Talk delivered by Craig Smith and Julian Smith at ICAgile Experts Meetup Group on 22 September 2021. Today 'agile' is no longer just a buzzword. From building spacecraft to manufacturing, some of the most complex and largest organisations in the world are using agile ways of working to deliver better outcomes, respond to change, improve quality, foster more productive and happier teams, and reduce risk. This hands-on and interactive session is aimed at helping public sector organisations build capability to support agile ways of working, from policy development through to service design and delivery.

1. dta.gov.au
softed.com.au
Public Sector
Agility Accelerator
Craig Smith & Julian Smith

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No
Relation!

4. “More agile and more
responsive to the public
where they live”
Scott Morrison
Australian Prime Minister

5. 6
“We know we can do
better. We know we
can build a more
modern, agile and
adaptive public
service.”
Jacinda Ardern
New Zealand Prime Minister

6. Biden / US
7
“Governments at all
levels must improve
operations... assist
agencies to apply
agile to business
practices”
Teresa W. Gerton
President and CEO NAPA

7. Public Sector Agility
“Today’s complex economic and societal
challenges, accelerating technological
change and instant communication are
forcing governments to change.
It is vital for governments to be agile to
not only maintain, but even improve, public
services, and the capacity of the public
sector to answer tomorrow’s challenges
in a time of fiscal restraint.”
Source: OECD (2015), Achieving Public Sector Agility at Times of Fiscal Consolidation,
OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264206267-en

8. Agile Nations Charter

10. What is “Agile” anyway?

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Image:
©
Talkback
Thames
https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/it-crowd.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
We traditionally started in IT…

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Agile is 20 years young…

13. Adaptive Software Development
Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
DSDM Framework
Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) NEXUS Framework
Large Scale Scrum (LeSS)
Crystal
Lean
Extreme Programming (EP)
SCRUM
“Agile” can send you into a spin…
Prince2 Agile
Kanban
Spotify IC Agile
DevOps
Flow

14. AGILE is
a mindset

15. What is NOT Agile
US Department of
Defence
No Agile BS Guide

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19
Raccoon!

17. Agile Doesn’t Come Easy or in a Box

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We Need to Embrace Change

19. The Satir Model of Change
Satir, Virginia, et. al., The Satir Model: Family Therapy and Beyond, ISBN 0831400781, Science
and Behavior Books, 1991

20. Focus on what matters

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Socio-Economic
Changes
Rapid Technology
Change
Market/Industry
Forces
Changing Citizen
Expectations
4th Industrial Revolution

22. Scope
Schedule
Cost
Traditional Triple-Constraints Triangle
Source: Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products, 2009

23. Agile Triangle
Value
Quality
Scope
Schedule
Cost
Constraints
Source: Jim Highsmith, Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products, 2009
Value (Extrinsic)
Value to the customer
in terms of a current
releasable product
Constraints
(Scope, Cost, Schedule)
Important project
parameters, but
are not the goal
Quality (Intrinsic)
Deliver continuous value
to the customer, in
terms of a reliable,
adaptable product

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Citizen
Centric
Value
“The heart of public
sector agility is no less
than the very reason
we exist: our Citizens.”
Adapted from: Domains of Business Agility, Business Agility Institute, 2019

25. Elements
of Value…
Customer Value B2B Value

26. Adapted from Strategyzer Value Proposition Canvas

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Example ….

28. 36
Digital Service Standards

29. Digital Service Standard

30. A Focus on
User Centered
Delivery

31. As Used by
Governments
Around the
World

32. Human Centered Design
Designing the right thing Designing the thing right
Validation
Ideate
Prototype
Define
Empathise
Research
Deliver
Develop
Define
Discover
Define constraints
Explore possibilities
Narrow scope
Gather data

33. Design Thinking + Agile Mindset

34. It Often Turns Into Faux Agile

35. As
Described Discovery generally
takes a few weeks
Alpha generally
takes a few weeks
to a few months
Beta generally
takes a few months
Live lasts as long
as the service is viable

36. Turns Into This

37. Water Scrum Fall
MDT / ART
SPRINTS
DISCOVERY /
ALPHA
BETA
LIVE

38. It Meant This
Discovery generally
takes a few weeks to mobilise
and understand the problem
Alpha generally
takes a few weeks
to a few months with
continuous iterations every
couple of weeks to Beta
when user needs are
understood or experiments
need to be validated
Beta generally
takes a few months
ideally with continuous
delivery to Live
Live lasts as long
as the service is viable
Measure
Learn
Learn
Continuous HCD
and Agile iterations
/ valuable delivery
Lightweight
Governance
Lightweight
Governance

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DSS Criteria Discover Alpha Beta Live
1. Understand user needs
CreateValueProposition Canvas
Develop personas
CreateEmpathy maps
CreateUser Journey Map
Develop User Research Plan
Design hypothesis and experiments
Conduct user research and validation
Test and iteratelo-fi prototypes with real users
Identify user need gaps in theservice/ product
Test iterativebuild ofservice/ product with real users
Conduct user experiencetesting
Demonstratecompleted user research and continuing roadmap
Develop user usageand satisfaction metrics
Monitor service/ product usageand user satisfaction metrics
Identify next problems / opportunities
2. Have amultidisciplinary team
Createcoreteam and identify primary roles
Identify extended team and service/ product sponsor
Onboard discovery team members
Conduct team mobilisation
Createteam charter / canvas
Agreeteam standards and ways ofworking
Onboard delivery team members
Onboard delivery vendors / suppliers
Build / identify coreskills gaps
Build initial MVP
Build / iteratelive
Support beta / live
Build / iteratelive
Support live
3. Agile and user-centered process Workshops and short design sprints
Short design sprints
Createuser story map / prioritised backlog
Createproduct backlog (with defined user stories for first MVP / beta)
Definedefinition ofdone
Sprints / Kanban
Ongoing refinement and prioritisation ofproduct backlog
Sprints / Kanban (for new features and existing support)
Ongoing refinement and prioritisation ofproduct backlog
4. Understand toolsand systems
Develop high level system architecture
Identify high level infrastructure
Identify internal / external system dependencies
Investigatetechnical feasibility
Calculatecost for required tools / systems
Develop detailed system architecture
Develop information architecture
Providerationalefor tools ofchoice/ platform
Setup technical tools / DevOps / automated testing
Procuresoftware/ vendor management
AgreeSLAfor technical support
Perform Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery pipeline
Setup production monitoring
Createoperational procedures
Secureongoing funding for tools and platforms Monitor / updatetools and platforms
5. Make it secure Conduct high level security assessment
Develop security architecture
Identify security levels and profiles
Conduct data mapping and collection
Identify legal constraints (eg. FOI, IP, privacy, copyright)
Conduct IRAP Assessment with vendor/s
Develop security plan and policies (to meet legislativerequirements)
Build security in
Conduct security testing (eg. penetration, OWASP)
Setup users and access control levels
Conduct security monitoring
Conduct ongoing security testing (eg. penetration, OWASP)
6. Consistent and responsive design
Determineaccessibility and design patterns
Investigatechannels and touchpoints
Consider existing design systems
Develop prototypes using design systems and components
Createwritten content with consistency in toneand easy to understand language Build consistent and responsivedesign in Updatefor new design patterns and components
7. Use open standardsand common platforms
Document high level technical and product standards
Consider any open standards, design systems or common shared architectures
Consider other experiences from international counterparts
Determinetechnical standards and metrics
Identify systems/ tools / processes that can beshared Build using technical standards and open platforms (whereappropriate) Updatefor new technical standards / platforms
8. Make source code open Consider open sourcesoftware
Consider open sourcecontributions
Consider usageofan public open sourcerepository for codeand other artefacts
Develop open sourcecontribution and user guide/s
Contributeback to open source
Commit relevant codeto a public open sourcerepository
Contributeback to open source
Document reasons for codethat is open and private
9. Make it accessible Investigateaccessibility options
Develop prototypes using accessibility best practiceand test with a rangeofdiverseusers
Createan accessibility tetst strategy Test accessibility (eg. WCAG compliance2.0 AA) Monitor accessibility compliance
10. Test the service Determinequality and test requirements
Develop test strategy
Identify required test tools / environments
Develop business continuity plans / roll back / data recovery
Preparetesting / deployment environment/s
Build quality in
Test iteratively with useoftest automation
Test continuity plans / roll back / data recovery
Prepareliveenvironment (ifrequired) Conduct continuous testing and monitoring
11. Measure performance
Discuss performancemetrics and definemeasures ofsuccess (eg. user satisfaction, digital uptake,
completion rate, cost per transaction)
Investigateexisting data and metrics
Develop performancetest plan
Consider serviceload capacity ofservice
Collect baselinedata
Consider reporting performanceon theGov Performancedashboard
Conduct performancetesting -iterativeand load / scale
Preparereadiness to report performanceto Gov Performancedashboard
Record key learnings from qualitative/ quantitativedata Conduct continuous testing and monitoring ofperformanceand load
12. Don't forget the non-digital experience
Identify business process changeand impact
Develop communications plan
Identify user journey touch points, context ofuse, digital limitations
Design business process changes and process improvement metrics
Understand serviceinteraction and channels
Implement and test business process change
Integrateservicewith other channels to ensureuser support and information is consistent Monitor process improvement
13. Encourage everyone to use the digital service Engagecommunications and marketing teams
Review communications and marketing plans
Design digital uptakeand target metrics
Support communications and marketing plan rollout
Review digital uptakeand targets
Develop retirement strategy for legacy systems and non-digital channels
Support communications and marketing plan rollout
Review digital uptakeand targets
Commenceretirement strategy for legacy systems and non-digital channels
Delivery Management
Createservice/ product vision
Establish business caseand cost and timewishes
Estimatehigh level cost / timefor service/ product
Createhigh level service/ product roadmap
Estimatecost / timefor discovery
Conduct procurement activities
Createinitial product / servicebudget and reporting
Confirm that product / serviceis adding value, is meeting needs only government can meet, and is
not duplicating existing government service/ products
Estimatecost / timefor alpha
Refineestimatecost / timefor service/ product
DefineMVP / beta scope
CreateFeatures level stories for serviceand break down user stories for beta
Createreleaseplans
Cost / timeestimatefor beta
Createongoing service/ product support budget
Updateservice/ product roadmap Continuously updateservice/ product roadmap
Stakeholder Management
Identify stakeholders
Setup steering committee/ reporting requirements
Obtain support from senior stakeholders and ensurethey understand theproblem you aretrying to
solve
Ongoing stakeholder management and reporting
Conduct regular reviews / showcases
Ongoing stakeholder management and reporting
Conduct regular reviews / showcases
Ongoing stakeholder management and reporting
Conduct regular reviews / showcases
When to stop
Thereis no need for what you areexploring
Theneed is already been met by another serviceor product from government or industry
Adapting or developing another serviceis a better solution
Therearetechnical or policy constraints that outweigh thetimeframeor cost wishes
It not cost-effectiveto do this
Thenon-digital solution is sufficient for user needs
DSS
Assessments
&
Governance

