In the middle of an iteration, an agile team working on the development of a new product was notified that an important team member will leave the…

In an agile environment, the project manager acts as a servant leader, facilitating and empowering the team. The core principle of a self-organizing team means the team members collectively own the work and are best equipped to decide how to manage it. When a team member is unexpectedly absent, the project manager's role is to bring this impediment to the team's attention and facilitate a discussion. The team can then collaboratively determine the best course of action, such as redistributing the work, adjusting the iteration goal, or swarming on the remaining tasks. This approach fosters team ownership, accountability, and adaptability, which are hallmarks of successful agile projects.

1. Project Management Institute. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Seventh Edition. Project Management Institute.

Section 2.2

Team Performance Domain: This section emphasizes that "Project teams are composed of individuals who can be self-organized or managed" and that fostering a collaborative environment where the team takes ownership of outcomes is critical. The situation described requires the team to take ownership of the solution.

2. Project Management Institute. (2017). Agile Practice Guide. Project Management Institute.

Section 3.3

Servant Leadership: This section describes the project manager's role in an agile context

which includes "facilitating" and "removing impediments." The correct action is to facilitate the team's problem-solving process

not to dictate a solution.

Section 4.3.2

Self-organizing Teams: This section states

"The team has the autonomy to determine how to accomplish its work... The team learns to solve its own problems." Therefore

the team should decide how to handle the absence.

3. Moe

N. B.

Dingsøyr

T.

& Dybå

T. (2010). A teamwork model for understanding an agile team: A case study of a Scrum project. Information and Software Technology

52(5)

480-491.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2009.11.004

This study highlights that team autonomy and self-management are central to agile success. The research supports the concept that the team itself is responsible for managing its work

processes

and internal challenges

such as the temporary loss of a team member.