All About Agile | Agile Development Made Easy!

Stop Starting, Start Finishing. Unfinished Work is Debt

Kelly Waters — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:01:13 PDT

I’ve worked with so many development teams now that I’ve lost count. And I’ve lost count of how many of them have this problem. The problem of being quick to start things, and not being quite so quick to finish them. Lean methods seek to address this problem by enforcing WIP (Work In Progress) limits. [...]

Agile Training Courses with me, Kelly Waters

Kelly Waters — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:30:49 PDT

Hi all, I’ve recently gone self-employed as an interim exec. Apart from doing interim management & consulting engagements, part of my plan is to start offering public agile training courses. Initially I have 2 courses and I’m keen to get your feedback about whether you’re interested in either. Details below… 1. “All About Agile” – [...]

Managing self-organizing teams

Joe Little — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 07:18:56 PDT

How do we suggest that managers …well… manage self-organizing teams? By self-organizing, we also mean self-managing. Let’s assume that not all ‘self-organizing teams’ will self-organize effectively. So, a few suggestions. 1. Get rid of almost all the old stuff. Really. … Continue reading →

7 Steps to Getting Stakeholders to Agree on Priorities

Alex Pukinskis — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:51:22 PDT

I’ve done storymapping many times over the years, and Jeff Patton’s article is a great source for the fundamentals. I always prefer to start with a few people to build the initial map. But we had product owners, UX designers, coaches, and technical account managers all talking to customers in a new problem space, and they all wanted a say in what we build.

So when my colleague Stephen asked me to help facilitate a meeting to talk about what we should build in that new problem space, I tried to get him to keep it to about four people.

Stephen wanted to include everyone who wanted a say, so he sent out an invite to 15. Only 8 accepted, so I figured I’d just split into two groups of four and they’d work on different parts of the map.

But that morning, all 15 people showed up. I had to improvise, but with some quick thinking, I was able to make it work and go from 15 different opinions to a prioritized list of user tasks. Here’s how we did it.

1. We started with personas. We have a standard set of a dozen or so that we use across key products. We reviewed them with the group. Then I split them into three groups: four people who had recently visited customer A, 4 people who had visited customer B, and 4 people who had spent time with several other customers. I asked each group to think about the people they had encountered on their visits who were working in the problem space we were exploring. I asked them to write those people’s names on purple index cards along with the persona they represented.

We read out from each group, and I set the purple cards on the matching persona sheets. We then had a large group conversation about whether there were clusters of related personas who seemed to be working on similar activities from similar perspectives. Turns out, we had 3 clusters of personas who basically approached the problem space in similar ways. All of this took about an hour.

2. After a 10 minute break, I asked people to split into 3 groups of 4-5 to focus on those clusters. I gave each group exactly 5 blue index cards, and then gave them 7 minutes to identify the top 5 activities that their personas needed to do in the problem space.

(Why exactly 5 cards? I didn’t want too many items at too fine a granularity. 5 seemed to be a good starting point. I was ready with spare cards but nobody asked for them.)

After 7 minutes, one group had 5 perfect activities, another group had no activities written down, and the third group had found some sneaky blue sticky notes that almost matched the color of the index cards - they were debating 9 options. (You can see another Steve in this group in the bottom of the photo above).

To break the logjams, I rotated 1 person out of each group and gave them another 5 minutes to finish the top five user activities. We did a quick readout from each group, and then I rotated another person out (so each group had 2 original members and 2 new members).

3. With the newly mixed groups, I gave each a big pile of yellow stickies and asked them to break their activities into user tasks - specifically tasks where the personas were substantially blocked in their activity and we felt we could make a big difference with software. I gave them 15 minutes for this.

4. Then I asked each group to choose a spokesperson to stay behind, and 3 people to move to another group, listen to the presentation, and provide feedback. Each participant got 2 sticker dots to vote on the tasks they thought represented the best opportunities for us in the problem space.

5. I repeated this for the other remaining group, and did a final 5-minute chance for the spokespeople to also see and vote on the other clusters.

6. Now, I reformed the original groups from step 3. I asked them to order the yellow cards, best opportunities highest, using the dots as an input.

