Infusing Business Relevance In Delivery Teams“But the Developers hate IE!”

CONVERGE

WHY DO MOST SOFTWARE PROJECTS FAIL?

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66% of all software projects over-run their budget33% of all software projects do not finish as per time-lines56% of all IT projects fail to achieve the desired business

goals

WHILE BUSINESS EXPECTATIONS FROM IT FALL SHORT

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For most Fortune 500 clients, IT spend as a percentage of revenue is declining, and spend on Innovation (cloud / mobile /

data) is increase even as Business environment is uncertain

I.T. IS TOO FIXATED ON EXECUTION, MISSING THE BUS ON BUSINESS ALIGNMENT

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FOCUS ON BUSINESS RELEVANCE CAN BE REWARDING

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Shift focus from “Delivering Projects” to “Creating Value Together”

Make your client look good in front of his management

Deeper commitment and higher productivity from delivery teams

PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS RELEVANCE

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EmpathyBusiness ContextCustomer Collaboration

EMPATHY

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EMPATHY

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES

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“I like testing in Chrome, it is so much easier than doing it in

IE”- A developer

Client is an auto-maker based in US mid-West and the application under

development is targeted at business owners, most of them use IE exclusively.

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES

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“I will do it only if it is in SCALA - it will be so cool, all my colleagues will love me, I can blog about it and may be write a book on it”

Client wants the application in 4 weeks, has no SCALA skills, and even other people in our team have experience in Java or Ruby while Scala will require a learning curve

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES

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“I don’t want to work on the Billing engine

because it is legacy, can I please work on the

mobile piece?”

The Billing engine directly impacts 80% of client’s Top Line. The mobile app is a pilot

by the marketing team

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES

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“Look, we signed up for 10 story points for this

iteration. You cant tell us to add more at this hour.”

Client’s job is on the line unless he can put up a feature live on the upcoming release

ASAP.

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A QUICK FAIL SAFE TEST FOR EMPATHY

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Ben-Cohen’s test for Empathy:

If your attention has a single focus—your current interest, goal, wish, or plan—with no reference to another person or their thoughts or feelings, then your empathy is effectively switched off

WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE BY INCREASING YOUR EMPATHY SKILLS

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Shared understanding of the project vision and scope Identify key client stakeholders and their motivations

and drivers Be able to map out the client organizational structure Identify your champions and detractors Understand how client perceives your organization Most important: Socialize these to the delivery team

and get to a shared understanding with the delivery team

DON’T JUST MAP EMPATHY, SHARE IT WITH TEAM

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http://idocare4design.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/toolkit-empathize-and-define-via-dtactionlab/

SAYTHINK

DO FEEL

FOR EXAMPLE

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Disorganized day care

Patients are sent back

Figure out the cause

Attending lot of calls

Overseeing all IT func of hospital

Knows problems exist

Needs us to identify root cause

Need to spend time in “Day care”

Interview team at ground level

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(STAKEHOLDER) RGCI IT Head (a detailed-oriented person)(PROBLEM / NEED) needs a way to optimally utilize “day care” beds(INSIGHT) because more cancer patients need to be served

EXAMPLE PROBLEM STATEMENT

DON’T JUST MAP EMPATHY, SHARE IT WITH TEAM

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It is no point keeping these insights in a file no one will refer to; socialize the learning with the wider team and discuss how it impacts your project approach.

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GAINING BUSINESS CONTEXT

WHY IS CONTEXT IMPORTANT?

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A Little Context Can Go A Long Way

THINGS YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE

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Understand the Client Business Be aware of the industry trends that could influence

your client business. Have an informed opinion on the technology trends

that could affect the technology landscape at your client.

Be aware of industry accepted best practices and their implications.

Invest in domain capabilities where critical Offer insights to client based on experience from

similar projects being done in your organization

DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL

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INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES GO A LONG WAY

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ENSURE MULTI-LEVEL STAKEHOLDER SESSIONS

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Informal sessions to discuss industry trends and technology trends.

Develop / Hire Domain Specialists Talent

Time-off from projects for self-learning and innovation

Get external specialists and clients for workshops

QUESTION MORE: THE FIVE WHY FRAMEWORK

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STRUCTURING DELIVERY TEAMS : WHAT WORKS?

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USE SOCIAL MEDIA WITHIN TEAMS

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CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF “DONE”

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CUSTOMER COLLABORATION29

GETTING CUSTOMER COLLABORATION RIGHT

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Delivery Excellence

Empathy Driven

Relationship

Customer Collaboration Cant happen without

getting the basics right!!

CUSTOMER COLLABORATION – WHAT IS THIS?

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The state where client is looking at you as a partner, with equal or more capability and a shared

understanding of their business needs; if you are here, Congratulate yourself!!

THANK YOU