Abuse of power
• Responsibility to the profession

The Ethics Scenarios provide guidance on how the code relates to common challenges experienced by agile coaches, whether they are experienced or new to the role.

The expectation is that anyone taking on agile coaching at any level in an organisation will be able to use this code to help guide their behavior when faced with ethical dilemmas.

For questions and feedback on the code of ethics and the related agile scenarios, you can contact the initiative team at AgileCoachingEthics@agilealliance.org.

InfoQ interviewed Craig Smith and Shane Hastie about the code of ethical conduct.

Source: Draft Published of the Code of Ethical Conduct for Agile Coaching

• Remote work is suddenly the new normal due to the impact of COVID-19, and many teams are not fully ready for the change
• The spread of agile ideas into other areas of organizations continues—business agility is becoming much more than just a buzzword
• At the practices level, Wardley Mapping is one of the few truly new ideas that have come into this space recently. Invented by Simon Wardley in 2005, they are gaining traction because they are truly a powerful tool for making sense of complexity.
• The depth of impact that computing technology has on society has heightened the focus on ethical behavior and the move towards creating an ethical framework for software development, as well as growing concern in the environmental impact the industry has.
• Diversity and inclusion efforts are moving forward, with a long way still to go
• Practices and approaches that result in more humanistic workplaces, where people can express their whole selves, are recognized as important for attracting and retaining the best people and result in more sustainably profitable organizations

Source: Software Teams and Teamwork Trends Report Q1 2020

Source: Culture & Methods – the State of Practice in 2019

Source: The 2018 InfoQ Editors’ Recommended Reading List: Part Two

Source: ThoughtWorks Sold to Private Equity Firm Apax Partners

Source: Agile 2017 Keynote: Creating Leadership and Engagement at Every Level