Maximizing Agile by Understanding Learning Styles

Agile methodology positions software development as both a communication and learning-based creative process. Part of being agile is recognizing the need for teamwork, and valuing people and interactions over processes.

Often, this means working with people who think, communicate, or learn differently than you do. Like all teamwork, it also means working with people who are in a different role than you are. To be an effective team member, you need to be an effective communicator.

In this context, “communication” is defined as the output to learning’s input, because you need to be able to share the knowledge you have. The whole agile software development lifecycle relies on this learning-communication cycle—planning and design sessions; troubleshooting and working through problems; discussion between developers, testers, and product owners; and product owners and end-users providing feedback to improve what is being built. This constant learning is what promotes sustainable development and allows the team to grow and evolve.

Everyone learns differently, and the way people learn is based on far more than their preferences for information presentation. A learning style is just a group of behaviors centered around absorbing, processing, and retaining information. There are multiple models of learning styles; none are exhaustive, and they tend to overlap.

Learning styles can be strengthened, and everyone uses different styles in different situations. For example, we all have the capacity to think intuitively and to think analytically. When you are planning your budget, analytical thinking is more helpful. When you are in a crisis situation, intuitive thinking is of more use because it has a faster time to action. That said, it is important to develop different methods of intaking information.

It’s also important to note that content can suggest a particular method of presentation to help maximize its absorption. For example, it is appropriate to use more visual diagrams when learning geometry than when taking a writing class.

It’s interesting to look at how these learning styles fit into the Scrum model of agile. Certain ceremonies are better suited to particular styles of information presentation. It’s good to observe which people on your team are more easily engaged or more easily lost during these ceremonies.

For example, the daily standup is geared toward verbal communication. If you find that you are losing the attention of your team, try making the ceremony more visual by looking at a product board every day. And since the daily standup is supposed to be a short conversation about work, this can be a great time to practice social communication. Instead of listing information as tasks, practice telling a short story about how work went yesterday and what today holds.

To be most agile with your communication, it’s good to have a grasp on several models of learning styles, where you fit into them, and where your team fits into them. By tweaking the ways in which you communicate to fit the information and the situation, you are helping your team to remain agile by valuing people and interactions over processes.

Robin Foster is presenting the session Maximizing Agile Benefits through Understanding Learning Styles at Agile + DevOps East 2019, November 3–8 in Orlando, Florida.

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2 comments

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tedyoung

I'd like to caution the use of "Learning Styles" as it can lead folks astray. Understanding folks' preferences is important, but be careful about using the (debunked) learning theory of "Learning Styles". See https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/learning-styles-debun... for more details (or https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x for even more details).

October 30, 2019 - 3:28pm

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Robin Foster

Hi! Thanks for reading my post. I am familiar with the 2008 research paper that "debunked" learning styles. See https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf for a direct link to the paper.

 

The information in that research paper does not conflict with the content in my talk or even with the content of this blog. The authors of "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence" largely take issue with the proliferation of commercial "learning styles quizes" that immutably categorize people based on self-reported preferences, and then recommend teaching based on the results of that quiz. As I do, the authors comment that it does appear to be appropriate to tailor teaching styles to the content of the information. I note that in their paper, the authors also take care to mention that there are plenty of anecdotal examples of teachers who have experienced dramatic results when they change the style of their delivery to fit a student's percieved learning style. Furthermore, I would question the assessment method that they used to prove their results. It is never mentioned how the students in the experiement were evaluated, and I think it's clear that the method of evaluation is an important data point to include when debunking how well somebody has learned something. As it is a research paper, it has a very specific focus and the authors never delve into the concept that brains change and react differently in different situations.

My talk is not a scientific endeavor, it is anecdotal based on experiences and my ability to link them to Agile ceremonies. The brain is a complicated subject, and we don't yet fully understand how it functions. I am not a neuroscientist, but I am aware that the scientific community has continued to research subjects such as learning styles and neuroplasticity in the decade since this popular paper was published. I appreciate your feedback, and hope that you can attend my presentation so that we can better continue the conversation. It's hard to squash down that much information into a blog post!

October 31, 2019 - 9:16am

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