This document discusses challenges agencies face, including tight budgets that push for fixed-cost projects, complex subcontracting arrangements, and poor feedback loops. It then provides recommendations for improving productivity, such as using Agile values with waterfall tools for control, thorough discovery processes, regular delivery trains, testing practices, and pattern libraries. The document concludes by emphasizing the importance of setting limits and saying no to overcommitting, while still maintaining predictable deliveries through manager oversight. Overall, it advocates for learning from failures to improve client relationships and gain maturity.

1. The ghost of the profitable
fixed cost projects.
The truth is out there.
by Alex Tuchkov,
COO at AnyforSoft
Kharkiv, Ukraine 2017

2. Agenda
Hard truths about Agencies life
5 useful practices to improve productivity
3 counterintuitive lessons learned

3. Who am I?
Chief Operations Officer
at AnyforSoft
5 years in IT management
Lecturer at A-level school
Blogger at outsourced.today

4. 3 hard truths about agencies life
Tighten the purse
strings
Sub-sub-sub
contracts
The feedback loop
from hell

5. Tighten the
purse strings*
Cost Effectiveness
Drupal should save costs
Fixed-Cost projects
*https://www.drupal.org/association/blog/drupal-business-survey-2017

6. Sub-sub-sub
contracts
Several teams, One project
Who are you real clients?
Going East

7. The feedback
loop from hell
Contractors feel undervalued
They pay back in the same coin
It hurts community in first place

8. 5 Delivery
Practices
Agile values / waterfall tools
Discovery
Delivery trains
Test Ahead
Pattern library

9. Agile values /
waterfall tools
Agile Manifesto is great
But you need control project
budget like a Scrooge

10. Discovery* **
Estimation techniques
Spec out & Wireframing
Technical solution
* https://www.geneca.com/blog/software-project-failure-business-development
** http://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2016.pdf

11. Delivery trains
No matter what, but we
have a scheduled delivery
each week

12. Test Ahead
Test reports, test checklists
are not internal artifacts
Everything is shared with
a Client

13. Pattern library
Paragraphs library
Drupal frameworks
Functional kits

14. Results?

15. To do more,
Do less
Say No to your Clients
Say No to your Managers
Set limits

16. Save on everything,
but Managers
Someone should ensure deliveries
Self-organised team is good
But a predictable team is better

17. Less Pain,
More Gain
Best clients are those with
whom we’ve failed
Maturity comes with fails

18. Questions &
Answers
alex@anyforsoft.com
/alexandr.tuchkov
/alextuchkof