Presentation delivered at Toronto Agile Conference - Oct 30, 2018 -- Unlike a factory, where we can see work literally moving around, piling up waiting, being worked on, or even deteriorating with time, knowledge workers have to deal with abstract constructs that are largely invisible. Suddenly, answering questions like "what are we working on?" or "how does work get done here" can become tricky. The basic premise that the first step towards effectively managing knowledge work is to make it visible will not come as a surprise for anyone with some familiarity with Agile. That said, there's more to effective work visualization than a 3-column board showing "To Do | In Progress | Done" columns, and visualizing work items is only the first step. This session will explore approaches for visualizing otherwise invisible aspects of work, such as commitments, process, rules and, of course, work items, and using them to enable more effective management and collaboration.

1. Visualizing
Work
If
you
can’t
see
it,
you
can’t
manage
it.
10th Annual Conference
30th October, 2018
fernando.a.cuenca@gmail.com
@fer_cuenca
Fernando Cuenca

2. Yesterday, I worked on X.
Today, I’m going to continue working on X.
I have no blockers.
No
blockers.
No
blockers.
No
blockers.
No
blockers.
No
blockers.
No
blockers.

3. Where is my
stuff?
What am I
going to get
at the end?
Why does it
take this
long?
Flow

5. People
are
rarely
“blocked.”
But
work
can
easily
stop
flowing.
Use
“blockers”
to
refer
to
work,
not
people.

7. Work
Items
Process
Workflow
Commitment

8. Process
Policies
DoR
DoD

9. Stand
back,
observe,
ask
quesFons…
Start
from
where
you
are
now...
…
and
evolve
from
there.
Listen
to
your
board.
It’s
trying
to
tell
you
something….

10. Physical
vs.
Digital:
a
False
Dichotomy
Visible
vs.
Invisible

11. Visualizing
Work
Items

12. Code Back-
end ServiceAdd Product
to Shopping
Cart
Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock issue
in Server
TO-1
Product
Feature
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Sarah
Sys Admin

13. Code Back-
end ServiceAdd Product
to Shopping
Cart
Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock issue
in Server
TO-1
Product
Feature
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Sarah
Sys Admin
Model
different
kinds
of
work
differently
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
What
are
the
different
“things”
we
work
on?

14. Code Back-
end ServiceAdd Product
to Shopping
Cart
Add missing
tests to
automation
suite
2+2 = 5
How Come?
Regression
testing for
August
Release
Investigate
DB lock issue
in Server
TO-1
Product
Feature
Defect
Paul
Product Manager
Ted
Test Manager
Dev
Team
Ursula
User
Sarah
Sys Admin
What
you
visualize
is
what
you
will
talk
about.
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
What
deliverables
are
we
working
on?

15. Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart
ID: 12345
Start: 10/30/18
End: / /
Cycle Time:
Customer: Paul
UX
DBA
Legal
Writer
Req’d Done
þ ☐
þ ☐
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þ þ
“What’s
the
age
of
this
item?
“Where
do
I
find
more
details?”
“Who’s
working
on
what?”
“Who
is
this
for?”
“What
external
dependencies
does
this
item
have?”

16. Add Product
to Shopping
Cart
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
What
work
is
not
moving?
How
long
has
it
been
blocked?
What
needs
aQenFon?
Test server
unavailable
Date: 24/10/2018
If
we
dropped
everything
else,
could
we
work
on
this
item?
When
the
work
got
blocked
Reason
for
the
blocker
#
of
Days
it’s
been
blocked

17. Visualizing
the
Workflow

18. ProgBA Tester
BA
writes
the
User
Story
Programmer
implements
the
soluFon
Tester
verifies
the
acceptance
criteria
We’re
DONE!

19. Discovery
Discovery
Discovery
Discovery
hQps://connected-­‐knowledge.com/
2014/04/19/understanding-­‐kdp
by
Alexei
Zheglov
Model
your
process
as
collaboraFve
knowledge
discovery,
rather
than
hand-­‐offs.

20. Do
we
understand
the
feature?
Do
we
know
how
to
build
it?
What
happens
when
we
try
to
actually
implement
it?
Did
we
build
what
we
thought
we
built?
Is
this
what
the
Business
was
really
looking
for?
What
happens
when
we
integrate
this
feature
with
the
others?
Visualize
“stages
the
work
goes
trough”
rather
than
“acFviFes
people
do.”
Stand
Back
QuesFons:
How
do
we
discover
the
knowledge
required
to
deliver
what
we
deliver?

22. Add
Product to
Shopping
Cart
Investigate
DB lock
issue in
Server TO-1
Product
Feature
Production
Issue
Paul
Product Manager
Sarah
Sys Admin
SpecificaFon
Code
ConstrucFon
Exploratory
TesFng
We’re
DONE!
DiagnosFc
&
Reproduc
Fon
SoluFon
ing
Remedi
aFon
Monitoring
We’re
DONE
The
workflow
depends
on
the
type
of
work.

23. Visualize
different
workflows
using
different
lanes.
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
How
do
we
process
different
kinds
of
work?

25. Split
Point
Re-­‐assembly
Point
“Packet
Switching”
SecFon
Stand Back Questions:
Where are all the component parts of a deliverable?
What’s the proportion of completeness?
What deliverables move together/independently?
What’s waiting for what?

