This document discusses an upcoming webinar on agile governance in the US and UK governments. The webinar will feature speakers from the APM GovSIG, UK National Audit Office, and US Government Accountability Office discussing whether agile governance is a reality or dream in government. In the past, the National Audit Office identified four principles of agile governance based on case studies of private companies: focus on behaviors not just processes, everyone collaborates on quality, teams decide their own metrics and self-monitor, and only implement governance that adds value without delays. There is now a push for new models of digital transformation and governance beyond IT projects alone.

1. Agile Governance
Reality or dream in the
US & UK Governments?
Transatlantic Webinar Sept 11, 2014
Starts at 12:30/London 07:30/EST
Brian Wernham (APM GovSIG)
- brian.wernham@gmail.com
Chris Battersby (UK N.A.O.)
- chris.battersby@nao.gsi.gov.uk
Karen Richey (US G.A.O.)
- richeyk@gao.gov
#APMGovSIG @BrianUkulele

2. Get involved today!
 Competition for free copy of Brian’s book!
 Online Poll
 Q&A (Post your questions on right hand
side of control panel)

3. Brian Wernham FAPM RPP
- Deputy Chair, Governance SIG
brian.wernham@gmail.com
@BrianUkulele

4. What is ‘Agile’? Popular Methods:
Team: Scrum
Project: DSDM
Programme: DAD
Portfolio: SAFe

5. Case Study
–the need for change at the FBI

6. Case Study
–the need for change at the FBI

7. Case Study
–the need for change at the FBI

8. Case Study
–the need for change at the FBI

9. Case Study – Waterfall failure…
Project 1: Virtual Case File (VCF)
– Monolithic design
– 2002 – 2005 no delivery
– cancelled at $300m cost
Project 2: Sentinel
– Monolithic design (again!)
– 2006 – 2010 no delivery
– cancelled at $400m cost

10. Case Study – FBI Agile rescue!

11. Case Study – Agile success!
 Project 3: Agile!
– Modular
– 2011-13 incremental delivery
– $99m cost in 2 years
– vs. $700m previously wasted
over 10 years…

12. What is ‘Agile Governance’?
• Satisfy the customer
• Harness change
• Be very incremental
• Get the business and
technical people together
• Create trust through ‘Light-
Tight’ leadership
• Face-to-face conversations
• Reward real
progress/working solution
• Pursue simplicity, not
complexity
• Give your teams the space
they need to excel

13. What is ‘Agile Governance’?
• Satisfy the customer
• Harness change
• Be very incremental
• Get the business and
technical people together
• Create trust through ‘Light-
Tight’ leadership
• Face-to-face conversations
• Reward real
progress/working solution
• Pursue simplicity, not
complexity
• Give your teams the space
they need to excel

14. ‘Agile Governance’
Mixing waterfall
and agile?

15. Development of a (slim) ‘Agile
 Last ‘Sprint’ (#4)
Governance’ guide
– Holacracy and Scrum: a match made in
heaven?
– August 12, 2014
– Ordnance Survey, Southampton
– Blog: http://bit.ly/apm-agile-governance-sprint-4-linkedin
 This ‘Sprint’ (#5)
– Today Sept 11, 2014
– Transatlantic Webinar
– Agile in UK & US Governments
Events
 Next ‘Sprint’ (#6)
– Barclays, Canary Wharf, London
– September 25 18:00
– Agile Business Cases (CEO APMG)
– DSDM – the new version (Chair DSDM)
– Get involved at APM mailing list:
http://bit.ly/apm-agile-governance-preregister
 Future ‘Sprints’
– Luton (Oct)
– London (Nov)
– Edinburgh (Jan ‘15)
– Leeds (Mar ‘15)

16. Development of a (slim) ‘Agile
Governance’ guide
 Subtitling in English
Online
– We aim to make our videos accessible
– Send me a message:
brian.wernham@gmail.com
 The Emerging Guide
– at GoogleDocs here:
bit.ly/apm-agile-governance-guide-emerging
 – Read it
– Comment on it
– Edit it !
For the full programme of good practice events visit apm.org.uk/events

