This document summarizes an agile presentation about predictability. It discusses forming cross-functional teams, relative sizing to estimate work, and using the right metrics like throughput and cycle time. It also describes an exercise where teams work on "dot game" tasks to experience concepts like work in progress limits and single piece flow. The presenter believes in understanding team dynamics, relative sizing, and using metrics appropriately to increase predictability.

1. Agile Predictability

2. A Little About Me
• Internal Agile Coach at Rally Software
• 8 years as a Software/ Web Developer
• 7 years as a Scrum Master and Coach
• 1 Year as a Project Manager / Product Owner
• Kanban board @ home

3. Assumptions
• Some experience with agile teams and
adoptions
• Understand Scrum metrics (velocity,
burndowns, etc.)

4. To Start, A Story …

5. The journey
“It is better to travel well than to arrive”
- Buddha
“Life’s a journey, not a destination”
- Aerosmith

6. What I Believe

7. Understand The Value of Teams

8. Understand Why to Use Relative Sizes

9. Understand Metrics and When/Why to
Use Them

10. So That …

11. Teams

12. Teams :: Cross-Functionality
• Vertical Slices
Story 1 Story 2
GUI
Business Logic
Database

13. Teams :: Cross-Functionality
• Deliver Features

14. Teams :: Cross-Functionality
• The bottleneck, a DBA story

15. Teams :: Form-Storm-Norm-Perform
• All teams go through this

16. Teams :: Form-Storm-Norm-Perform
• EVERY change in the team resets them

17. Teams :: Form-Storm-Norm-Perform
• Team America

18. Teams > Sum of Their Parts

19. Relative Sizing

20. Relative Sizing :: Exercise Time!

21. Relative Sizing :: Exercise Time!
• How many weeks would it take your team to
build an e-commerce site from scratch?
– Use fingers to indicate how many weeks
– Raise them high so I can see them

22. Relative Sizing
• We (people) are bad at
ESTIMATING, especially TIME

23. Relative Sizing
• But we’re very good at comparing things!

24. Relative Sizing
• In Scrum (generally):
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13

25. Relative Sizing
• Another Way:
[XS,] S, M, L [, XL]

26. Relative Sizing w/ Teams
• With stable teams, we get even better at this!

27. Relative Sizing w/ Teams
• Without stable teams, we have to reset our
sizes when we change the team EVERY time

28. Metrics
• OR: Using the right tool for the job

29. Metrics :: Exercise Time!

30. Metrics :: Dot Game
• Get in Teams of 7 People
– 4 Developers
– 1 QA
– 1 Product Owner / Project Manager
– 1 Customer (optional)
• Let me know when you’re ready

31. Metrics :: Dot Game
• Round 1
– Batches of six (6)
– No talking between stations
– QA Folks, let me know when the first batch is
done with QA

32. Metrics :: Dot Game

33. Metrics :: Dot Game
• Round 2
– Batches of one (1) – “single piece flow”
– No talking between stations
– Acceptance Criteria!!!
– QA Folks, let me know when the first sticky is
done with QA

34. Metrics :: Dot Game

35. Metrics :: Little’s Law
WIP
CT = -------
TP

36. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together

37. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together

38. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together

39. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together

40. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together

41. Metrics :: Bringing it All Together
What questions do these metrics answer?
• Throughput = When we will pull the next work
item
• Cycle Time = When we will deliver that work
item once it’s pulled

42. What I Believe

43. One Last Ask

44. So That …

45. To End, A Quote
“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to
failure is trying to please everybody”
- Bill Cosby

47. Questions?