40. Reduce Waste

41. Project Waste
Australia waste an average of
$139 million for every $1 billion
ASEAN waste an average of $86
million for every $1 billion
Brazil waste an average of
$122 million for every $1 billion
Canada waste an average of
$77 million for every $1 billion
China waste an average of
$76 million for every $1 billion
Europe waste an average of
$127 million for every $1 billion
India waste an average of $81
million for every $1 billion
Latin America waste an average of
$102 million for every $1 billion
Middle East waste an average of
$85 million for every $1 billion
North America waste an average of
$102 million for every $1 billion
Source: Pmi.org. (2018). 2018 Pulse of the Profession Survey. [online] Available at:
https://www.pmi.org/about/press-media/press-releases/2018-pulse-of-the-profession-survey.

42. Too much is spent on waste

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Your organisation is a value
factory - make sure it flows
smoothly and efficiently

44. Source: Dr Matthew R. Kennedy, Program Executive Office,
Defense (Army), Defense Acquisition University, 2018
“You plan it, you build it, you
launch it, you get feedback.
And you do this constantly,”
Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, Commander of Air
Force Material Command

45. Source: Dr Matthew R. Kennedy, Program Executive Office,
Defense (Army), Defense Acquisition University, 2018
“You plan it, you build it, you
launch it, you get feedback.
And you do this constantly,”
Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, Commander of Air
Force Material Command

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Government Agility Accelerated

47. It’s About Business Agility …
We are about here on our journey

48. Reinventing Organisations
Conway’s Law

49. Public Sector Agility is…
Adapted from:
• Nikos C. Tsourveloudis & Kimon P. Valavanis. (2002). On the measurement of
enterprise agility. Journal of Intelligent and Robotics Systems, 33(3), 329-342.
• Dahmardeh Nazar & Pourshahabi Vahid, Agility evaluation in public sector (2009).
Chinese Business Review, ISSN 1537-1506, USA. Oct. 2009, Volume 8, No.10 (Serial
No.76)
“The ability of Government entities to operate successfully in
a rapidly changing and complex operating environment
by producing high-quality, high-performance, citizen-
centric goods and services”

50. Elements
of Public
Sector
Agility

51. Systems Approach to Agility
• Take a Systems based approach to Digital/Agile Transformation
• View your organisation as a complex ecosystem
• Push / Pull Factors
• Most common barrier is “Culture” (not ‘how to do scrum’)
• Consider different elements – moving parts in a networked ecosystem
• Influence and collaborate across the ecosystem to move dials

52. 63
Government Agility Model

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54. Activity:
Gov Agility
Model
7 minutes
What is working well?
https://easyretro.io/publicboard/SsE12Hu
0QvN7ius163ESnJPML9Z2/71d71828-
0913-4425-8f9b-2e0372f25fdc

55. Activity:
Gov Agility
Model
7 minutes
What is NOT working?
https://easyretro.io/publicboard/SsE12Hu
0QvN7ius163ESnJPML9Z2/08848105-
df64-4622-a0f2-7810b221d47a

56. Find it here: governmentagilitymodel.com
67

57. publicsector agility.com
Visit us for the Latest Research, News and More…

58. Wrap Up Header
69
Touch Down…

59. How Can We Accelerate Agility?
We need to focus on understanding and
realizing Value continuously
The world is focused on achieving
greater Agility in the public sector to
operate effectively in this rapidly
changing, complex and fiscally
constrained operating environment
Our citizens need a seat at the table, to
not only understand their needs but
design the future with too
We need to adopt the Digital Service
Standard as the default way of operating. We need to seek to reduce waste in the
system which exists today.
We need to seek to reduce the size of
our projects and see work as smaller
‘experiments’ to test our hypotheses
Focus not only on Agile Teams, but also
on Government (Business) Agility

60. dta.gov.au
softed.com.au
Thankyou for helping
us to Accelerate
Public Sector Agility!
Craig Smith
craigs@softed.com
Julian Smith
julian.smith@apsc.gov.au
apsc.gov.au softed.com.au