It's interesting how people speak at different rates, and there are lots of reasons for that, such as culture, upbringing, preference, and just the way we're wired. At work, what's important is that if you speak too fast or too slow relative to what's normal in your environment, you may unknowingly be annoying people.

Being a leader of a software team comes with a lot of responsibility. You may be used to people looking to you for direction. But directing doesn't let your team truly use the skills and talents they were hired for. A good leader knows that sometimes, the best strategy is to step aside and let the team shine.

It may seem like the best team would be composed of all specialists, but due to their proficiency in only one area, they can actually hold up an agile workflow. You can keep specialists on your cross-functional teams; you just need to structure their work. Here are four options for making good use of a specialist.