17. Competition Question
In less than 140 characters
 An example of an ‘Agile
Governance’ behaviour?
 We will Tweet the winner’s
text and post a prize copy of
Brian’s book

18. Emerging governance principles for
UK Government projects
September 11, 2014
Chris Battersby
Chris.Battersby@nao.gsi.gov.uk

19. What is the NAO?
• Comptroller & Auditor General
– Officer of the House of Commons
• Totally independent of Government
• NAO staff are not civil servants
• Does not report to any Minister
• Publishes:
– Audits on central government departments, government
agencies and non-departmental public bodies
– Value for Money (VFM) reports
• Helping the nation spend wisely

20. http://www.nao.org.uk/report/
governance-for-agile-delivery-4/
Private sector case examples:
• British Airways plc
• BT plc
• Innocent Drinks
• IBM United Kingdom limited
• A large UK manufacturer
• Simply Business (UK
insurance brokerage)
• Vodafone Group Plc

21. Four principles of governance for Agile delivery
From NAO case studies on 7 private sector companies
NAO report: Governance for Agile delivery July 2012
Focus on
behaviours
not just
processes/
documents
Observation is main
method of evidence
collection
Assessors have high-end
delivery experience
1

22. Four principles of governance for Agile delivery
From NAO case studies on 7 private sector companies
NAO report: Governance for Agile delivery July 2012
Everyone is a
collaborator
in delivering
quality
Senior management
agrees quality of service
upfront
User involvement in
assuring value
2

23. Four principles of governance for Agile delivery
From NAO case studies on 7 private sector companies
NAO report: Governance for Agile delivery July 2012
Teams decide
metrics and
self- monitor
Fail fast learn quickly
Improve certainty team
have on quality they will
produce
3

24. Four principles of governance for Agile delivery
From NAO case studies on 7 private sector companies
NAO report: Governance for Agile delivery July 2012
Only do it if it
brings value
and does not
introduce
delays
Light touch and proactive
Focused on activity
underway and value of
products & services
4

25. Only do it if
it brings
value and
does not
introduce
delays
Four principles of governance
for Agile delivery
Teams
decide
metrics and
self-monitor
Everyone
is a
collaborator
in
delivering
quality
Focus on
behaviours
not just
processes/
documents
Source: NAO report: Governance for Agile delivery July 2012

26. What’s happened since?
• Agile (esp. for web) now
mainstream:
– Scrum, Sprints, early delivery of working
software, self-governing teams
• Old certainties don’t fit agile well:
– Full business case/requirements specs,
Gantt charts, project boards
• Agile business transformation
unproven:
– Some applying agile in non-IT areas
– But private sector case studies hard to
find
• Emerging ideas:
– New roles: Digital Leaders,
Service and Product Managers
– Hybrid approaches (e.g. SCRUM +
Prince2)
– Value assurance rather than just
compliance
– Procurement, skills and
approaches need to change, and
the UK government is responding
• Cloudstore, Government Digital
Service, Centres of Excellence, digital
strategies

27. Summary
• Two years ago we looked at agile in the private
sector and produced a review
– Early days, focused on project governance and agile teams
• There is now a realisation that a new approach to
governance for agile is needed
– Change is now about digital and business transformation,
not just IT, and new models and principles are needed

28. Poll – what do you think?

29. Agile Governance
Reality or dream in the
US & UK Governments?
Transatlantic Webinar Sept 11, 2014
Brian Wernham (APM GovSIG)
- brian.wernham@gmail.com
Chris Battersby (UK N.A.O.)
- chris.battersby@nao.gsi.gov.uk
Karen Richey (US G.A.O.)
- richeyk@gao.gov
#APMGovSIG @BrianUkulele

30. APM Digital [Follow us online]
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