Agile for managers

Agile for managers Introduction to Agility Challenges, operation, and impact on leaders

The training objectives are to help you understand:
Why transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one?
Traditional approaches do not suit all projects
What is an Agile approach?
Foundation, concepts, and goals targeted by Agility
How Agile approaches work?
Iterative and incremental approaches
What is going to change?
Impact on managers and their management style
How are managers supported?
Support provided to managers during the transition
Objectives © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Let’s get acquainted

‘ Wheat (shredded grain) side ’ :
Traditional education–business administration and information systems
Experienced manager–over 15 years of experience in managing software development teams
‘ Sweet (frosted) side ’ :
I have been experimenting Agile approaches for a few years
I joined Pyxis in 2008 as vice- president of consulting services
I am an Agile organizational coach
I am a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF)
Like Mini-Wheats… © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Result- oriented
(nutritional quality)
Is mainly oriented towards achieving results
Defines objectives, sets priorities, and assigns resources
Makes decision based on facts
Is consistent and action-oriented
Enjoyment- oriented
(fun to eat)
Is mainly oriented towards people to achieve results
Defines challenges, promotes autonomy, and provides appropriate support
Makes decision based on emotions
Is emotional and relational
What type of manager are you? © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. January 3, 2011 Results Enjoyment

A few questions to get to know you
In order to get best results, it is better to control the activities of all team members.
A process that is not well-defined right from the beginning will always produce suboptimal results.
In order to cut productivity loss, it is better to isolate team members in cubicles and use e-mails as a means of communication.
A team made up of specialists with extensive skills is more efficient than a multidisciplinary team.
The best tools and processes are those chosen by the organization and used by all groups.
It is generally preferable to comprehensively document what we do even if it reduces our speed.
Money is the best way to motivate individuals.
It is more important to respect a pre-established plan than to adapt to changes.
A signed contract is more important than an informal agreement to obtain cooperation between different departments.
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. True False

Results Are you an Agile manager? © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Number of answers (out of 9) where you chose ‘ False ’ Your Agility level 9 Congratulations! You got a perfect score! If you already master the theory of Agile approaches and apply it to your daily activities, you could teach this training course.  5 to 8 You are almost there! You will feel at ease with most concepts presented during this training course. During the next 3 hours, you will have the opportunity to revise fundamentals on which your management approach is based. 1 to 4 You are up to a good start towards a more Agile management style. Concepts and fundamentals of this training course should help you become a more Agile manager. 0 During the next 3 hours, you could ask yourself many questions arising from the course content. Your current paradigm will most probably be harshly tested but you could be really surprised.

Why transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one?

What we hear from business people…
‘ What we get from IT is not what we need, what we asked for. ’
‘ There should be more control because project teams often do not respect deadlines and budgets. ’
‘ What is developed has no value to us. ’
‘ Applications delivered contain too many bugs. ’
‘ We have to provide the project team with all documentation required before they begin to work. ’
‘ Deadlines are way too long. The project must end earlier. ’
We do not understand the language used by IT, and we often are under the impression that they do not understand ours. ’
‘ The situation would be better if IT would collaborate . ’
Traditional approaches pose many challenges © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

What we hear from IT people…
‘ Users do not know what they want. ’
‘ With constantly changing needs, we are not able to respect our deadlines. ’
‘ We are asked to produce more documents than applications. ’
‘ Usually projects start slowly, but then we work like crazy at the end. ’
‘ Nobody has fun in the team. People feel like to go elsewhere. ’
‘ We do not have much room for manoeuvre. Therefore, we must reduce our costs yet again. ’
‘ How can we increase collaboration between business representatives and us? ’
Traditional approaches pose many challenges © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Projects ’ success rate has not improved since 2000.
To obtain better results, we suggest to use an approach that is radically different.
What is the situation like in your organization?
Too few projects are successful © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Chaos Report–Standish Group, 2009

In spite of technological progress, projects are more and more complex.
Success is uncertain for larger projects.
To reduce complexity, projects must be broken up into smaller parts.
Larger projects are less likely to be successful © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. “ To eat an elephant, one has to eat it one bite at a time." – an anonymous savannah hunter Chaos Report–Standish Group, 2009

Return on investment is low.
Nearly 50% of functions are never used.
Traditional approaches force users to prepare a comprehensive list of their needs at the beginning of the project.
The longer it takes to develop functions (that will not be used), the longer it takes to reach the market.
Solutions do not meet the users ’ needs © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Jim Johnson @ XP days–Standish Group, 2002

To remain competitive, organizations must:
Rapidly adapt to changing markets
Keep room for manoeuvre regarding resource allocation
Remain flexible while rapidly making decisions
Develop and maintain their human capital
When complexity increases, centralized management and control systems rapidly reach their limit.
It is impossible to anticipate every thing in advance.
Complexity and change will keep increasing © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

“ In the past few years, Agile processes have not only gained increasing adoption levels; they have also rapidly joined the mainstream of development approaches (...) 35% of respondents stated that Agile most closely reflects their development process. ” – Agile Development: Mainstream Adoption Has Changed Agility , Forrester , January 2010
“ By 2012, Agile development methods will be utilized in 80% of all software development projects. ” – Predicts 2010: Agile and Cloud Impact Application Development Directions , Gartner , December 2009
Market trends confirm the increasing adoption of Agile approaches © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey A. Moore

What are Agile approaches?

