Participants will be introduced to the principles of Lean and the application of Kanban to visualize their work, limit distraction and waste, and get stuff done.
I’ll cover the core concepts outlined in Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry's book, Personal Kanban, to get you started.
This talk was presented at Software GR in December 2014.
It covers lessons learned as an engineer on how to successfully be a remote engineer.
Also covered are expectations from teams, management and the business in order to make remote engineering a success.
Everyone seems to have an intuitive understanding of ‘architecture’ as the process and product of planning, designing, and constructing. The problem is most people don’t have the same understanding which leads to disagreements about what the process and product entails. The transition from software shipped on physical media to software delivered as services further complicated the conversation as operating services introduces other factors that must be considered on an ongoing basis. These misunderstandings have only been exacerbated as greater speed and scale create new problems necessitating novel emergent solutions. This presentation will attempt to highlight the need for new language with dense semantics about the emerging architectures (because just saying ‘microservices’ is causing more problems than it solves) while also pointing out that many of the struggles people have delivering software are rooted in architecture.
'Agile Software Delivery: No Longer A Nice To Have': Robert Benefield @ Colom...ColomboCampsCommunity
Like electricity, DevOps will soon become a Must Have to allow companies to adapt and deliver solutions more quickly, rendering those who do not to the ash heap of the past. It provides the necessary framework for development and operations to work effectively together as one and with the business, removing unnecessary barriers and friction between them. This presentation outlines why you need to adapt and how to get started, with telling lessons from the field of those who have succeeded and failed.
So you’ve optimized Kanban at the team level but true to the Theory of Constraints its uncovered new challenges. Cross team dependencies block progress for one team at the expense of another. Individual backlogs create competing priorities for critical resources. Roadmaps for what to work on next are out of date before you can hit print.
Sounds like you need to expand your Kanban. While this may seem like the solution to all the same problems you had at the team level, lets dig into what patterns are different at the portfolio level. Soloed team expertise, fear and hidden work, lack of visibility across projects, and optimization for one problem without regard for another. But as the system matures you will see status meetings disappear, impromptu gatherings around the board, organizing around the highest priority work and more informed decision making.
You aren’t the first organization to be here, so let's break down what you can expect along the way.
Participants will be introduced to the principles of Lean and the application of Kanban to visualize their work, limit distraction and waste, and get stuff done.
I’ll cover the core concepts outlined in Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry's book, Personal Kanban, to get you started.
This talk was presented at Software GR in December 2014.
It covers lessons learned as an engineer on how to successfully be a remote engineer.
Also covered are expectations from teams, management and the business in order to make remote engineering a success.
Everyone seems to have an intuitive understanding of ‘architecture’ as the process and product of planning, designing, and constructing. The problem is most people don’t have the same understanding which leads to disagreements about what the process and product entails. The transition from software shipped on physical media to software delivered as services further complicated the conversation as operating services introduces other factors that must be considered on an ongoing basis. These misunderstandings have only been exacerbated as greater speed and scale create new problems necessitating novel emergent solutions. This presentation will attempt to highlight the need for new language with dense semantics about the emerging architectures (because just saying ‘microservices’ is causing more problems than it solves) while also pointing out that many of the struggles people have delivering software are rooted in architecture.
'Agile Software Delivery: No Longer A Nice To Have': Robert Benefield @ Colom...ColomboCampsCommunity
Like electricity, DevOps will soon become a Must Have to allow companies to adapt and deliver solutions more quickly, rendering those who do not to the ash heap of the past. It provides the necessary framework for development and operations to work effectively together as one and with the business, removing unnecessary barriers and friction between them. This presentation outlines why you need to adapt and how to get started, with telling lessons from the field of those who have succeeded and failed.
So you’ve optimized Kanban at the team level but true to the Theory of Constraints its uncovered new challenges. Cross team dependencies block progress for one team at the expense of another. Individual backlogs create competing priorities for critical resources. Roadmaps for what to work on next are out of date before you can hit print.
Sounds like you need to expand your Kanban. While this may seem like the solution to all the same problems you had at the team level, lets dig into what patterns are different at the portfolio level. Soloed team expertise, fear and hidden work, lack of visibility across projects, and optimization for one problem without regard for another. But as the system matures you will see status meetings disappear, impromptu gatherings around the board, organizing around the highest priority work and more informed decision making.
You aren’t the first organization to be here, so let's break down what you can expect along the way.
How would you build a team from scratch? What techniques would you use? What metrics should you respond to?
In this talk you’ll see how we assembled a team, embedded agile values, a DevOps mindset and a clear purpose to create a squad with an infectious, high performing culture.
We’ll demonstrate the coaching and visualisation techniques we used to reduce batch size and improve quality. You’ll see how to reveal ‘hidden’ product backlogs, make the invisible visible, and use domain driven design, theory of constraints and language to optimise team resilience.
As scrum masters, agile coaches and facilitators we spend a lot of time and energy to come up with new and ever-changing retrospective formats. Our goals are noble- we want to get people engaged, build trust within the team, change the perspective, reframe the conversation, and keep everyone coming back for more. What we are really trying to achieve in varied retrospective formats isn’t more data, its better data. Learn the five types of retrospective data your team needs for targeted improvements that guarantee more than a bi-weekly "airing of grievances." We will focus on how to solicit all five types of data while gathering feedback continuously so you can maximize your retrospective conversations on improving and not remembering.
Cleveland Agile Group - A Manager's Perspective on Agile in an EnterpriseDennis Somerville
Are you considering an agile initiative in your company? Do you work for an Enterprise? Are you clashing with your company culture? This is an open discussion about the journey of one team, and ways we are evolving within a large company. Presented at #CleAg on September 12, 2018.
ACMP Canada - Transforming Traditional Approaches to ChangeJason Little
Much of what we know about change is based on models designed in a different era. Things are different today, and there are more modern approaches we can take for how we approach change.
This talk outlines a number of the lessons and principals I have learned in my 5 years with Sauce Labs and experiencing its growth and success from a development and management perspective.
What Makes A World Class Microsoft 365 Intranet & Digital Workplace - WorkshopRichard Harbridge
Many organizations have accelerated their transformation to cloud enabled and powered Microsoft 365 digital workplaces.
While technologies like Microsoft Teams have been prioritized, for many organizations their intranets have not evolved to keep up with a more demanding workforce.
Modern intranets and digital workplaces don’t look the same as they did even a few years ago. With rich new capabilities, innovation from Microsoft, a changing technology landscape, and increased expectations from an increasingly digitally literate user population – a world class Intranet and Microsoft 365 powered Digital Workplace looks very different than it has in the past.
Join Richard Harbridge, a Microsoft MVP, CTO at 2toLead and internationally recognized expert on Microsoft 365 and the Digital Workplace, who will share best practices on:
How organizations are planning their digital workplace strategy
How organizations today are taking their intranets to the next level
How designs and intranet patterns continue to evolve
What organizations are doing to deliver more value
How you can improve your own Digital Workplace
Contentful Toronto Meetup #2 - Digital Platform 2017 Lessons LearnedAndrew Kumar
Content Infrastructure Year in Review: Lessons Learned - Andrew Kumar (Telus)
Just over a year of using Contentful to support product content and marketing initiatives, TELUS Digital team members reflect on challenges, failures, successes, and all the fun had building world-class customer experiences using our Digital Platform and Content Infrastructure.
Presentation by Andrew Kumar, with demonstrations and support by fellow TELUS team members (John Chen, Ahmad Nassri, Jamie Weir, Wasim Hossein, and more).
Andrew is a Lead Product Manager on Telus's Digital Experience Team.
How would you build a team from scratch? What techniques would you use? What metrics should you respond to?
In this talk you’ll see how we assembled a team, embedded agile values, a DevOps mindset and a clear purpose to create a squad with an infectious, high performing culture.
We’ll demonstrate the coaching and visualisation techniques we used to reduce batch size and improve quality. You’ll see how to reveal ‘hidden’ product backlogs, make the invisible visible, and use domain driven design, theory of constraints and language to optimise team resilience.
As scrum masters, agile coaches and facilitators we spend a lot of time and energy to come up with new and ever-changing retrospective formats. Our goals are noble- we want to get people engaged, build trust within the team, change the perspective, reframe the conversation, and keep everyone coming back for more. What we are really trying to achieve in varied retrospective formats isn’t more data, its better data. Learn the five types of retrospective data your team needs for targeted improvements that guarantee more than a bi-weekly "airing of grievances." We will focus on how to solicit all five types of data while gathering feedback continuously so you can maximize your retrospective conversations on improving and not remembering.
Cleveland Agile Group - A Manager's Perspective on Agile in an EnterpriseDennis Somerville
Are you considering an agile initiative in your company? Do you work for an Enterprise? Are you clashing with your company culture? This is an open discussion about the journey of one team, and ways we are evolving within a large company. Presented at #CleAg on September 12, 2018.
ACMP Canada - Transforming Traditional Approaches to ChangeJason Little
Much of what we know about change is based on models designed in a different era. Things are different today, and there are more modern approaches we can take for how we approach change.
This talk outlines a number of the lessons and principals I have learned in my 5 years with Sauce Labs and experiencing its growth and success from a development and management perspective.
What Makes A World Class Microsoft 365 Intranet & Digital Workplace - WorkshopRichard Harbridge
Many organizations have accelerated their transformation to cloud enabled and powered Microsoft 365 digital workplaces.
While technologies like Microsoft Teams have been prioritized, for many organizations their intranets have not evolved to keep up with a more demanding workforce.
Modern intranets and digital workplaces don’t look the same as they did even a few years ago. With rich new capabilities, innovation from Microsoft, a changing technology landscape, and increased expectations from an increasingly digitally literate user population – a world class Intranet and Microsoft 365 powered Digital Workplace looks very different than it has in the past.
Join Richard Harbridge, a Microsoft MVP, CTO at 2toLead and internationally recognized expert on Microsoft 365 and the Digital Workplace, who will share best practices on:
How organizations are planning their digital workplace strategy
How organizations today are taking their intranets to the next level
How designs and intranet patterns continue to evolve
What organizations are doing to deliver more value
How you can improve your own Digital Workplace
Contentful Toronto Meetup #2 - Digital Platform 2017 Lessons LearnedAndrew Kumar
Content Infrastructure Year in Review: Lessons Learned - Andrew Kumar (Telus)
Just over a year of using Contentful to support product content and marketing initiatives, TELUS Digital team members reflect on challenges, failures, successes, and all the fun had building world-class customer experiences using our Digital Platform and Content Infrastructure.
Presentation by Andrew Kumar, with demonstrations and support by fellow TELUS team members (John Chen, Ahmad Nassri, Jamie Weir, Wasim Hossein, and more).
Andrew is a Lead Product Manager on Telus's Digital Experience Team.
(PROJEKTURA) agileadria agile for corporationsRatko Mutavdzic
Most of the corporations already adopted some kind of formal project management that is aligned to the strict corporate policies and procedures of managing things. If you want to be treated seriously, you need to talk abot project plans, milestones, deadlines, deliverables, commitments etc. Right? Well, it depends. We spent several years explaining to the corp guys that even if you have printed project plan hanging on the wall of the project room it does not mean that things are happening as plan suggests. More often, reality is that most of the stuff is going somewhere else, and that we have totaly different way of looking at the projects. Meet Agile, still someting new and exotic in executive mindset, but approach that is giving better and more understandable results.
(PROJEKTURA) lean and agile for corporation @Cotrugli MBARatko Mutavdzic
Great time and hopefully presentation on COTRUGLI MBA @Zagreb about Lean and Agile to packed crowd of MBA students. As you can imagine, number of questions later :)
LavaCon 2017 - Snakes and Ladders: Content Collaboration with Subject Matter ...Jack Molisani
This workshop equips participants with planning tactics for laying out your next content change initiative. Participants will leverage a planning framework and participate in an interactive process of identifying key project opportunities and risks as well as exploring their own project roadmap. In this workshop, the project scenario focuses on how a content management system can be leveraged to facilitate content collaboration with subject matter experts. The topic will be approached using the familiar board game of Snakes and Ladders.
In these past few years, agile methods became a vital part in the software development process, but are they really applicable for all types of projects and team sizes?
A while ago, our company changed the way we approach project development because the team noticed that standard SCRUM-ish methods aren't fully compatible for us, so we developed our own, modified version of agile. In this talk, I will showcase how powerful this approach is and how you can use it to find problems, and eventually resolve them.
AgileLIVE Webinar: Build a DevOps Culture & Infrastructure for Success Part 1VersionOne
Lessons Learned from Target’s DevOps Journey
Heather Mickman, Director, Enterprise Services & Integration, and Ross Clanton, Sr. Group Manager - Engineering Practices, at retail giant Target, will share the key challenges and lessons learned.
Presentation about the Secretaries WorX Business Case at Saxion University for Applied Sciences, given at Social Connections V in Zürich june 28th 2013.
WorX is the adoption program of the new way of working at Saxion, and Secretary WorX is the co-creation program for secretaries and PA's. Secretaries took a journey to make Connect (IBM Connections) work for their new way of working.
Sasja Beerendonk & Nienke de la Bey - Connect, it WorX for SecretariesLetsConnect
Spiders in the web at Saxion!
Saxion WorX is the New Way of Work (NWOW) program at Saxion. Saxion WorX stands for result-oriented, efficient and enjoyable work, regardless of place and time. It uses innovative technology to guide our students’ studies as optimally as possible. IBM Connections is used as the primary platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing, called ‘Connect’.
Secretary WorX is a co-creation secretary adoption program that focuses on secretaries and PA’s. Secretaries started their journey together to define their persona, define their work and their role as ‘spiders in the web’. As they went along they also defined all the tools, agreements and behaviour necessary to be this result-oriented, efficient worker that enjoys doing her work from any place and time – provided that secretaries become more personal effective for them selfs and the organization. This actually got them to ‘get’ Connections for what it can do for them.
Join this session if you want to learn about the program, the way we did this and how we made it fun and ‘of themselves’.
How To Optimize Your Tech Recruiting Stack
Patrick Christell, Senior Sourcer at Hire4ce, meets all the qualifications of “MASTER.”
We’re talking a Full-Lifecycle Recruiter, Project Manager and Agile sourcing pod-builder with seven-plus years of progressive experience recruiting for technology companies across the boards.
He also has a rather impressive tech stack, which is what this is all about.
Patrick is here to give you 60-minutes of training and live Q&A that will help you learn to recruit top talent.
In this webinar we will cover:
- How to search.
Tools like Hiretual, Seekout, AmazingHiring (and their plusses and minuses).
The difference between searching for senior-level engineers, how to know if you are on a purple squirrel hunt, and what to with a BONUS live demo that iterates a single string.
- How to run a sourcing pod.
Learn how Patrick creates his own CRM that can do outreach and reporting
- How to understand tech without being a techie.
What a software stack even is, understanding how it fits together, learning what each part of the stack technologies are associated with.
- How to engage talent.
Why a mixture of broad spectrum outreach and personalized outreach is best.
What cadence works best in 2019.
Why only using inmails screws you, and how to leverage the phone even if you hate using it (TextNow).
Nobody’s got time for a floppy stack.
Let Patrick show you how to build in functionality and results.
Presentation done at Engage 2014 (IBM Benelux User group).
This presentation tells the story of the Secretary WorX program, which is about the user adoption of IBM Connections as a means for the WorX (New Way of Working) program at Saxion.
It focuses on secretaries (PA's) as spiders in the web, to leverage user adoption in the organisation.
Breakthrough Consumer Experience – Revolutionizing Our Organization to Deliver Value
“There is only one boss. The customer; and he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere.” …
(Sam Walton founder of Walmart)
In today’s volatile market, Consumer focused experience is the single driver for long term survival. Companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, John Deere and Salesforce figured out the approach to sustainable product development: they revolutionized their minimal consumer experience (MVE) applying Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Agile Product Development, Continuous Delivery and DEVOPS. The successful integration of these breakthrough concepts is at the heart of long term success whether your company is in the Software industry, Retail, Health, IT or government.
In an eye-opening presentation based on his global experience, having worked with Fortune 100 companies as United Health Group, Intel, Philips, Volvo, Citi, Michael shares the essential ingredients that will help guide you through the MVE journey.
The presentation will invigorate you to rethink your organization; How to move from legacy operational models (sales, operations, engineering, marketing, finance and product) to a unified cross functional task force; driving innovation, creativity and delivering value to customers!
“The average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 has shrunk by more than 50 years in the last century, from 67 years in the 1920s to 15 years today”… (Yale professor Richard Foster).
Make sure you last! Take one step to revolutionize your organization today – invite Michael to inspire your journey to transformation.
• Applying Lean Agile / Startup concepts with Agile development teams in the bigger organization
• Tying UX excellence - design thinking with Agile development teams
• Identifying opportunities for enhancing the agile development offering to business
Title: Achieving a balanced team. Can Service Design and Product Management play nicely?
