T-Shaping: Why Your Secondary Skills Matter in Agile Teams

𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱

When you join a multidisciplinary team like an Agile Squad or Tribe, it's because your expertise is valuable for the team. And then you will quickly hear about 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 ?

Let's take a concrete example : Margot De Wilder joined her Squad as a Go-To-Market Marketeer thanks to her great expertise in Customer Experience.

If in her Squad she only used this expertise, we would say that Margot is 𝗜-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱.

But Margot also has great skills in Acquisition and Omnichannel communication. As she quickly started using these skills in her Squad, we can say that Margot is 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱.

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿 :
- The "I" bar stands for your deepest skill - filling the entire vertical space.
- The horizontal one (turning the "I" into a "T") stands for your other skills !

𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 just means that in addition to your expertise, you surely have other skills that you can use for your team. Using them will increase :

✅ Continuous Learning
✅ Collaboration
✅ Your impact on team's work
✅ Diverse and entertaining Tasks

Ever heard of π-shaping (Pi) or ന-shaping (Comb) ? Let's keep this for later !

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