How colleagues describe the work.
Selected feedback on team leadership, Agile facilitation, blocker removal, communication, accountability, and the habits that help technical teams do better work.
These comments are quotes from annual performance review peer feedback and collected here for easier reading.
Team leadership
I think the team is exceptionally lucky to have Michael. He cares about them and wants them to be able to do their best work and to be happy when they log in in the morning. He is supportive of them all.
Agile facilitationTeamwork
Michael does an outstanding job keeping team members engaged in the scrum process, helping us stay busy and keeping the process moving along efficiently. He has a positive attitude (as everyone knows). He is knowledgeable about scrum. He’s always looking for opportunities for team members to work together as a team rather than letting us follow our natural tendencies to work independently.
CollaborationAgile
Just wanted to say how impressive your team is. They are well prepped, organized and executed. There is great camaraderie, discussion, curiosity, and vision among the team.
Blocker removal
He is very good at listening and offering help to address roadblocks.
AccountabilityTeam advocacy
I appreciate the attitude he brings to his work, and his willingness to speak out; I appreciate the way he seems to walk the line between advocating for and/or defending his team, while also pushing for accountability/results from his team.
CadenceRoadblocks
Shows up to every standup ready to ask intelligent questions about what is slowing us down, give kudos for work that is going well. He takes ownership of many organizational communication tasks to allow “workers” to focus on the technical work. Has an informal style that makes it easy to say what we need to say and get work done.
CultureCharacter
I think Michael is a great cultural fit. He works hard, cares about people, knows how to be serious, how to let loose, and has strong character. I’m glad I get to work with him.
ProfessionalismHumor
Great professionalism, sense of humor, and every other attribute I can think of.
ListeningSupport
This is Michael’s greatest strength: he is 100% team-focused, and he really cares about people on the team. He tries to anticipate their needs, is a sympathetic and active listener for them, and tries to understand what is often left unspoken. This is a very big accomplishment, because half the team is uncommunicative at best about what is really important and how they are struggling, and furtive at worst. He has learned a lot over the last year whom to contact and what paths to take to remove roadblocks, and when he needs help, he asks for it.
What the comments point to.
- Useful process, not process theater Agile cadence, dashboards, retrospectives, and blocker paths are treated as feedback systems.
- Team advocacy with delivery accountability The feedback consistently mentions support, listening, and clear expectations.
- Technical work protected from noise Communication and coordination are handled so technical contributors can stay focused.
- Small habits that compound Preparation, standup questions, visible blockers, and follow-through become durable team habits.