26. Team
A
Team
B

27. Team
A 1
2
Feature Development
1
UX
Team
User Experience & Design
2
Architects
System Architecture
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
How
are
various
services
interconnected?

28. Model
Hierarchies
with
“Flight
Levels.”
hQps://www.leanability.com/en/blog-­‐en/2017/04/flight-­‐levels-­‐the-­‐
organizaFonal-­‐improvement-­‐levels
by
Klaus
Leopold
Stand
Back
QuesFons:
What
is
the
“bigger
picture”?
Which
team/group
is
working
on
the
various
pieces?

30. TransformaFon
Point
New
Work
Type:
“Release
Build”
Stand Back Question:
What’s the life-cycle of various deliverables?
How are we batching work? What’s the impact to flow efficiency?

31. Explicitly
model
“queues”
and
waiFng
stages
that
significantly
interrupt
flow.
Stand
Back
QuesFons:
How
close
are
we
to
compleFon?
Where
does
work
stop
flowing?
Get
stuck?

32. Use
this
style
as
a
“transiFonal”
state
towards
more
explicit
visualizaFon.
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
What
do
I
need
my
team
to
see
right
now?
0%
100%

33. Visualizing
Policies

34. ConvenFons
on
how
to
read
the
board.
Rules
to
guide
decision
making.

35. • Code
wriQen
• Unit
Tests
wriQen
• Code
checked
in
• AutomaFc
build
passes
• Test
cases
idenFfied
• Pull
request
to
Trunk
issued
• Reviewer
available
• Review
passes
• Suggested
changed
completed
&
tested
• …
• …
• …
Visualize
transiFon
rules
Stand
Back
QuesFon:
Can
I
move
a
Fcket
to
the
next
column?
What
are
the
“rules
of
the
game”
Do
we
all
agree
on
them?

36. What should I pull in next?
Can I pull it now?
SelecFon
Capacity

37. (2-5) (5) (3)
(2)
(2) (4) (10)
Select
by
Cost
of
Delay
Profile
Capacity
Constraints
with
WIP
Limits

38. (3) (6)
(6)
(10)
(2)
(3)
Capacity
Constraints
by
AcFvity
Capacity
Constraints
by
Work
Type

39. Visualizing
Commitment

40. What
are
we
commijng
to
do?
The
act
of
making
a
commitment
Where
does
the
commitment
end?

41. Make
your
“commitment
point”
visible
and
explicit,
as
well
as
the
extent
of
the
commitment.
Stand
Back
QuesFons:
What
is
the
“span”
of
our
commitments?
Are
we
commijng
too
soon?

42. IdenFfy
different
levels
of
“commitment”
(and
who
cares
about
each”)

43. PuHng
it
all
Together
PaQerns
of
Kanban
Board
Design

49. hQps://leankanban.com/kanban-­‐paQerns-­‐and-­‐
organizaFonal-­‐maturity
by
David
J.
Anderson

50. Wrapping
Up:
Listen
to
your
Board!

51. Stand
back,
and
observe
• What
deliverables
are
we
working
on?
• Is
this
the
adequate
mix
of
work?
• Where
are
all
the
component
parts
of
a
deliverable?
• What’s
the
proporFon
of
completeness?
• What
deliverables
move
together/
independently?
• What’s
waiFng
for
what?
• What
is
the
“bigger
picture”?
• Which
team/group
is
working
on
the
various
pieces?
• Can
I
move
a
Fcket
to
the
next
column?
• What
are
the
“rules
of
the
game”
• Do
we
all
agree
on
them?
• How
are
various
services
interconnected?
• How
do
we
discover
the
knowledge
required
to
deliver
what
we
deliver?
• How
close
are
we
to
compleFon?
• Where
does
work
stop
flowing?
Get
stuck?
• What
do
I
need
my
team
to
see
right
now?
• How
do
we
process
different
kinds
of
work?
• What
work
is
not
moving?
• How
long
has
it
been
blocked?
• What
needs
aQenFon?
• What
is
the
“span”
of
our
commitments?
• Are
we
commijng
too
soon?

52. PaQerns
in
the
flow
Mix
of
work
Look for patterns
High
WIP

53. Expect evolution

54. Visible boards are “social”
Visualization will affect what you talk about…
… and how you talk about it.

56. Image
Credits
• “PoQery
Wheel”
-­‐-­‐
by
Quino
Al
via
Unsplash
• “People
Looking
at
PainFngs”
(CC)
via
hQps://flic.kr/p/9aXDZs
• Photo
of
child
looking
at
stairs,
by
Mikito
Tateisi
via
Unsplash
• “Génie
du
pont
Alexandre
III”
(CC)
via
hQps://flic.kr/p/qAbRmj
• “Scafolding
in
grayscale”,
by
ValenFn
Antonucci
via
Pexels
• “Rock
Maze”
-­‐-­‐
by
Ashley
Batz
via
Unsplash
• Photo
of
handshake
-­‐-­‐
by
Savvas
Stavrinos,
via
Pexels
• “Hieroglyphs”
–
by
Andrea
(CC)
via
hQps://flic.kr/p/7Hxa8g
• “Man
about
to
run”
–
by
Nappy
via
Pexels
• “AthleFc
finish
track
from
above”
(CC)
via
Wikimedia
• “Thank
you
on
blackboard”
via
Pexels