7. I gave the groups 90 seconds to choose their number 1 task for each persona cluster. The results were read out to much cheering from other participants. We repeated - another 90 seconds to choose number 2, and 90 seconds to choose number 3. (This tight timebox worked out because we had been discussing the work for several hours and we just needed to push for a decision.)

Presto! In just a couple of hours, 15 strong-willed and well-informed people were in agreement about our top priorities in a new and complex problem space.

I’d love to answer clarifying questions in the comments about the details of running this kind of activity.

Alex Pukinskis

Building the right software…right, It’s easy…RIGHT?

Isaac Hogue — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:45:08 PDT

We encourage the teams we coach to keep their eye on the ball: Delivering a product that reaches a defined goal and thereby delivers value to its stakeholders in the most efficient, predictable and reliable way possible. This process of delivery frequently includes helping teams improve their internal product elaboration and development practices through the [...]

The post Building the right software…right, It’s easy…RIGHT? appeared first on LeadingAgile.

Managing Risk With Estimates

George Dinwiddie — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:37:00 PDT

Used with care, software development estimates can help you manage project risks. They let you peer into the future, though only as well as your current understanding allows. Estimating based on what you know is easy. Estimating based on what you know you don’t know is possible. Allowing for what you don’t know you don’t [...]

Why I prefer ScrumBan to Kanban

Joe Little — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 19:55:04 PDT

I have spoken before about why I like Lean and why I like ScrumBan, a combination of Scrum and Kanban. Some people prefer ‘Kanban’, as it is being called in the software development community. Of course, what ‘Kanban’ is actually … Continue reading →

Promoting Shared Leadership

Mike Griffiths — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:12:00 PDT

Agile methods suggest replacing top-down, command-and-control management with empowered teams and shared leadership. That all sounds nice, but what exactly is shared leadership and how do you get it to happen? Katzenbach & Smith authors of the book “The Wisdom...

Simple Tips for Eliminating Procrastination Within Your Project Team

Andrew Filev — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:00 PDT

In the previous post, we discussed an essential soft skill for project managers - recognizing and beating productivity killers within your team. We started with ways to deal with unproductive interruptions, which almost 41% people see as the no.1 enemy for their work performance. Now, let’s move on to the productivity battle against procrastination, the second most dangerous efficiency killer according to our recent survey.

Any habit, be it a good or a bad one, largely depends on the personality of the individual. For example, some people are naturally less organized than others and it's harder for them to stay on track. According to Dr. Piers Steel, who can be referenced as a procrastination researcher, 95% of people admit that they procrastinate occasionally, and for as many as 20% this is a chronic problem. Let's take a look at several common reasons why people procrastinate, regardless of differences in work styles, and how to deal with this problem within your team.

A task looks too big and complex
Even if an employee is very experienced and organized, a huge task might get him overwhelmed and prevent him to start on it immediately. Granular work breakdown is an efficient tactic that both managers and their team members can benefit from. Mark Twain phrased it very nicely: “The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” If you split an assignment into smaller tasks, they’re easier to understand for your team, quicker to tackle, and there’s a pleasant productivity feeling to mark a task completed. Some productivity methodologies, namely GTD, even go further and focus solely on the next action item.

There is an incorrect sense of priority
If a team member’s task list is relatively long, he might make an incorrect choice of where to get started. For example, he might pick something that looks easier, but a more difficult and also more important task will get postponed. Setting accurate priorities and communicating them to your team is the most efficient cure to this problem. Your guidance will help employees to act on first things first instead of procrastinating.

A task doesn't feel important
Many people say that they tend to put a task off when they don’t see much sense in it. So your goal as a manager is not just to prioritize things in your head, but also to convey the importance of the tasks to your team. Many tasks may seem mundane or insignificant, but are important steps to achieve the larger goal. Communicating this in a positive way helps your team understand that their work is meaningful and it makes them feel valued. Referring once again to our survey on productivity habits – a sense of responsibility was named as the most powerful productivity motivator. When people are aware that their work really matters, they feel inspired to achieve more!

Interruptions get you off track
The worst thing about getting interrupted is that it’s hard to get back on track afterwards, once the focus is lost. In this productivity battle, the weapon could be described as Prioritize-Filter-Plan. For more detailed recommendations on fighting interruptions, check out my previous post of this series that was dedicated specifically to this problem.