Agility: 4 simple values… © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Individuals and interactions Working software Customer collaboration Responding to change processes and tools comprehensive documentation contract negotiation following a plan over over over over

Agility does not mean...
To no longer do project management
To be a chaotic organization that no longer respects its IT governance framework
To no longer produce documents
To leave the team to itself
To do things partially
To change every thing overnight
That there will no longer be any problems
It simply means to do things differently !
Agility means that things will be done differently © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

To develop solutions meeting the business needs
To develop solutions on time and within budget
To increase efficiency and productivity
Using an Agile approach to increase ROI and employee motivation © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Applying Agility to all phases of a project means:
To frequently deliver business value at a sustainable pace
To maintain a high level of quality
To encourage the team ’ s empowerment and accountability as well as collaboration between all stakeholders
To use an iterative and incremental approach
To remain open to change requests throughout the project
“ One source of frustration in the workplace is the frequent mismatch between what people must do and what people can do. When what they must do exceeds their capabilities, the result is anxiety. When what they must do falls short of the capabilities, the result is boredom.˝– Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play , by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Agile approaches aim at delivering value by capitalizing on individuals and their interactions © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

How do Agile approaches work?

Management allowing to reach the vision by delivering tangible added value
Use of an iterative and incremental approach within well-established timeboxes
Implementation of performing teams
To reach our goal, we must implement a structured approach © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Agile approaches require a change of paradigm Constraints Flexibility © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Traditional approach Requirements (functionality) Budget (cost) Deadline (schedule) The plan leads to estimates relating to cost and schedule. Agile approach Requirements (functionality) Budget (cost) Deadline (schedule) The vision leads to estimates relating to functionality. A traditional approach relies on the PLAN. An Agile approach relies on the VISION.

With the client at the centre of the project, managing according to the vision allows us:
To avoid planning everything right from the beginning
To support an incremental investment model
To ensure that priority is given to the delivery of added value
To question ourselves about the relevance of additional functions
To satisfy our clients early with a useful solution
To refine the understanding of the client ’ s needs
To evaluate progress based on results rather than respecting a plan
To take care of the quality component throughout the project
To adapt ourselves to change requests
We do not wish to deliver a ‘ plan ’ , we aim at achieving business results © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Using an iterative and incremental approach to increase ROI © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Improves the ability to meet the change challenge Reduces total project cost Increases the project ’ s ROI The use of an iterative and incremental approach: Reduces planning time Helps define requirements Helps determine the added value of new requests Reduces development time Delivers business value more rapidly

I give you 6 plastic pieces each containing 3 colour stripes.
All pieces have the same shape.
All pieces must touch.
All pieces have a blue stripe, a red stripe, and a yellow stripe.
Each piece is unique.
You must put the pieces together in order to create a blue loop or a long blue trail.
How long do you need to perform this task?
Let ’ s try something © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

The Scrum approach

PO ’ s responsibilities:
Communicate the vision of the solution
Appropriate the specifications
Evaluate the solution ’ s increments
Collaborate with the project team
Collaborate with the solution ’ s management team
A good PO must:
Know the solutions ’ commercial value
Have the authority to combine various interests and wishes
Be available
Be the leader of a product management team
Remember that the system belongs to the users
Scrum roles–the Product Owner or PO Product Owner: the vision leader © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

ScrumMaster ’ s responsibilities:
Remove the barriers between the product team and the PO
Show the client how to maximize the ROI
Increase the project team ’ s productivity
Improve the project team ’ s daily
Improve the development practices and tools
Ensure the observance of operational rules
A good ScrumMaster must:
Have a good understanding of the team ’ s issues and opportunities as well as of the obstacles they encounter
Be a natural leader who motivates the team to achieve the goals established
Be a facilitator who helps remove the team ’ s internal or external obstacles
Be a guardian to preserve the team ’ s autonomy
Scrum roles–the ScrumMaster ScrumMaster: the team ’ s facilitator and leader © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

Team ’ s responsibilities :
Choose the sprint goal and specify the results to be produced
Establish what has to be done in order to reach the sprint ’ s established goal without violating the project guidelines
Be self-organized and plan their own work
Present to the PO quality results
Communicate transparently their progress as well as the obstacles encountered
Move decision making to the lowest level
A good team must:
Consist of 6 to 10 members making up a multidisciplinary team
Be co-located ideally
Understand the complete expertise required to execute the project
Say no to interchangeable individuals
Scrum roles–The team Team in charge of the solution: mean to reach the vision © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

The Scrum process Project start-up–sprint 0
The business prime prepares an initial high-level proposal.
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

A multidisciplinary team is made up to define the project ’ s vision .
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Estimated benefits = $1 500 000 Estimated cost = $1 200 000 Return on investment = 20% Duration = 18 months

The requirements (functionality) are defined at a high level and prioritized according to their estimated business value.
Associated costs are estimated by team members.

