Lessons learnt from agile in local government

Lessons learnt from going Agile in local government
Michele Ide-Smith

Before
It took ages to get development underway
Stakeholders were impatient to see results
Developers felt micro-managed
Lots of long, tedious meetings
Projects dragged on, and on, and on
There was unfinished functionality
Stakeholders didn’t get what they expected

The waterfall model

After
Projects show results much more quickly
Clear expectation of time and cost up front
Stakeholders are informed and involved
Requirements can and do change
Developers have more autonomy
Functionality gets finished and deployed (mostly)

Scrum method

Example backlog

Example burndowns

Top lessons learnt
No silos – everyone must buy in to Agile
Estimation is still important
Agile might not suit all dev projects
Sprints need dedicated resource
Don’t skimp on planning
Build multi-disciplinary teams
Nuture collaboration

1. No silos
Projects have dependencies
Sprints require tight coordination of resources and other workstreams (inputs/outputs)
Get buy-in to using Agile methods across the organisation through early education
Avoid unnecessary blockers!

2. Estimation is still important
Developers break down user stories into tasks
Estimation using complexity points
Developers must learn their velocity (progress in each sprint)
Or their burndown (backlog progress) will resemble a flatline

3. Agile may not suit all dev projects
Agile works well for mature products
Can lead to quick progress and great results
New projects with unknowns carry more risk
Still possible to have an unfinished product

4. Sprints need dedicated resource
Scrum roles need dedicated resource
Other work commitments are blockers!
Product owners should attend daily stand ups, planning and review meetings

5. Don’t skimp on planning
Plan ahead of development Sprints
Sometimes called ‘Sprint Zero’
Set up environments for dev and testing
Conduct user research
Start design work
Technical feasibility

6. Build multi-disciplinary teams
Think about the complete user journey
How will software be implemented in a mature, working website?
Include content writers, UX’ers and sys admins in the team

7. Nurture collaboration
Avoid sending long emails
Co-locate developers, product owners, consultants, UX’ers and content writers
Otherwise, use phone conferencing and virtual meetings
Stick designs up on wall spaceor windows

Barriers
Cultural: silos, lack of management buy-in
Lack of dedicated resource during sprints
Lack of dedicated meeting rooms for daily stand-ups and other meetings
Little or no wall space for collaborating on and reviewing designs

Remember the 12th Agile principle
“At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.”

For more info:
My going Agile blog post
My barriers to Agile web design post
Agile manifesto and principles
Scrum Alliance

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Lessons learnt from agile in local government

by Michele Ide-Smith on Jan 22, 2011

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Lessons learnt from agile in local government — Presentation Transcript