In a joint research study, Scrum.org and McKinsey & Company studied the personality traits and work values in 2 crucial roles for agile teams: The Product Owner and the Team Member. Our findings suggest that the ability to handle ambiguity and agreeableness are most important among personality traits, whereas pride in product outcomes and self-direction are most important among work values.

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This research was conducted because in today’s ever-changing world, many organizations are making the effort to become more agile. Whereas traditional organizations seem mechanical and hierarchical, agile organizations balance stability with dynamism, and can adapt for an ever-changing, unpredictable future. Based on these distinctions, Scrum.org and McKinsey predicted that the characteristics of types of people that lead to success in an agile team would differ from those in traditional work settings and wanted to understand how information about how people become successful can help. Understanding how to select and hire for this dynamic, agile future is critical to the team and organization’s future. 

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In this talk, Dave West, CEO and Product Owner, Scrum.org will look at the learnings from this study in terms of hiring, selecting and coaching people for agility, and the best characteristics you should be looking for. Dave will provide practical interview questions to support the interview process and good practices for developing agile teams.