Team Practices Group

The Team Practices Group (TPG) was dissolved in 2017.

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The TPG facilitates the use of practices that support team health. How to Engage with TPG.

Group:	Product
Team:	Arthur Richards (Sr. Agile Coach: Organizational Collaboration) Grace Gellerman (Agile Coach) Kevin Smith (Agile Coach) Joel Aufrecht (Agile Coach) Max Binder (Scrum Master) Natalia Harateh (Agile Specialist)
Management:	Kristen Lans (Director of Team Practices)
Since:	2014-07-01
Until:	2017

Team Mission Statement

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The Team Practices Group believes that healthy teams reliably deliver customer value and innovative products. Through dedicated resourcing, coaching, and workshops at the Wikimedia Foundation, we facilitate the use of practices that support team health, with a strong emphasis on creating conditions of clarity, trust, and continuous improvement.

Team Values

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People

We value people as unique individuals. With humility, compassion, and empathy, we seek to empower one another.

Relationships

We value and support collaboration, and believe that groups of people have the power to be more than the sum of their parts.

Learning

We value learning, working iteratively, and responding to change.

Sustainability

We value working in ways that support individual and team health, and which effectively use finite resources such as attention, time, and money.

Overview

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The Team Practices Group (TPG) supports the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) teams in their continual improvement.

The TPG works with individuals and teams to facilitate their discovery and implementation of methodologies/approaches that work best for them, guided by the agile manifesto and agile principles.

The TPG supports WMF teams by offering the following services:

Providing dedicated resourcing for a team's Scrum Master (or similar) role, depending on availability/resourcing of the TPG.
- e.g. A team wants a dedicated Scrum Master but does not currently have anyone on their team who wants or is able to take on the role. They go to the TPG, and the TPG provides them with someone who can fulfill that role.
Periodic or one-off collaborative engagements to facilitate process improvements for individuals and teams.
- e.g. A team getting ready to kick off a big project wants help in reorganizing their team practices to use the Scrum framework. They request support from the TPG, and the TPG provides Scrum training to that team.
Mentorship and support for people in the Scrum Master (or similar) role.
- e.g. An existing Scrum Master (not provided by the TPG) is looking for ways to increase and improve their skills. A request is made for support from the TPG, and the TPG provides mentorship and resources.

Engagement with the TPG is entirely optional for WMF teams.

Teams may elect to receive all, some, or none of the TPG services at any given time.
- The TPG facilitates and cultivates healthy team practices, to the best of its resources, as teams request.

The TPG aims to not be prescriptive nor dogmatic.
- The TPG is agnostic in regards to specific methodologies (e.g. Scrum vs Kanban).

Fridays, some of us wear tropical attire.

The Team

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Kristen

Kristen Lans - Team Practices Director

Arthur

Arthur Richards - Senior Agile Coach: Organizational Collaboration

Grace Gellerman - Agile Coach (Wikimedia_Research including Design/Research)

Kevin

Kevin Smith - Agile Coach (Discovery)

Joel

Joel Aufrecht - Agile Coach (VisualEditor)

Max

Max Binder - Scrum Master (Reading Web)

Natalia

Natalia Harateh - Agile Specialist (Mobile Apps)

Our Work

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Engagements

Goals from previous quarters

Essential Functions

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Providing dedicated resourcing for a team's Scrum Master (or similar) role.
Ad-hoc team/individual process coaching.
Mentorship and support for people in the Scrum Master (or similar) role.
Team Health Checks
Scale Team Practices Group.
Other work that advances TPG goals but doesn't have a tidy goal.

Our Skills

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TPG is able to perform various functions, like meeting facilitation or Scrummastering. When practical, we like to teach those skills to others, in order to increase capacity and empowerment throughout the organization. Here is a list of some of the skills that TPG can offer: