Your board is trying to tell you something
Tune your senses, unhide your work
fernando@squirrelnorth.com
@fer_cuenca
Fernando Cuenca, KCP, AKT
SQUIRRELNORTH
ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO AGILITY

Knowledge work “hides” in all sorts of “unlikely” places

Work Items
Process Workflow
Commitment

Process PoliciesDoR DoD

Stand back, observe, ask questions…
Start from where you are now...
… and evolve from there.
Listen to your board.
It’s trying to tell you something….

Visualizing Work Items

Code Back-
end Service
Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock
issue in
Server TO-1
Product
Feature
ProductionIssue
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Implem
entation Tasks
ReleaseTesting
Sarah
Sys Admin

Code Back-
end Service
Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock
issue in
Server TO-1
Product
Feature
ProductionIssue
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Implem
entation Tasks
ReleaseTesting
Sarah
Sys Admin
Model different kinds of work differently
Stand Back Question:
What are the different
“things” we work on?

Code Back-
end Service
Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock
issue in
Server TO-1
Product
Feature
ProductionIssue
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Implem
entation Tasks
ReleaseTesting
Sarah
Sys Admin
What you visualize is what you will talk about.
Stand Back Question:
What deliverables are we
working on?

Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart
ID: 12345
Start: 10/30/18
End: / /
Cycle Time:
Customer: Paul
UX
DBA
Legal
Writer
Req’d Done
þ ☐
þ ☐
ý ý
þ þ
“Who is this
for?”
“What external
dependencies does
this item have?”
“What’s
the age of
this item?
“Where do I find
more details?”
“Who’s
working on
what?”

Add Product
to Shopping
Cart
Stand Back Question:
What work is not moving?
How long has it been blocked?
What needs attention?
Test server
unavailable
Date: 24/10/2018
If we dropped
everything else,
could we work on
this item?
When the work
got blocked
Reason for the
blocker
# of Days it’s
been blocked

Visualizing the Workflow

ProgBA Tester
BA
writes
the User
Story
Programmer
implements the
solution
Tester verifies
the
acceptance
criteria
We’re
DONE!

Discovery
Discovery
Discovery
Discovery
https://connected-
knowledge.com/2014/04/19/understanding-
kdp
by Alexei Zheglov
Model your process as collaborative
knowledge discovery,
rather than hand-offs.

Do we
understand
the feature?
Do we know
how to build
it?
What happens
when we try to
actually
implement it?
Did we build what
we thought we
built?
Is this what the
Business was
really looking for? What happens
when we
integrate this
feature with the
others?
Visualize “stages the work goes trough”
rather than “activities people do.”
Stand Back Questions:
How do we discover the
knowledge required to deliver
what we deliver?

Split Point Re-assembly
Point
“Packet
Switching”
Section
Stand Back Questions:
Where are all the component parts of a deliverable?
What’s the proportion of completeness?
What deliverables move together/independently?
What’s waiting for what?

Team
A
Team
B

Team
A 1
2
Feature Development
1
UX
Team
User Experience & Design
2
Architects
System Architecture
Stand Back Question:
How are various services
interconnected?

Transformation
Point
New Work Type:
“Release Build”
Stand Back Question:
What’s the life-cycle of various deliverables?
How are we batching work? What’s the impact to flow efficiency?

Explicitly model “queues” and
waiting stages that significantly
interrupt flow.
Stand Back Questions:
How close are we to
completion?
Where does work stop flowing?
Get stuck?

Use this style as a “transitional” state
towards more explicit visualization.
Stand Back Question:
What do I need my team to see
right now?
0% 100%

Visualizing Policies

Conventions on how to read the
board.
Rules to guide decision
making.

• Code
written
• Unit Tests
written
• Code
checked in
• Automatic
build passes
• Test cases
identified
• Pull request
to Trunk
issued
• Reviewer
available
• Review
passes
• Suggested
changed
completed
& tested
• …
• …
• …
Visualize transition rules
Stand Back Question:
Can I move a ticket to the next column?
What are the “rules of the game”
Do we all agree on them?

What should I pull in next?
Can I pull it now?
Selection
Capacity

(2-5) (5) (3)
(2)
(2) (4) (10)
Select by Cost of
Delay Profile
Capacity
Constraints with
WIP Limits

(3) (6)
(6)
(10)
(2)
(3)
Capacity
Constraints by
Activity
Capacity
Constraints by
Work Type

Visualizing Commitment

Make your “commitment point”
visible and explicit, as well as the
extent of the commitment.
Stand Back Questions:
What is the “span” of our commitments?
Are we committing too soon?

Identify different levels of “commitment” (and who cares about each”)

Wrapping Up: Listen to your Board!

Stand back, and observe
• What deliverables are we working on?
• Is this the adequate mix of work?
• Where are all the component parts of a deliverable?
• What’s the proportion of completeness?
• What deliverables move together/independently?
• What’s waiting for what?
• What is the “bigger picture”?
• Which team/group is working on the various pieces?
• Can I move a ticket to the next column?
• What are the “rules of the game”
• Do we all agree on them?
• How are various services interconnected?
• How do we discover the knowledge required to deliver what we
deliver?
• How close are we to completion?
• Where does work stop flowing? Get stuck?
• What do I need my team to see right now?
• How do we process different kinds of work?
• What work is not moving?
• How long has it been blocked?
• What needs attention?
• What is the “span” of our commitments?
• Are we committing too soon?

Patterns
in the flow
Mix of
work
Look for patterns
High WIP

Expect Evolution

Visible boards are “social”
Visualization will affect what you talk about…
… and how you talk about it.

http://www.squirrelnorth.com/articles

SQUIRRELNORTH
ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO AGILITY