Agile Executive Briefing: Situational Assessment and 50,000 ft view of Agile Michael Sahota October, 2009

Michael has been doing Agile for 8 years including senior leadership roles B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science M.Sc. in Computer Science Companies I have worked at … Universities I learned at …

There are two distinct parts to this talk: Assessment and Overview Part I: Situational Assessment Situation Complication Resolution Action Proof Part II: 50,000 ft view of Agile What is Agile? What does Agile do? How does Agile work? What does Agile achieve?

Part I: Situational Assessment

Situation

Complication

Resolution

Action

Proof

Part II: 50,000 ft view of Agile

What is Agile?

What does Agile do?

How does Agile work?

What does Agile achieve?

Situational Assessment Part I

Situation Exercise: What problems do your organizations face with project delivery?

2009 Standish Group report shows problems delivering projects Graphic Copyright Standish Group

Much effort on software is wasted Graphic Copyright Duncan Kinchen

Business satisfaction is low… Uncertain when their project will be delivered Projects are not responsive to the changing needs of the business: By the time the project is delivered, needs may have changed Small high value business request cannot be accommodated

Uncertain when their project will be delivered

Projects are not responsive to the changing needs of the business:

By the time the project is delivered, needs may have changed

Small high value business request cannot be accommodated

Complication

#1 – Focus is on delivering projects and not on building lasting products and teams Project outlook is common with a focus on only on the next delivery Product and people are usually around for the long term Activities critical for sustainability are ignored or inadequate: Staff capability, knowledge sharing Quality of code, design and architecture Don’t kill the goose! Image by techliberation.com

Project outlook is common with a focus on only on the next delivery

Product and people are usually around for the long term

Activities critical for sustainability are ignored or inadequate:

Staff capability, knowledge sharing

Quality of code, design and architecture

#2 – Often too much work and no time to do things right Project team members often working on several different projects or have activities that compete for their time Highly skilled people (architects, DBA’s) are often unable to fully support projects All of this makes it harder to follow practices needed for sustainability Of course, there is no time for innovation or process improvements Image by techblog.tilllate.com

Project team members often working on several different projects or have activities that compete for their time

Highly skilled people (architects, DBA’s) are often unable to fully support projects

All of this makes it harder to follow practices needed for sustainability

Of course, there is no time for innovation or process improvements

Resolution

Resolution #1: Deep IT and business partnership to prioritize work Structure the work into small deliverables so work quality and completeness can be assessed Allows changing priorities with low impact Focus on most important work first Use a transparent process so that rate of progress is visible Work can be prioritized based on importance (business value, risk, sustainability)

Structure the work into small deliverables so work quality and completeness can be assessed

Allows changing priorities with low impact

Focus on most important work first

Use a transparent process so that rate of progress is visible

Work can be prioritized based on importance (business value, risk, sustainability)

Resolution #2: Long-term view to invest in people and products Investment in the team, technology and process has a long time horizon Use stable teams to manage product lines over the long term Team members fully committed to one initiative supports focus and commitment Creates the opportunity to grow high-performance teams since membership is stable

Investment in the team, technology and process has a long time horizon

Use stable teams to manage product lines over the long term

Team members fully committed to one initiative supports focus and commitment

Creates the opportunity to grow high-performance teams since membership is stable

Action

Action #1: Create stable teams around product lines for long-term view Form cross-functional teams around each product line with BAs, developers, testers, architects, DBAs Build technical skills needed for quality work (code, design, architecture, testing) through training and mentoring This includes eXtreme Programming practices Sustained success requires a commitment to learning and improving Support shift to a communicating and learning culture

Form cross-functional teams around each product line with BAs, developers, testers, architects, DBAs

Build technical skills needed for quality work (code, design, architecture, testing) through training and mentoring

This includes eXtreme Programming practices

Sustained success requires a commitment to learning and improving

Support shift to a communicating and learning culture

Action #2: Adopt Agile to manage the process and facilitate prioritization Adopt Agile/Scrum process practices for the product team The Product Backlog becomes the repository of all work to be done by this team Work can be prioritized with all stakeholders and aligned to business strategy Let the business lead!

Adopt Agile/Scrum process practices for the product team

The Product Backlog becomes the repository of all work to be done by this team

Work can be prioritized with all stakeholders and aligned to business strategy

Let the business lead!

Proof

Proof: Agile adoption survey results demonstrate significant benefits Productivity Business Stakeholder Satisfaction Quality Graphics Copyright 2008 Scott W. Ambler www.ambysoft.com/surveys/ Source: 2008 Dr. Dobbs adoption survey

QSMA Study of Agile Projects shows Agile is faster with better quality Companies using Agile were on average: 37% faster delivering their software to market 16% more productive Able to maintain normal defect counts despite significant schedule compression From “ The Agile Impact Report” (sponsored by Rally) . QSMA benchmarked 29 Agile development projects against a database of 7,500 primarily traditional development projects.

Companies using Agile were on average:

37% faster delivering their software to market

16% more productive

Able to maintain normal defect counts despite significant schedule compression

From “ The Agile Impact Report” (sponsored by Rally) .