Presented at the Leading the Product conference in Melbourne 2017
The Business Case for DevOps - Justifying the JourneyXebiaLabs
Ting Cosper, IT Director at Freedom Mortgage, gives his presentation on building the case for DevOps within your organization at the DevOps Leaderships Summit in Boston MA.
Similar to Simple solutions at the heart of Agile (20)
Presentation material from Agile Finland breakfast, Mar 28 2014. See also lightning talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT24s6N7v_k&index=3&list=PLb9a4LiaclrwgEokxjMOTueWrAKBRfIEX
The case study discusses the potential of drone delivery and the challenges that need to be addressed before it becomes widespread.
Key takeaways:
Drone delivery is in its early stages: Amazon's trial in the UK demonstrates the potential for faster deliveries, but it's still limited by regulations and technology.
Regulations are a major hurdle: Safety concerns around drone collisions with airplanes and people have led to restrictions on flight height and location.
Other challenges exist: Who will use drone delivery the most? Is it cost-effective compared to traditional delivery trucks?
Discussion questions:
Managerial challenges: Integrating drones requires planning for new infrastructure, training staff, and navigating regulations. There are also marketing and recruitment considerations specific to this technology.
External forces vary by country: Regulations, consumer acceptance, and infrastructure all differ between countries.
Demographics matter: Younger generations might be more receptive to drone delivery, while older populations might have concerns.
Stakeholders for Amazon: Customers, regulators, aviation authorities, and competitors are all stakeholders. Regulators likely hold the greatest influence as they determine the feasibility of drone delivery.
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities to radically reinvent the way we do business. This study explores how CEOs and top decision makers around the world are responding to the transformative potential of AI.
Oprah Winfrey: A Leader in Media, Philanthropy, and Empowerment | CIO Women M...CIOWomenMagazine
This person is none other than Oprah Winfrey, a highly influential figure whose impact extends beyond television. This article will delve into the remarkable life and lasting legacy of Oprah. Her story serves as a reminder of the importance of perseverance, compassion, and firm determination.
The Team Member and Guest Experience - Lead and Take Care of your restaurant team. They are the people closest to and delivering Hospitality to your paying Guests!
Make the call, and we can assist you.
408-784-7371
Foodservice Consulting + Design
Senior Project and Engineering Leader Jim Smith.pdfJim Smith
I am a Project and Engineering Leader with extensive experience as a Business Operations Leader, Technical Project Manager, Engineering Manager and Operations Experience for Domestic and International companies such as Electrolux, Carrier, and Deutz. I have developed new products using Stage Gate development/MS Project/JIRA, for the pro-duction of Medical Equipment, Large Commercial Refrigeration Systems, Appliances, HVAC, and Diesel engines.
My experience includes:
Managed customized engineered refrigeration system projects with high voltage power panels from quote to ship, coordinating actions between electrical engineering, mechanical design and application engineering, purchasing, production, test, quality assurance and field installation. Managed projects $25k to $1M per project; 4-8 per month. (Hussmann refrigeration)
Successfully developed the $15-20M yearly corporate capital strategy for manufacturing, with the Executive Team and key stakeholders. Created project scope and specifications, business case, ROI, managed project plans with key personnel for nine consumer product manufacturing and distribution sites; to support the company’s strategic sales plan.
Over 15 years of experience managing and developing cost improvement projects with key Stakeholders, site Manufacturing Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Maintenance, and facility support personnel to optimize pro-duction operations, safety, EHS, and new product development. (BioLab, Deutz, Caire)
Experience working as a Technical Manager developing new products with chemical engineers and packaging engineers to enhance and reduce the cost of retail products. I have led the activities of multiple engineering groups with diverse backgrounds.
Great experience managing the product development of products which utilize complex electrical controls, high voltage power panels, product testing, and commissioning.
Created project scope, business case, ROI for multiple capital projects to support electrotechnical assembly and CPG goods. Identified project cost, risk, success criteria, and performed equipment qualifications. (Carrier, Electrolux, Biolab, Price, Hussmann)
Created detailed projects plans using MS Project, Gant charts in excel, and updated new product development in Jira for stakeholders and project team members including critical path.
Great knowledge of ISO9001, NFPA, OSHA regulations.
User level knowledge of MRP/SAP, MS Project, Powerpoint, Visio, Mastercontrol, JIRA, Power BI and Tableau.
I appreciate your consideration, and look forward to discussing this role with you, and how I can lead your company’s growth and profitability. I can be contacted via LinkedIn via phone or E Mail.
Jim Smith
678-993-7195
jimsmith30024@gmail.com
3. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Sami Lilja
Agile Coach and Cerfitied Scrum Trainer (CST).
Working for Reaktor in Helsinki.
Helping people and organisations become
better at what they do.
Recent coaching assignments include
5. Who we are
Reaktor in brief 100%
EMPLOYEE
OWNERSHIP
2000
YEAR FOUNDED
56m
TURNOVER 2016
450+
TEAM MEMBERS
5 6
OFFICES ACROSS
3 CONTINENTS
HELSINKI
NEW YORK
TOKYO
AMSTERDAM
DUBAI
REAKTOR 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
TURKU
6. We are looking for all the
Reaktorians in the world
Our people grow with us, defining unique career paths
by following their passions
Check our openings & introduce yourself:
www.reaktor.com/careers
7. The success of company is defined how well people work
together, not how well they perform separated.
8. 8
The enemy of Simplicity is
Unnecessary Complexity.
Unnecessary Complexity happens when
we forget there already is an easier
solution.
Unnecessary Complexity attracts tools,
processes, bureaucracy. This results in
rigidity, delays and increased costs.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2015 — CONFIDENTIAL
9. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Simplicity over Tools
In this presentation tool refers to an
electronic tool (program or application)
that is used in order to plan, manage,
monitor or control the flow of work.
Thinking
10. We are using too much tools in our work.
We could have less tools and save money; not only by
saving on license costs but more importantly..
With less tools our work could become better.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
11. Why too much tools to manage our work?
✔ We create digital services and products.
We use computers to create digital content
and we are at our computers all the time at
work.
It is natural to start managing our work in
the same place, on our computers.
✔ Human beins are driven by need for
certainty.
Computers can quickly analyse
information, generate graphs & pictures
that create illusion of control and sense of
certainty.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
13. It is not the complexity that kills us – it is the
assumption that things are simple and
predictable.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
14. People often say there are no silver bullets.
They are wrong.
There are silver bullets - we just don’t have any
werewolves.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
15. Our lust for tools and processes comes from
unnecessary complexity in our work.
A better strategy is Simplicity - getting rid of
complexity.
This requires we design and manage our work in
a different way.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
18. 18
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
“Life Lessons from an ad man” by Rory Sutherland: https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man
19. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
WE HAVE TOO FEW
RESOURCES.
PROBLEM FRAMING
GET MORE RESOURCES!
SOLUTION SPACE
WE HAVE TOO MUCH WORK
ON OUR PLATE.
LIMIT INCOMING WORK
TO MATCH CAPABILITY.
20. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
I DON’T KNOW WHEN THIS
IS DONE.
PROBLEM FRAMING
HOW LONG DOES THIS TAKE
- GIVE ME ESTIMATES!
SOLUTION SPACE
I WANT TO SEE A WORKING
SOLUTION SOON.
HOW MUCH CAN WE DO
IN THIS TIMEBOX - THEN
ITERATE.
21. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
PROBLEM FRAMING
WE DON’T KNOW HOW THE
WORK IS PROGRESSING.
REPORT MORE ACCURATELY
ABOUT WORK STATUS!
SOLUTION SPACE
THE WORK IS NOT
PROGRESSING FAST
ENOUGH.
GET WORK DONE SO FAST
WE DON’T NEED REPORTS.
22. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
AGILE IS DIFFICULT.
PROBLEM FRAMING
TAILOR AGILE PRACTICES TO
FIT OUR ORGANISATION!
SOLUTION SPACE
OUR ORGANISATION IS NOT
REALLY READY FOR AGILE.
THINGS WE NEED TO
CHANGE TO MAKE US
MORE AGILE.
23. The art of asking the right questions is at the
heart of finding Simple Solutions.
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
24. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Unnecessary complexity and how to
overcome it
Communication
26. Communication problems
• Most of the workday is spent online. When 24/7 online presence is the default we have
forgotten how to work together
• Root cause: Teams are no longer co-located - they are dis-located.
• Teams are dis-located so we need tools. With tools we can have dis-located teams.
• Being online is not necessarily communication. Sitting in same meeting is not
necessarily communication
• We go to great lengths in order to avoid communication: emails, documentation, user
story templates, ..
• We tend to “toolify” even the basic function of human beings: communication!
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
27. Communication problems: How to fix them?
• Have time and place for significant and meaningful
conversations
• Time: Agree a weekly routine for conversations to
take place
• Place: Have a physical wall where the conversations
take place
• Facilitate the discussions
• Maybe someone else than the leader / manager?
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Significant conversation:
Focused discussion over a shared
topic where all participants are
pasionate about the outcome.
28. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Unnecessary complexity and how to
overcome it
Workflow management
29. Workflow management
• “Why do we use an electronic system to manage our work and workflow?”
“..because”
1. our team members are sitting in different locations
2. management wants to see the status of work
3. we have so many items that we can’t track them manually
4. “X” is the corporate tool for product backlog or sprint backlog or whatever
5. we need to store information that post-its can not hold
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
dysfunctions
OK
30. #1: Our team members sit in different locations
• Lower labor cost lead to lower cost?
• Actually total cost increases because the cost is not in transactions but in the flow
• Tacit information does not flow across sites -> even more tools and processes to keep
everyone updated
• Failure demand skyrockets
• Organisations try to improve working practices with offshore
• Organisations become really good at coordinating but remain bad at delivering value
• Try to have co-located teams!!
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Well .. Good luck with that ..
31. Remote teams? Try this
• Effective communication in a dis-located team requires more effort!
• Have structured communication (=“meetings”) more frequently
• Have the channel (video, chat) open all the time, also outside meetings / Sprint events
• Use wide-band communication mechanisms: video, high-quality audio
• Try online visualisation tools (e.g. web whiteboards) or share a high-resolution still photo of
the wall
• Get together on same room frequently - it is easier to talk with people you know
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
33. #2: Management wants to see the status of work
• Management = people who have power to decide about design and management of
work
• Get rid of any tool that provides management with mere numbers
• Status is not the same as flow!!
• Try inviting management to the physical board and into daily work
• Find out what drives / worries / scares management and provide them with
information that helps them most!
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
34. #3: So many items that we can’t track them manually
• Tracking things that are already in progress?
• Easy to control and usually not too many
• Tracking things that are not currently under progress?
• Root cause: Backlogs and “wish lists” are long
• Try to have short backlog on the wall and rest of the items away
• Try saying “No!” when someone asks you to add something into product
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Let me put that on
the backlog
Your call is
important to us!
36. 36
#4: X is the corporate tool for product/sprint backlog
• This is sign that company does not understand Agile at all!
• What kind of “self-organising team” is forced to use a certain tool to manage their
own work?
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OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
37. 37
#5: We need to store information that post-its can’t
• This is actually a really valid argument
• Physical wall is for communication - electronic tool is for storing information
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OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
39. 39
Finding the right tools and keeping Simplicity?
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OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
What are the tools that
the teams need?
If tools and processes are forced upon a team, I
do not expect much Agile in that organisation..
40. 40
Finding the right electronic tools?
• Start with physical wall / post-its —> when work starts to flow then consider a tool.
• Benefits, physical wall is
• ..“tabula rasa”, literally an empty board. You can start from scratch and abandon existing
workflows for a while.
• ..inexpensive, 5 m x 2 m wall costs less than 50 eur
• ..good for communication
• ..fast to set up when meeting starts (well, since it is there it requires no time to set up)
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41. 41
Stepping stones to Simplicity
• Make sure the tools are for teams, not for managers
• However, understand the needs of management and provide them with useful
information (preferably through conversations)
• Have conversations at the wall and leave electronic tool for storing information
• If the reason for electronic tool is a dysfunction (too much WIP, dis-located teams), try
to remove dysfunction rather than hide it with yet another tool
• Start with physical, make it work and move to electronic tool only when needed
• Accept that the status of knowledge work can not be expressed perfectly in any
tool (physical or electronic). The truth is in conversations.
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OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
43. REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL
Sami Lilja
I work with people.
I believe we can make our work
better if we stick to the basics.
We must break free from slavery of
tools & processes.
47. 48
Key takeaways
• Find the right question. The way we frame our question has a significant impact on the
possible answers.
• Assuming things are simple and predictable will lead to unnecessary complexity as we try
to cover all possible scenarios with process steps, tools ans rules
• Managing work is not that difficult. Problems arise when design and management of
work is based on wrong assumptions.
• Most harmful system conditions:
• Handovers
• Work-in-Progress
• Dis-locating teams
REAKTOR
OCTOBER 2017 — CONFIDENTIAL