A3-method

Teemu Toivonen

Understanding the contextProject size

• Not a lot of large projects (> 100 ke)

• Small and mid sized projects

Personal background

• 10+ years of project experience (pm and owner)

• Experience with traditional project methods, Lean and Agile

Organizational background

• Limited project management experience

• Ad hoc working culture• Management desire to

transition to a more systematice way of working

Traditional project management

• The track record for a lot of the established methods is not pretty

• Likelihood of success is small especially considering the organizational background

Searching for inspiration

What are the success stories in small and mid sized projects?

Scrum Toyota Kata

Neither one directly fits the context, but they contain the ideas needed to succeed!

What problems are we trying to solve with the A3-method?

• Misalignment between PM and owner• Problems surface too late• Illusions about the starting condition• Poor communication to stakeholders• Project management methods are too heavy and bureaucratic • Target is unrealistic• No (or too little too late) feedback• Sticking to the plan • Not enough guidance from owner• The big picture is unclear • Results are not sustainable after project• Focus on deliverables instead of purpose• Focus on execution instead of adaptation to reality• No real learning from project to next projects• Ad hoc way of working

… and many more. What is your favorite problem?

A3-method principles Go and see

Plan-Do-Check-Act

Visualization -

create a shared mindCommunicate status regularly and clearly to

stakeholders

Fail fast

Focus on learning

Frequent face to face communication

Quick feedback loops

Bias for action

Blame free culture

Understand why-

Clarity about the big picture

Purpose over deliverables

Light weight PM-model

Always know the next step

Although there are a lot of important principles and ideas behind the A3-method, keeping it simple and easy to learn and use is key.

The A3-method has is designed in a way that you do not need to understand all the underpinnings to get the results. Instead you get an easy to use systematic working method.

A3-method roles

Team member

• Participates in the work• Understands the context• Varying participation

Stakeholder

• Has a stake in the project• Up to date at all times• Can contribute through

commenting

Project Manager

• Project execution • Communication • Analyses • Follows the A3-method

Project Owner

• Sets the vision• Initial challenge• Escalation channel• Coach the A3-method

In this presentation the focus is on the roles of the project manager and owner

A3-process

Long term vision”North Star”

+ initial challenge

1. Understand the direction + initial challenge

2. Understand the current condition3. Define the Next target condition +

initial plan 4. Experiment your way to the target5. Reflect, stabilize and start over

Next target condition

A good target condition is abouth a month or two away

PDCA-experiment1. Hypothesis2. Experiment3. Result4. Learning

PDCA experimentyour way to the target

Current conditionUnderstand deeply

A3-template

A3-document

Projectowner

Projectmanager

The A3 is not a form to fill! It is a living document that is updated and revised throughout the A3-process.

Shared understanding

and activecollaboration

Project manager and owner collaboration

High frequency face to face communication is a critical component of success. In the initial planning phase everyday is ideal. During the execution phase once a week is a good goal.

Setting the stage

The project owner has the main responsibility for this phase.

Clarify the direction

Set the initial challenge

Define restrictions

Plan the first steps +

communication plan

Understanding the current condition

The project manager has the main responsibility for this phase. Go and see is the philosophy.

Understand the current situation

by thorough analyses

Give feedback, ask for clarifications and additional

research if needed

Document the current situation

concisely and based on facts

It’s a lot harder to really see than

you’d guess

Setting the target condition

The project manager has the main responsibility for this phase. A target condition describes both the outcome and process and can be achieved in 1-3 months . In the beginning shorter is better for learning.

Define the next target condition and analyze obstacles

Give feedback and ensure alignment with “north star”

Make initial plan (outline) on how to get to the next target condition. Plan first steps in detail.

A good target condition is both challenging and mindful of the restrictions of the project.

The plan is not detailed except for initial steps. Think of rolling wave planning.

Execute and adapt

The project manager has the main responsibility for this phase.

Make more detailed plans in a JIT fashion.Execute plan with a experimentation mindset.

Give feedback and ensure alignment with “north star”

and target condition.

Adjust plan according to learning. Frequent F2F meetings with owner about progres

Rolling wave planning.

Executions as experimentation.

Fail fast and find a way by learning.Frequent meetings between pm and owner .

Executions as PDCA experimentsWhat is your hypothesis?

Design a quick experimentWhat is the expected outcome?

Run the experiment“quick and light”

What was the actual outcome?Was it what you expected?

What did you learn?

Time for update plan!or

How do I sustain the results?

Points of emphasis

Short iteration cycles Go and see Focus on learning

Mindset: Navigate towards the target with experiments

Find the route to the target by learning from experiments and

focusing on the next step forward based on that learning

Check – did we get there?

The project manager has the main responsibility for this phase.

A fact based review about the results, process and learning.

Give feedback to pm about results and

process.

Give feedback to owner about his role and coaching.

An honest reflection about the results and process based on facts.

Adjusting to the results

The project manager has the main responsibility for this phase.

Plan how will we sustain the results that were achieved. Schedule checkup meetings.

Give feedback.Initiate a follow up project if needed.

Plan on how, when and to whom the project learning will be shared with.

Although the project phase ends the follow up action items need to be planed and scheduled to sustain the results and share learning.

The project owner as a coach

In addition to the traditional responsibilities of the project owner he/she acts as a coach to the project manager in regards to the A3-method. So we are aiming both to get successful projects and develop our A3 capability.

Adjustments

This presentation was about the basic recipe of the A3-method. Of course in real life adjustments have to be made according to the circumstances.

A3-process

Long term vision”North Star”

+ initial challenge

1. Understand the direction + initial challenge

2. Understand the current condition3. Define the Next target condition +

initial plan 4. Experiment your way to the target5. Reflect, stabilize and start over

Next target condition

A good target condition is abouth a month or two away

PDCA-experiment1. Hypothesis2. Experiment3. Result4. Learning

PDCA experimentyour way to the target

Current conditionUnderstand deeply