Bryan Tew presented "Agile for Product People." Bryan Tew is an Agile trainer and coach for DavisBase consulting (http://www.davisbase.org/).

1. Agile for
Product People
Presented by Bryan Tew

2. Introduction
• Bryan Tew of DavisBase Consulting
• Agile Trainer and Coach
• 10+ years in software development industry
• IT Roles include PMO Director, Project Manager, Program Manager,
Business Analyst, Process Manager
• Novell, The Generations Network, Solution Stream, ASPE
• 4+ years implementing Agile practices with software development
teams and IT organizations
• MBA, Certified Scrum Master & Practitioner
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

3. Objectives
• Understand the differences and benefits of
Agile development
• Provide knowledge and understanding of
Agile principles and practices
• Understand the role of the Product Owner
and how to work with an Agile team
• Learn how you can help your teams get
started
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

4. Traditional Development
• Waterfall uses the ‘Big Bang’ approach:
The product
is delivered
At the
completion
of testing
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

5. The Triple Constraint
Schedule Cost
Timetable for creating the People, materials, and
deliverables equipment used to create
the deliverables
Scope
Feature/functionality
deliverables for the project
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

6. What is Agile?
• A philosophy about software development
• A collection of processes and practices that
uphold that philosophy
• A grassroots movement to revolutionize
software development
• What is the problem we’re trying to solve?
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

7. The Agile Advantage
• With incremental delivery:
– We address the greatest risks early in the
project
– We can make corrections/adjustments with
each iteration
– The Product Owner sees the product emerge
before their eyes and has visibly helped to
create it
– The team incrementally improves with each
iteration
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

8. Waterfall vs Agile
Target
Waterfall/’Big Bang’
Agile
Time
• Waterfall can lead to a large gap
between what the Product Owner
wants and what is actually delivered
• Agility adjusts to the goal based on
customer feedback with each iteration.
- 0 +
Variance from Target
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

9. Why Agile?
1. Manage rapidly
changing priorities
2. Accelerate time to
market
3. Increase
Productivity
4. Improve Quality
VersionOne/AgileAlliance Survey, August 2006
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

10. Agile Benefits
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11. Paradigm Shift
Features Fixed___ Date Cost
Agile
Traditional
Date Cost Flexible Features
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12. Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and
helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.
http://agilemanifesto.org/
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

13. Agile Fundamentals:
Working Software = Customer Satisfaction
• Working software is the primary measure of progress
• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and
continuous delivery of valuable software
• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a
couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale
Q: When you go to a car
Q: When you need a CRM
dealership to buy a car,
system for your business,
does the dealer:
1. Show you a blueprint of
does IT:
1. Show you a set of wireframes
the car?
representing the software?
2. Put you in the make and
2. Develop some functionality so
model of the car so that
you can try it out?
you can take it for a test
drive?
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

14. Agile Fundamentals:
Adaptability & Change Are Welcome
• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development.
Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive
advantage
– ‘Plans are useless..., planning is indispensable” - Eisenhower
• The plan is only a point estimate - a moment in time
• Planning is the ongoing response to a changing reality
– Recognize that changing user needs, market conditions and
regulations will necessitate changes to the ‘plan’
– While there is a legitimate reason for changes in scope, the
notion of ‘scope creep’ has little meaning in this model
15
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

15. Agile Fundamentals:
Sustainable Development
• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors,
developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace
indefinitely.
start end
– Prevents the ‘student syndrome’ on projects
80 Effort/hrs
– Sustainable, even pace of work allows for more
Hrs/week
accurate extrapolation of timeline and budget, higher 40
product quality
– Team is not consistently working in a state of
Duration
emergency or burnout:
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

16. Agile Fundamentals:
Go See for Yourself
• The most efficient and effective method of conveying
information to and within a development team is face-to-face
conversation
– Do not depend on what you see:
• On a computer screen
• In an e-mail
• On an MS Gantt Chart
– Crucial conversations are best had face-to-face. Messages only realize:
• 7% of their impact via the actual words
• 38% of their impact from vocal inflection
• 55% of their impact from body language
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

17. Agile Fundamentals:
Self Organizing Teams
• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge
from Self-Organizing Teams
– The technical team knows ‘how’ to get the job done based
upon technical expertise
– The team knows best how to organize itself to accomplish the
work
– The team obtains the ‘what’ from the customer/sponsor
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will
surprise you with their ingenuity.“ – General George S. Patton Jr.
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

18. Agile Fundamentals:
Collaboration is Key
• Business people and developers must work together daily
throughout the project
– “Throw it over the wall” is not a management option
– Continuous customer collaboration ensures the product
development is on track and stays on track
– Daily stand-ups with the Product Owner (or the P.O.s proxy)
will elevate project issues immediately and allow for timely
adjustments of the deliverables
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

19. Process Overview
Scrum Alliance 2008
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20. Process Overview
Scrum Alliance 2008
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21. Scrum Terms
• Daily Scrum
• Sprint
• Product Backlog
• Sprint Backlog
• Velocity
• Product Owner
• Scrum Master
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

22. Forming the Agile Team
• Customer Unit • Developer Unit
• Product Manager • Developer
• Customer • Business Analyst
• QA
• Business Analyst
• DBA
• Marketing
• Project Manager
• Executives
• Creative/Design
• More....
• IT/IS
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

23. Rock Band Analogy
#1 The Team is the rock band – people pay to attend concerts to see and listen to the band.
#2 The Product Owner(s) are the fans – those who pay to attend concerts, pay for the music
and therefore ultimately determine what music is popular and what music the band plays.
#3 The Scrum-Master is the bouncer/manager – they protect the band from over enthusiastic
fans, make sure no harm comes to them, book the gigs and make sure the band shows up on
time
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

24. Product Owner Role
• Identify markets and • Create user stories
customers
• Be prepared with details at
• Define products the appropriate time
• Establish the Product • Set clear expectations for
Vision and Roadmap acceptance
• Drive and quantify • Convince Customers to
business value buy and Executives to
invest
• Prioritize and manage the
product backlog • COMMUNICATE
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

25. Product Backlog
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26. Team Best Practices
• Start as a team, finish as a team
• Appropriate team size
• Empowerment
• Decision making pushed down to lowest level
• Come together
• Do you have the space for co-location?
• Are you available for daily collaboration?
• Open and Honest Communication
• Inspect and Adapt
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

27. Communication
• Forums for communication
• Daily Standup/Scrum
• Iteration Planning
• Iteration Review/Demo
• Retrospectives
• Taskboards
• Burndown Charts
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

28. How to get started with
agile ?
• Find a coach on your team or mentor outside
• Start with a project that will span at least 3 or 4
sprints
• Pick people who will give it a fair trial (skeptics
okay)
• Support it. Listen to what team and data tell
you
• Have that team coach the next
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

29. Things to Remember
• Establish a cadence
• Focus on practices that add value -
eliminate waste whenever possible
• Communication - transparent and on
the main path
• Patience - don’t expect perfection
• Inspect and adapt always!
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

30. DavisBase Offerings
• Agile for Product Owners
• Agile for Executives
• Agile Boot Camp
• Agile Project Management
• Agile Requirements
• Agile Essentials
• Transitioning from Waterfall to Agile
• ...Coaching Services
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

31. Thank You!
• Bryan Tew
• DavisBase Consulting
• bryan@davisbase.org
• (801) 494-1072
Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC