Change is difficult, and the reality is that in many organisations, an agile adoption means considerable change. Kickstarting a new initiative such as Scrum requires support from your senior stakeholders. This presentation outlines some powerful shortcuts to help engage with your stakeholder community to ensure that Scrum is given the best opportunity to flourish!

1. Ilan Goldstein
@ilagile
AxisAgile.com.au
ilan@axisagile.com.au

2. About Ilan
§ Agilist for over a decade
§ Co-founder of AxisAgile
§ Director of Scrum Australia
§ Global Certified Scrum Trainer
§ CSM, CSPO, CSP, PMP, PMI-ACP,
PRINCE2 Practitioner
§ Regular industry speaker & reviewer
§ Author – Cohn Signature Series
§ Scrum tactics, tools & tips

3. What is Scrum?
Scrum is…
“An that allows us to focus
on delivering the
Mike Cohn – “Introduction to Scrum Methodology”
agile framework
highest business value
in the shortest time .”

4. Agile Manifesto
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working product over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Thanks to: Agile Alliance

5. Agile Cowboys!

6. Agile Manifesto
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working product over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items
on the right, we value the items on the
LEFT MORE.
Thanks to: Agile Alliance

7. Our First Problem
Always
Often
Sometimes
Seldom
Never
Always + Often = 20%
Seldom + Never = 64%
45%
19%
16%
13%
7%
Source: CHAOS Report, Standish Group

8. How does this occur & what effect
does it have on our products?

9. Traditional sequential development
Job Function A
Requirements
Gathering
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Job Function B
Design
Job Function C
Development
Job Function D
Testing
Job Function E
Documentation
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Time

10. Reducing feature bloat
Are
changes
requirements
possible
likely?
to
or

11. Reducing feature bloat
Not all
Requirements
created
equal...
are

12. Configurations TemplatesReports
Exports Integrations User Types

13. Reducing feature bloat
Can
initial usage and benefit
obtained with
a subset
final endstate features?
be
of the

14. Reducing feature bloat
Can
high-priority items
delivered
independently
low-priority items?
be
of

15. Reducing feature bloat
Is the lead time on
low-priority items
high-priority items
being delivered?
blocking
from

16. Our other problem...
Why are so many projects
delivered late?

17. Traditional sequential development
Job Function A
Requirements
Gathering
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Job Function B
Design
Job Function C
Development
Job Function D
Testing
Job Function E
Documentation
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Documentation,
Signoffs,
Handoff
Time

18. Why the change?
§ Huge value in traditional PM
§ No right way or wrong way
§ Projects I’ve worked with are high volatility, rapid
fundamental change
§ Agile developed to deal specifically with volatility
maybe experiment graphic, highly volitile?
Potential problems
§ Assumes perfect
knowledge
§ Technical risk
§ User experience
risk
§ Lead time

19. Waterfall cake

20. Requirements
Waterfall cake

21. Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

22. Waterfall Cake
Development
Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

23. Testing
Development
Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

24. Waterfall CakeWaterfall cake

25. Waterfall cake

26. Waterfall Cake
Requirements
Waterfall cake

27. Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

28. Development
Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

29. Testing
Development
Design
Requirements
Waterfall cake

30. Requested Actual
Waterfall cake

31. Potential problems
§ Assumes perfect
knowledge
§ Technical risk
§ User experience
risk
§ Competitor risk

32. 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
UncertaintyandRisk%
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Time
Risk & Uncertainty

33. 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
BusinessValue%
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Business Value Delivery

34. Teams are cross-functional

35. Time
Project Start Project End
Incremental & iterative development
Feature A
Design Develop Test Rework
Feature B
Design Develop Test Rework
Feature C
Design Develop Test Rework
Feature D
Design Develop Test Rework
Feature E
Design Develop Test Rework
Cross-Functional Development Team (Designers, Programmers, Testers)

36. Scrum characteristics
Utilizes
iterative
development
constant
inspection &
adaptation
Embraces Unifies
change as
opportunity
rather than
as a
hindrance
The business
with
the
development
team

37. Scrum CakeScrum cake

38. Feature A
Scrum cake

39. Feature B
Scrum cake

40. Scrum Cake
Feature C
Scrum cake

41. Scrum Cake
Feature D
Scrum cake

42. Scrum CakeScrum cake

43. Ideal
Scrum cake

44. Scrum cake

45. Feature A
Scrum cake

46. Feature B
Scrum cake

47. Scrum Cake
Feature C
Scrum cake

48. Feature D
Scrum cake

49. FeatureC
FeatureB
FeatureA
Scrum cake

50. Requested Actual
Scrum cake

51. Remember Pareto’s Law
Always
Often
Sometimes
Seldom
Never
Always + Often = 20%
Seldom + Never = 64%
45%
19%
16%
13%
7%
Source: CHAOS Report, Standish Group

52. 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
UncertaintyandRisk%
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Time
Uncertainty and Risk

53. Business Value Delivery
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
BusinessValue%
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
Time
What if we had to or want to release here???
Cost of Delay

54. Big Benefits
Risk mitigation
Early delivery of
business value
Reduction of the
cost of delay

56. Essence of Scrum
Close feedback loops as
soon as possible
Continuously improve
both product & process

57. Some reasons why
Increase sales / profit Risk mitigation
Improve employee
satisfaction
Ensure regulatory
compliance

58. Upfront work
Adaptive
(just-in-time)
Predictive
(upfront)
Guessing Chaos
§ Degree of end uncertainty
§ Degree of means uncertainty
§ Constraints on development
§ Compliance / regulatory requirements

59. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
§ Lean Startup - Eric
Ries
§ Brought Agile
principles to the
boardroom J
§ Popularised terms:
- MVP
- Pivot

60. Guidelines for Economically Sensible Scrum
Guidelines for
Economically
Sensible
Envisioning
Focus on a short horizon
Act quickly
Validate learning
Use incremental / provisional funding
Learn fast and pivot

61. “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”
-Woodrow Wilson (American President 1913-1921)

62. A lot to implementing Scrum
Many active moving parts
May require restructuring to occur
Change across many levels

63. BIG CHANGES
Working
Functional
Cross
Teams
Iterative
ReleasesIn Slices

64. This is tough!
Not every organisation is ready for this
level of change

65. Let’s get real
§ Some teams able
to make the leap
§ But others have
constraints
§ Don’t throw baby
out with bathwater
§ Are there other
options?

66. So what are Agile Entry Points?
that can be safely
Independent
elements
overlaid
on any project
irrespective of
methodology or industry

67. Retrospective
Review
Task Board
Agile Entry Points
§ Sprint time-box
§ Task board
§ Daily Scrum
(standup)
§ Sprint retro & review
Standup

68. Sprint Time-Box

69. § 2-4 week work cycle
§ Can superimpose over your existing phases
§ Plenty of closure and fresh-starts
§ Helps put focus on immediate goals
§ Regular reviews of work and process
Sprint

70. Task Board

73. Retrospective
Review
Task Board § Project centrepiece
§ Tracks sprint progress
§ Visual snapshot of
progress and blocks
§ Allows for ‘passive
observation’
§ Encourages discussion
Task Board
Standup

74. Daily Standups

75. Retrospective
Review
Task Board § For daily synchronization
§ Disciplined start time and
time-box to 15mins
§ Each team member
answers 3 simple
questions
§ Real-time identification of
impediments
Daily Standups
Standup

76. Retrospectives &
Reviews

77. Retrospective
Review
Task Board
§ Inspect and adapt
events
§ Regular inspection of the
process and product
§ Review = demo of new
work
§ Retro = assessment of
the processStandup
Retrospectives & Reviews

78. Your first 12 Scrum steps
3
Identify a ‘pilot’ project.
Perhaps one that is currently struggling or close
to starting.

79. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Identify roles for the ‘pilot’.
Ensure that the team members are receptive
and a Product Owner is appointed.
4

80. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Educate your Product Owner and
Developers on the role changes.
5

81. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Educate your Scrum Team on the Scrum
processes
Run several workshops - e.g. Roles,
Estimation, Workflow, Requirements…
6

82. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Adjust the physical environment if required.
7

83. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Identify skillset improvement areas and
schedule training.
E.g. Test automation
8

84. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Work with your Product Owner to establish
an initial Sprint-Ready Product Backlog.
Aim to be two Sprints ahead.
9

85. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Start Sprinting and maintain discipline!
10

86. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Present any change as an ‘experiment’
11

87. Your first 12 Scrum steps
Start identifying systemic impediments.
Capture your wins and include senior
management on the journey!
12

88. Most importantly
Aim for
transparency
Regularly
inspect
Adapt
accordingly
You
can’t lose