The PO and ScrumMaster are appointed.
The main team is formed.

The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
In collaboration with the PO, team members work on the tasks they have selected in order to complete them within a cycle that is between 2 to 4 weeks long.
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. 2 to 4 weeks

According to the priority established by the PO (based on the business value), team members partition requirements into smaller components.
Team members also refine the estimation of efforts associated with selected items.

Team members choose the content of the current sprint and are committed to deliver it within the agreed cycle (e.g. 4 weeks).

In order to eliminate impediments and synchronize their activities, team members meet during 15 minutes for a daily scrum.
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. Each day: 15-minute scrum

Team members integrate ‘ Done ’ items as soon as they are available.

At the end of the 4-week sprint, the project team integrates all ‘ Done ’ items and presents them to the PO for validation and approval.

The project team holds a sprint retrospective meeting to:
establish the means to enhance performance for the next 4-week sprint
discuss other topics the team wishes to address

The Scrum process Next steps–following sprints
At the end of each sprint, value delivered and costs incurred are assessed.

The cycle starts over and the team organizes itself in order to carry out the next sprint.
The PO can add or delete items. He can also change the items ’ priority by revising their business value.
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. 4 semaines 2 to 4 weeks

Team members ask themselves whether the project must be carried on or not. (Is the business value higher than anticipated costs?)

People are more motivated when they manage themselves.
People are more committed when they make their own commitments.
Teams and individuals are more productive when they are not interrupted.
Teams are improving when they solve their problems by themselves.
Productivity is compromised when changes are made to the team composition.
Face-to-face communication is the most productive way for a team to work and exchange.
"The opposite of autonomy is control. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement. ” – Drive , by Daniel Pink
Self-sufficient teams produce best results © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

The ‘ potential ’ team is the most common team within organizations
The real team is a small number of individuals with complementary skills and with a goal, an approach, and a set of common performance-related objectives for which they hold themselves mutually accountable
"The desire for intellectual challenge (the urge to master something new and engaging) was the best predictor of productivity."– Know What Makes Them Tick , by Max Siegel
The objective is to create high performance teams © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. The Wisdom of Team, Katzenbach and Smith

We are coaching rather than commanding or controlling.
We create environments promoting collaboration to foster team work.
It is ideal to reorganize the physical location, but this goal could be reached gradually.
We involve business people right from the beginning in order to promote commitment.
We create communities so people can communicate and improve themselves.
We use tools to disseminate information.
How will we proceed? © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

What will change?

What does it mean to the managers? © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.
LEADERSHIP
Definition of the objectives and performance management
Management and leadership style
ENVIRONMENT
Work environment and organizational culture
PROJECT TEAM
Self-sufficiency and accountability
Collaboration and teamwork
Communication and knowledge sharing
Skills and professional development
Continuous improvement e and organizational learning
Processes and tools

Transfer authority and responsibility to the team so it can do its work adequately
Avoid interference and micromanagement
Promote collaboration and teamwork
Support learning and not systematically penalize failures
Review best practices in order to adapt them to changing realities
Make adjustments to the facilities so the environment facilitates the execution of Agile projects
Adapt the management style to the context of the team
Managers are also impacted by the transition from a traditional to an Agile approach © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

How managers are being supported?

As members of the expertise centre, organizational coaches:
Offer training courses to groups of managers (e.g. Agile for managers )
Participate in steering committees of pilot projects
Individually support the managers that are related to pilot projects in order to go from a traditional management style to a more Agile one
Provide individual or group coaching in order to address fears, challenges, and resistances and to provide appropriate support
Managers will be supported by organizational coaches © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

A transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one is not an IT project, it is rather an organizational change.
An Agile approach highly impacts project teams but it also impacts managers and their management style.
When this type of transition is successful, it gives a competitive advantage to the organization.
Supporting managers is critical to the success of this type of initiative.
Conclusion © Copyright2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

A few references
Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum , by Mike Cohn
Agile Coaching , by Rachel Davies
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great , by Esther Derby
Agile Project Management with Scrum , by Ken Schwaber
Managing Agile Projects , by Sanjiv Augustine
Collaboration Explained: Facilitation Skills for Software Project Leaders , by Jean Tabaka
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization , by Peter Senge
© Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc. January 3, 2011

Drive , by Daniel Pink
Know What Makes Them Tick , by Max Siegel
Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play , by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable , by Patrick M. Lencioni
The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization , by Jon R Katzenbach
Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ , by Daniel Goleman
Coaching for Performance , by John Withmore
A few references © Copyright 2010 Pyxis Technologies inc.

To carry on our discussion
Martin Proulx , organizational coach
http://pyxis-tech.com
[email_address]
http://twitter.com/analytical_mind
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/martinproulx
http://analytical-mind.com

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Agile for managers

by Martin Proulx on Jan 03, 2011

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