1. #NoProjects
Teams Over Projects
Allan Kelly
allan@allankelly.net
http://www.softwarestrategy.co.uk
Twitter: @allankelly.net
Agile on the Beach
September 2015
#BeyondProjects
2. Allan Kelly…
Chapters in…
Business Analysis and Leadership, Pullan & Archer 2013
97 Things Every Programmer Should Know, Henney, 2010
Context Encapsulation in Pattern Languages of Program
Design, vol #5, 2006
Consulting on software
development & strategy
Training for Agile
Author
– Xanpan: Team Centric Agile Software Development
https://leanpub.com/xanpan (2014-2015)
– Business Patterns for Software Developers (2012)
– Changing Software Development: Learning to be Agile
(2008)
3. The problem with projects….
… and I don’t mean this in a small way
4. Project Model Assumptions
1. You know what you want
• And have perfect foresight
2. Value is knowable
• And is known before start
3. There is no value in flexibility
i.e. Options are valueless
These assumptions do not
hold in software development
5. Conflict and….
Goal displacement
– Chasing date over benefit
– Chasing time over benefit
– Chasing cost over benefit
– Chasing features over benefit
The Project model leads to…
6. End Dates damage quality
Short term thinking leads to…
Corner cutting
Known & unfixed bugs
Residual technical debt
Knowledge lost
8. Projects are big batch of work
• Project model is optimized for big
• Used on small pieces of work it inefficient
• Projects push big decisions up…
to big men
with big cheque books
top-down authority
13. A project is….
Project Management Institute - http://pm4id.org/1/2/
"PMI defines a project by its two key
characteristics:
• it is temporary and
• undertaken to create a product, service, or
result that is unique."
14. A Project is…
“A temporary organization that is needed to
produce a unique and predefined outcome or
result at a pre-specified time using
predetermined resources.”
PRINCE2 definition
of project
16. Successful
software?
Moodle
Weekly downloads: 23,239
Last update: 3 days (16 Jan)
Web Torrent
Weekly downloads: 0
Last update: 17 April 2013 (9mths)
PerlLORD
Weekly downloads: 0
Last update: 25 Feb 2013 (11mths)
1) If they use it,
it will change
2) Only Dead
Software Stops
changing
Data from SourceForge search
for “WebBrowser” 19 Jan 2014
21. A Match Made in Hell
Software
Development
Project
Management
Software is forever
Projects are
TEMPORARY
22. So…
• Organize to do lots of small
• Optimize for small batch size
• Organize around that which is stable
• Plan for continuity
23. Continuous is not Temporary
Continuous flow
Continuous improvement
Continuous delivery
Continuous benefit
24. Waterfall 2.0
Jonathon’s Run Fall, Pennsylvania by Hubert Stoffels (http://flickr.com/photos/22195940@N00)
Creative Commons License
Continuous Flow
25. Continuous flow
• Work in the small
• Get good at doing small things
– Deliver small increments of value
– And evaluate results
• Go fast
• Value seeking
• Repeat, don’t stop
28. Stable teams…
• Keep teams together
• Flow work to the teams
• Work in the small
• Work continually
• Demonstrate value
30. Organize by business
stream & team
• Aim for stable teams & continuity
• Close to business
• Manage queues within capacity
Stream #1 Dev Team
31. Team is a Whole
• Testers are first class team members
– Embedded with team (always)
• Product Owners / Managers / BA are team
members too
Dev Team –
Coders,
Testers, etc. …
Requirements
go In
Working Software
comes out
32. MVT - Minimally Viable Team
Start with the smallest team possible
Beware Conway’s Law
Start small & grow organically as needed
33. Teams – Ameba!
• Start small
– 1, prototype or research
– 2, get going: Engineer & BA
• Grow
• Split
• Focus team
– 1 product/area
• Contains all skills
34. Vertical teams
• Staff with all needed skills
– Coders
– Testers
– Product Analysts
– Managers
• Authority
– To do what is needed
• Responsible for delivery
37. Team & Duration
Prefer
– Short and Fast
Over
– Long and Thin
• Faster time to market
• Higher Rate On Investment
• Less resource contention
• Requires clear prioritization & project closure
38. Beyond Projects
It ain’t ever over
BAU is not a dirty work
allan kelly
allan@allankelly.net
www.softwarestrategy.co.uk
Twitter: @allankellynet
Editor's Notes
Public domain image, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sausage_making-H-3.JPG