Fatigue slows down work drive
After all, we’re all human, and sometimes we don’t feel enough energy to tackle a task. But what if it just can’t wait? Recommend to your team to take short breaks. Typically, if you're in the flow, you won't need it. But when you naturally lose focus and feel distracted, it might be helpful to disconnect for five minutes and tackle the task later with your "second breath". Numerous studies show that switching your mind off of the task for a couple of minutes can help to lower tension and revive productivity. For example, a quick snack, a stretch, or a walk around the office – all these might help your employees make a fresh start.

As a bonus tip - in the comments to our survey, one respondent said he feels extremely demotivated when he notices that someone on the team isn’t really focused on their tasks. So, to some extent, someone’s procrastination might be a “contagious” productivity threat that might affect other employees as well. This is why it's extremely important to "put out" this dangerous spark as soon as you can before it spreads wider.

What’s your secret weapon against procrastination?

Stay tuned for Productivity battle 3 (Inaccurate plans)!

Agile and Sales: Reflections on my first Scrum Sales Team

Eric Kristfelt — Wed, 29 May 2013 06:06:59 PDT

After working as a sales manager at two different Agile organizations I am often asked if sales can be Agile, and if so, how is it implemented? At my previous company, several departments chose to align with the development team’s 2-week sprints/builds. The marketing department started using a Kanban/Scrum approach, and it made sense as [...]

The post Agile and Sales: Reflections on my first Scrum Sales Team appeared first on LeadingAgile.

Agile and Sales: Reflections on My First Scrum Sales Team

Jayne LaFave — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:38:11 PDT

Scrum: it’s not just for development teams anymore. LeadingAgile’s resident sales guru, Eric Kristfelt, shares his experience on implementing Agile on a sales team. After working as a sales manager at two different Agile organizations I am often asked if sales can be Agile, and if so, how is it implemented? At my previous company, [...]

The post Agile and Sales: Reflections on My First Scrum Sales Team appeared first on LeadingAgile.

Dysfunctional Commitment

George Dinwiddie — Mon, 27 May 2013 16:57:29 PDT

Team commitment is a wonderful and sometimes fragile thing. Many responses to my description of it are indications of how frequently the word “commitment” is used in a dysfunctional manner. Indeed, the post was prompted by similar conversations. Believe me, I’ve seen these dysfunctions many times. They are so numerous and varied that no catalog [...]

You Can’t Plan Away Uncertainty

Jim Highsmith — Mon, 27 May 2013 14:33:23 PDT

I’ve recently moved from Venice, Florida back to the West—to Lafayette, Colorado near Boulder to be specific. As I launch my cycling activity here I was reminded of an article I wrote several years ago on Hudson Bay Starts. Riding in the Boulder/Lafayette area has infinite possibilities—hundreds of miles of off-road bike trails and a [...]

The post You Can’t Plan Away Uncertainty appeared first on Jim Highsmith.

The Rules of Scrum: Every Sprint includes Sprint Retrospective for the team to inspect and adapt

Mishkin Berteig — Mon, 27 May 2013 07:00:28 PDT

The last part of the Sprint is the Sprint Retrospective. This meeting is a private meeting for the members of the Scrum Team (including the ScrumMaster and Product Owner). In this meeting, the Team Members discuss how they did their … Continue reading →

Team Commitment

George Dinwiddie — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:15:12 PDT

Most Scrum teams estimate their top priority stories, select those stories that add up to their historical velocity for their sprint backlog. Some teams simplify this by merely counting the stories, or using the mathematical reciprocal, cycle time. Others make it more complicated, calculating the effect of days off and other known distractions from the [...]

Predictable project or innovative project?

Joe Little — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:57:17 PDT

Mike Cottmeyer spoke at Agile Carolinas last night. And said many good and useful things. One thing he talked about is this: What kind of project do you have? At one extreme, do you have a project that is pure … Continue reading →

Getting Teams to Deliver Predictably

Derek Huether — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:02:29 PDT

As recently as this week, I’ve been involved in conversations with customers about how we can help make their teams deliver more predictably. How can they meet commitments on all levels of the organization, including project, program, and portfolio? Well, it’s not easy. There is no silver bullet that is going to allow you to [...]

