What makes a good Agile team?

What makes a good Agile team?

• A. They are tightly coupled with management and require approvals for changes
• B. They are independent, cross functional, self organizing, self managing, define, build, test code, and are optimized for communication to deliver value every two weeks; team size is 7 +/- 2
• C. They focus only on coding and ignore communication
• D. They are large teams of 12-20 with rigid roles

Answer: (B)

An Agile team should be small, empowered, and capable of delivering value in short cycles by bringing together all the skills needed to go from idea to working software. The description that fits best captures an independent, cross-functional team that self-organizes and self-manages, defines, builds, and tests the code, and is optimized for direct, frequent communication to deliver value every two weeks. Keeping the team around seven people (plus or minus two) helps maintain close collaboration, fast decision making, and clear ownership, which are essential for agility. Delivering in two-week increments provides rapid feedback and incremental progress, aligning with the cadence that supports continuous improvement. In contrast, teams that are tightly tied to management, focus only on coding with poor communication, or are large with rigid roles tend to slow down decision making, increase handoffs, and reduce adaptability.

An Agile team should be small, empowered, and capable of delivering value in short cycles by bringing together all the skills needed to go from idea to working software. The description that fits best captures an independent, cross-functional team that self-organizes and self-manages, defines, builds, and tests the code, and is optimized for direct, frequent communication to deliver value every two weeks. Keeping the team around seven people (plus or minus two) helps maintain close collaboration, fast decision making, and clear ownership, which are essential for agility. Delivering in two-week increments provides rapid feedback and incremental progress, aligning with the cadence that supports continuous improvement. In contrast, teams that are tightly tied to management, focus only on coding with poor communication, or are large with rigid roles tend to slow down decision making, increase handoffs, and reduce adaptability.