QSMA benchmarked 29 Agile development projects against a database of 7,500 primarily traditional development projects.

Largest procurer of software in the world prefers an Agile approach U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest and most experienced procurer of software In 2000, after years of learning, identified evolutionary delivery (Agile) as the preferred approach over Waterfall Made official policy in DoD 5000.2

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest and most experienced procurer of software

In 2000, after years of learning, identified evolutionary delivery (Agile) as the preferred approach over Waterfall

Made official policy in DoD 5000.2

50,000ft view of Agile Part II

What is Agile?

Agile consists of values, principles and practices Values – People learning and working together Principles – Ways of working effectively: Feedback, small steps, quality work, etc. @see: agilemanifesto.org Practices – a set of work practices/process that follow the values and principles: Scrum, XP, etc.

Values – People learning and working together

Principles – Ways of working effectively: Feedback, small steps, quality work, etc.

@see: agilemanifesto.org

Practices – a set of work practices/process that follow the values and principles: Scrum, XP, etc.

What does Agile do?

Adaptive planning approach that incorporates learning and new priorities Agile allows plans to be updated base on new information (delays, unplanned work, challenges, opportunities) It uses empirical control to guide the work to the highest priority items Can respond to new business priorities too

Agile allows plans to be updated base on new information (delays, unplanned work, challenges, opportunities)

It uses empirical control to guide the work to the highest priority items

Can respond to new business priorities too

Completing work in small increments allows for transparency and feedback Work is done in small work packages (Stories, feature fragments) so that they may be completed in a short time frame Frequent inspection of work makes the true progress visible to all Incomplete work is visible Photo from www.clipartgirl.com

Work is done in small work packages (Stories, feature fragments) so that they may be completed in a short time frame

Frequent inspection of work makes the true progress visible to all

Incomplete work is visible

Creates the opportunity to develop high-performance teams Treats people as knowledge workers (Drucker) to maximize their contribution to the organization Fosters a high communication and collaborative environment Creates safety to express ideas, talk about problems and ask for help Retrospectives support ongoing learning

Treats people as knowledge workers (Drucker) to maximize their contribution to the organization

Fosters a high communication and collaborative environment

Creates safety to express ideas, talk about problems and ask for help

Retrospectives support ongoing learning

Increased quality allows the team to go faster and not slow down over time Focus on completing work each increment improves quality level Technical practices lead to substantially higher quality levels Prevents a “dead core” where productivity falls and changes are unpredictable Photo from www.porschephotos.info

Focus on completing work each increment improves quality level

Technical practices lead to substantially higher quality levels

Prevents a “dead core” where productivity falls and changes are unpredictable

How does Agile work?

The Product Backlog allows shared prioritizing and planning Product Backlog is a prioritized list of all the work that needs to be done Work is prioritized based on business value, risk and effort Used to build a release plan with target scope and target date Updated as new information arrives

Product Backlog is a prioritized list of all the work that needs to be done

Work is prioritized based on business value, risk and effort

Used to build a release plan with target scope and target date

Updated as new information arrives

Iteration ensures frequent planning, evaluating and adapting

Self-organizing team supports shared responsibility and ownership Scrum proscribes a cross-functional team with all the skills needed to deliver work The team is collectively responsible for completing the planned work so there is a strong incentive for delivering working software Structure allows people to focus on what they do best and help out other team members to meet the Iteration goals Load sharing prevents bottlenecks Team members are in the best position to see what’s going on and take action

Scrum proscribes a cross-functional team with all the skills needed to deliver work

The team is collectively responsible for completing the planned work so there is a strong incentive for delivering working software

Structure allows people to focus on what they do best and help out other team members to meet the Iteration goals

Load sharing prevents bottlenecks

Team members are in the best position to see what’s going on and take action

Technical practices improve quality to allow teams to go faster Write acceptance tests first Automated testing Continuous integration (automated builds) Shared code ownership Ongoing refactoring Pairing for mentoring and quality work

Write acceptance tests first

Automated testing

Continuous integration (automated builds)

Shared code ownership

Ongoing refactoring

Pairing for mentoring and quality work

Retrospectives allow teams to leverage learning to get better over time At the end of an iteration the team meets to hold a retrospective Safe input and observations on what worked and what didn’t Brainstorming on action items to improve the next iteration (or add stories in the Product Backlog) Teams get more productive over time Like a project post-mortem, but do it while the patient is still alive

At the end of an iteration the team meets to hold a retrospective

Safe input and observations on what worked and what didn’t

Brainstorming on action items to improve the next iteration (or add stories in the Product Backlog)

Teams get more productive over time

Like a project post-mortem, but do it while the patient is still alive

What does Agile achieve?

Agile enables business to incrementally drive the delivery of valuable software Way for IT and business to partner effectively Allow business to drive delivery of value Most valuable software is delivered first Low-cost approach to change Transparency into delivery Grow high-performance teams

Way for IT and business to partner effectively

Allow business to drive delivery of value

Most valuable software is delivered first

Low-cost approach to change

Transparency into delivery

Grow high-performance teams

What questions do you have?