Agile principles emphasize empowered, self-organizing teams but provide little guidance in how create alignment across multiple agile teams. In this presentation, Ilio Krumins-Beens shares experiences gained trying to improve strategic and operational alignment with more than 10 agile teams. Includes recommendations on running experiments with different ways of sharing teams’ roadmaps, identifying dependencies, risks, synergies and achieving operational alignment. Originally presented in 4/29 Agile / Lean Practitioners Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/agile-lean-practitioners/) in NYC on 4/29.

1. Evolving Alignment Across
Multiple Agile Teams
Ilio Krumins-Beens

2. 2 Question - Quick Poll
• How many agile or SW teams do you have in your
organization?
• What does “Alignment Across Teams” mean to you?

3. “The most empowering condition of all is when the entire
organization is aligned with its mission, and people’s passions and
purpose are in synch with each other.”
― Bill George* - Former CEO of Medtronic and co-author Authentic Leadership
* Medtronic’s market cap grew from $1.1 billion to $60 billion during Bill George’s tenure.

4. Photographer: Alejandro Hernandez
There is no one-size fits all approach to improving
alignment across all organizations… but you can:
Understand your Context.
Run Experiments.
Analyze Result.
Tweak.
Repeat.

5. Improving Alignment Within an Organization
Depends on
• Company’s Culture
• Size of Organization
• Business Context
• Maturity / Number of Products

6. Our Experiments with Alignment
Given Our Specific Organizational and Cultural Context

7. A Bit About KTP
• Established in 1938
• Prepare students for more than 90 Standardized Tests
• 12 – 15 Agile teams support multiple lines of business
• Moved to Agile in August 2011

8. Structured Approaches
To encourage alignment

9. Photographer: Michael Salerno
Roadmap of Roadmaps Meeting
• Product Owners, Tech
Leads & Senior Execs
• Emphasis on next 90
days
• Identify inter-team
dependencies, risks, and
synergies
• Requires progressive
elaboration

10. Participants involved
in designing changes to
these meetings.
Goal is to make these meetings as lean as possible.

11. Teams    Timeline  
Participants Add Questions,
Risks, or Identify Potential
Synergies
Product Owner or Tech
Lead Presents Major
Releases

12. Roadmap Templates -> Should Focus on Measurable
Outcomes over Output (Features)

13. Roadmap
meetings
became
mechanism
for more
broadly
sharing
each
team’s
plan for
next 90
days.

14. Recorded Roadmap Presentations available to entire
company

15. Roadmap of Roadmaps
MOVED TO A 1.5 HOUR WORKING
SESSION
Active
Participation
Strict Time
Boxes

16. Inter-team
DependenciesFOCUSED ON
DEPENDENCIES
BETWEEN TEAMS
RequestingTeams
   Responding Teams   
Proactively Identify inter-team
dependencies

17. Informal communication
channels eventually
replaced quarterly roadmap
meetings.
This is a good outcome.

18. Looking Back
Worked Well
• Less Process through
Experimentations
• Eliminate / Reduce Formal
Approaches in favor of
informal communications
• 90% + Favorability
Improvement Opportunities
• Roadmaps got outdated
very quickly
• Identified but didn’t act on
potential synergies
• Meeting tried to serve too
many purposes

19. Emerging Pattern
Initiate support mechanism to solve
specific challenge
Experiment to make as lean as
possible
Informal communication dramatically
reduces need for support mechanism

20. Roadmap of Roadmaps
SIMILAR PATTERN WITH
OTHER SUPPORT MECHANISMS

21. SCRUM OF SCRUMS
Photographer: Philippe Heckel
OF

22. Changes Over Time
•Initially 3 times per week for an Hour
•Then 2 times per week for ½ an Hour
• Now 1 per week for 15 Min

23. IMPEDIMENT REMOVAL TEAM

24. Changes Over Time
• First Quarter, 80% of time
• 2nd Quarter, 25% of time
• No longer needed - Eliminated

25. Scrum Master Milk & Cookies
Photographer: Dayland Shannon

26. Changes Over Time
• Initiated during Agile Transition
• Helped new scrum masters understand and grow into role
• Ended after 6 months.

27. Roadmap of Roadmaps
INFORMAL KNOWLEDGE
SHARING / INNOVATION
OPPORTUNITIES
Enable Cross-Pollination

29. ENABLE PRIDE IN WORK

30. Innovation Time

31. ENABLE PRIDE IN WORK
Lunch and Learn Events

32. Roadmap of Roadmaps
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
Not mine originally, but resonates with me.

33. PURPOSE
guides
PROCESS
that enables
PEOPLE
who make
PRODUCTS….
Adapted from: UnderCurrent, Responsive OS

34. “The best managers figure out how to get great outcomes by
setting the appropriate context, rather than by trying to
control their people.”
―Reed Hastings
Source: Netflix Culture Deck v. 2 slide 80, August 1, 2009

35. Adapted from Henrik Kniberg, Spotify – The Unproject culture May 21, 2013
AlignmentAutonomy

36. Adapted from Henrik Kniberg, Spotify – The Unproject culture May 21, 2013
AlignmentAutonomy

37. Roadmap of Roadmaps
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

38. Trust your Teams to Play Well Together
Photographer: Patrick Adwriter

39. Emphasize Informal Interactions
over Formal Processes
Photographer: View Minder

40. Photographer: Alejandro Hernandez
Continuously Experiment and Tweak
with Emphasis on Lightest-Weight Solution

41. Evolving Alignment Across
Multiple Agile Teams
Ilio Krumins-Beens
@ilio_kb
iliokb.com