1. Agile Riga Day 2011
How to Adopt Agile
at Your Organization
Challenges and Success Stories

2. Agile
Open-
Technology source
Ruby
Raimonds Simanovskis
JavaScript
Social github.com/rsim
@rsim

3. I heard about Agile...

4. But what is Agile?

5. But what is Agile?

6. But what is Agile?

7. But what is Agile?

8. But what is Agile?

9. But what is Agile?

10. But what is Agile?

11. But what is Agile?

12. But what is Agile?

13. But what is Agile?

14. 0 Why to start Agile?
What are the problems
we want to solve?
Do we acknowledge that
we have problems?

15. We want to
Develop software faster
Be responsive to
changes
Get higher quality result

16. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”change?
Why to
• “Just another buzzword” is
Everything
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
already more or
• “Our employees don’t take
less OK
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

17. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• “Just another buzzword”
We are already
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
Agile!
• “Our employees don’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

18. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• “Just another buzzword”
Just another
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
buzzword...
• “Our employees don’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

19. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• Our managers
“Just another buzzword”
• “Our managers don’t allow to beto
don’t allow us agile”
• “Our employees don’t take :(
be agile
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

20. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• Our employees
“Just another buzzword”
don’t take
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
responsibility :(
• “Our employees don’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

21. Challenges before starting
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• Our customers
“Just another buzzword”
are demanding
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
• “Our employees don’t take :(
waterfall
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

22. OK, ready to start!

23. Big bang approach!

24. OK, some ramp up

25. But in reality...

26. There will be failures

27. Adopt iteratively
practice by practice

28. 1 Start with values
and principles
Individuals and Processes
over
interactions and tools
Working Comprehensive
over
software documentation
Customer Contract
over
collaboration negotiation
Responding to Following
over
change a plan

29. 2 Start with iterations
Create Self-organized
a backlog everyday
Plan in work
Demonstrate
iterations iteration
result
Regular 1 - 4 weeks
Retrospect
review of and
priorities improve

30. Challenges
after starting

31. Just renaming things
Project Manager Scrum Master
Project phases Iterations
Tasks in MS Project plan Backlog items
Requirements specification User stories
Detailed design specification
... we still need this ...

32. Performing rituals without
understanding the reason
What did you do?
Let’s go to
lunch!
Nothing special
You guys The same as usual
are cool!

33. Overcustomizing practices
Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 Iteration 4
Require Design
Testing
ments & coding
Require Design
Testing
ments & coding
Require Design
ments & coding

34. False sense of early finish
We’re doing Scrum!
And lean
as well! Yeah!
We’re so Agile!

35. 3 Involve customer
Explain values and
principles
Explain iterations and
backlog
Explain product owner role
and help with it

36. Lo-fi communications:
user stories, index cards, whiteboard
Speak more
write less

37. Lo-fi communications:
user stories, index cards, whiteboard
Transparency
and honesty

38. Challenges
Agile just inside
development team without
customer involvement

39. Challenges
Customer does not
have time

40. Challenges
Development team and
customer each have own
backlogs and priorities

41. Challenges
Customer collaboration and
scope management in
fixed scope / fixed price
contracts

42. 4 Implement Quality
Done
is
done

43. Testing
Not a role but function
Integrated into development
Automated

44. Continuous
integration
Observe code
repository
Publish Build
results product
Execute tests

45. Zero bugs

46. Challenges
Backlog Work in process Done

47. Growing work in
process
Backlog Work in process Done

48. Growing work in
process
Backlog Work in process Done

49. Usability
Done means not just doable
but also usable

50. 5 Technical Excellence
Pair Programming
Is it 10 PRINT “Hello”
#@%$^&
good? 20 GOTO 10

51. Test Driven Development

52. Challenges
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• Technical practices
“Just another buzzword”
• much harder than
“Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
• “soft” practices :(
“Our employees don’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

53. Challenges
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• “Just another buzzword” much
Twice as
• “Our managers don’t allow to be agile”
work!
• “Our employees don’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

54. Challenges
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”allowed
I’m not
• “Just another buzzword”
to do refactoring
• “Our managers don’t allow to beon
Need don’t work
to take
agile”
• “Our employees
new features
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

55. Challenges
• “Why to change?”
• “We are already agile”
• Legacy code...
“Just another buzzword”
• “Our managerstechnology...
Bad don’t allow to be agile”
• “Our employees don’tdo TDD
Can’t take
responsibility”
• “Our customers want waterfall”

56. 6 Readiness for change
Anything can be changed
Agile operations
Minimize cycle time to
production
Source code always ready
for deployment
Automated deployments

57. Challenges
Development Operations

58. 7 Staying agile