Karoliina Luoto, Codento · Southbank Centre · 22 January 2015

Agile and Project Board Work

Benefits of Agile, Learning

Path

Karoliina Luoto + Codento

Consultant for

Agile coaching and co-work

Digital services, collaborationBefore: product owner, collaboration

strategist, information society specialist

Specializes in client/supplier

methodology facilitationAnd works in actual software development

too

What are your biggest worries

About agile right now?

Photo: W10002, Flickr

What defines

a good project?

Suggestions?

Photo: karla_k., FlickrPhoto: Karoliina Luoto

Some of mine:

1. Clear vision

2. Transparency

3. Predictability

4. Learning

Agile helps in

Focusing on value

Photo: Karoliina Luoto

How agile is your agile?One possible set of agility criteria:

1. End users are a constant part of the development process

Criteria credits: Allaboutagile.com

2. The development team has power to make decisions

3. Requirements strech, the schedule/budget doesn't

4. The requirements are described on top level, lightly and visually

5. The development work is done in small increments that can be

developed further

6. Focus on regular delivery of working product parts

7. Finishing each requirement before moving to next one

8. 80/20 rule: focus on search of 20 % solutions that can fulfill 80 % of the need

9. Testing throughout the project – test early, test often

10. Collaborative approach from _all_ players in the project

Agile Principles (for Scrum,

Kanban...)

Early and continuous

delivery of valuable

software

Welcome changing

requirements, even late

Deliver working software

every couple of weeks

Business people and

developers work together

daily

Build projects around

motivated individuals and

support and trust them

Face-to-face communication

Primary measure of progress

working software

Sustainable pace

Attention to technical excellence

and good design

Simplicity - the art of maximizing

the amount of work not done

Self-organizing teams

Team reflects on how to become

more effective and adjusts its

behaviour

What is Scrum?

Daily plan

Sprintgoal

Productroadmap

Product strategy

Service strategy

Vision for initiative

Product vision, plan for 1-5 years

Release plan,plan for 1-12 months

Where does the boardstand?

Job forthe project board

What else does

Agile bring in?

Photo: ronnykolau, Flickr

Culture of testingHelps optimizing value

1. Chance to focus on solutions that fill 80 % of user need with 20

% effort

2. Chance to betas – practice the hard part before launch - new

processes and activities

3. Chance to piloting - proof-of-concepts

Versatile expertise involvedIncreases quality

1. Key focus for leadership: get the best available talent

3. Once you get them, empower them to make the daily decisions

4. Open up protos and betas for user comments – or even use

5. Sprint reviews: a possibility for the stakeholders to stay

attached to project outcomes and communicate with

development team

TransparencyMinimizes risks

1. Bad news always exists – make sure you hear it soon

2. So, lower the threshold for telling bad news

4. Get concrete hold of results at end of every sprint – code to

Github, documenting to wikis

Key success factors:

3. Make sure required information is available for everyone –

also budgetary

• This keeps the project assets safe for the case of

actualising risks

The mindset of trustHelps focusing on success

2. Move from preparing for disasters towards enabling success

3. People over-accomplish when trusted – so why not trust them

1. Trust helps people tell bad news

What does it take

From the project leaders?

Photo: karla_k, Flickr

Visionship”What is this service for?”

1. Willingness to prioritize requirements

2. Learning from feedback and yet keeping the unity of the

product – product owner is your tool

3. Balancing between stakeholders

Letting goThe old risk management mindset

1. Focus on getting the best possible talent and empowering it

2. When purchasing resources, it’s typically about buying time

allocation, not outcomes

3. Positive incentives – personal and touching

Predictability + Agile = Impossible?

Sugggestion: NO.

Predictability on project and release level can be combined

with agility.

Projecting and budgeting sets the

limits, and learning on the way helps

optimizing the value

Decision-makers involved in vision

and release planning. What are the

main objectives? What should the

development focus on next X

months?

Possible tool: Value

Burnup Chart

Requires:

• Steering group playing value poker

on epics/ features

• Product Owner monitoring

progress in relation to value points

Photo., FlickrKuva: Alan, FlickrPicture credits: James Shore

It takes 2-4 years to learn agileAgile Fluency Model

© 2012 James Shore and Diana Larsen, Agilefluency.com

Start: Building

code

1 Focuson businessvalue

cultureshift

Team2 DeliverbusinessvalueSkills shift

Team

3 Optimizebusinessvalue

4 Optimizefor systemsculture shift

Organization

0

Success

Is not a methodology choice

Photo: massdistraction, Flickr

Thank you!

www.codento.com

karoliina.luoto@codento.com · @totoroki · +358 40 765 8504