The post Getting Teams to Deliver Predictably appeared first on LeadingAgile.

A purpose for Agile

Joe Little — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:42:15 PDT

In general, it is useful to do the most important things. Not the things we are most sure about. Not the things that we can do well. Not the things we can predict well (or better). But, we should do … Continue reading →

Start of a new chapter

Kelly Waters — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:37:36 PDT

Hi everyone, Yesterday was my last day at ThoughtWorks. ThoughtWorks is an amazing company with some fantastic people, so I feel very privileged to have worked for them and very grateful that they gave me and my family the opportunity to live in Australia, which was a wonderful experience. However we’re back in the UK [...]

Thinking Together for Release Planning

Dean Stevens — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:32:26 PDT

I’ve been noodling on the phrase “Thinking Together”. Thinking Together is one aspect of the mindset that Product Owners need to embrace. I have been using this phrase with new Product Owners to explain why many Agile practices work. But each time I start to write about this simple idea, it gets complicated because I [...]

The post Thinking Together for Release Planning appeared first on LeadingAgile.

Agile Without Social Engineering

Elena M Yatzeck — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:25:00 PDT

In 2006, Ivor Jacobson famously summarized, "Most important, agile is about social engineering." And indeed one of the things that makes so many agilists so darned loveable is that we are, as a friend of mine put it yesterday, "the kind of people who want to create a work place where you can go and still be a human being." Not a "resource," not an "FTE," but a human! It's an inspiring dream!

The Rules of Scrum: Every Sprint is Four Weeks or Less in Duration

Mishkin Berteig — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:56:05 PDT

The length of a Sprint determines how quickly a Scrum Team can “inspect and adapt” to changing circumstances and learning. Scrum, as a tool for product development, sets an upper limit to the duration of a Sprint. In other words, … Continue reading →

Estimation as Hypothesis

George Dinwiddie — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:07:16 PDT

Experimentation is a powerful learning tool. When I was young, I performed scientific experiments by mixing chemicals together to see what they would do. I learned that most random concoctions from my chemistry set would make a brown liquid that was often hard to clean out of a test tube. I learned that sometimes they [...]

Happy Fibonacci Day!

Elena M Yatzeck — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:26:00 PDT

Evolve or Die: Build an Agile Business

Bruce Winegarden — Wed, 08 May 2013 07:00:00 PDT

I love riding 100 mph on twisty, turning race tracks -- my favorite is Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. In racing, as in business, keeping the finish line in mind is important, but if you can’t negotiate the curves and respond quickly to changing conditions along the way -- you won’t win.

In this uber-competitive technology marketplace, the pace of change is only increasing. Disruptive new technologies are changing the game. Savvy business leaders are applying key agile concepts of continuous innovation, shorter iterations, and fail early/fail fast/fail often experiments not only to the development team - but to the entire portfolio management process.

Agile is not just for developers anymore. Once considered an esoteric “thing” that software developers “did,” Agile practices have moved mainstream and are spreading across the the enterprise. Business leaders are working to engage more people throughout the entire company to make more informed decisions at a faster pace. The demand for better business agility is especially evident for portfolio management and strategic planning that has traditionally been tied to annual planning cycles.

An Agile business will establish a much faster cadence than the traditional annual planning cycle. It doesn’t start and stop each quarter or once per year. Planning and preparation become a continuous flow process with a regular cadence of weekly, monthly, and quarterly events for planning, execution, and strategic decision making.

No Time to Wait: Embrace the MVP

Betting on a big-bang project to deliver new software in a 12-to-24 month development cycle is a potential recipe for failure given the current pace of change. Even if you are trying to plan a six-month product cycle, you may miss the latest handsets and the latest tablets - in other words, you are going to be behind.

An Agile business focuses on delivering incremental value in shorter time frames. This means each increment has to be smaller and hyper-focused on the value to the business or customer. Desired capabilities need to be reduced to Minimal Viable Features that are validated for the scenarios people want and use. By delivering functional software sooner, you have more opportunities to get customer feedback, adjust and adapt.

In some scenarios, evidence will suggest making small adjustments - other times a major pivot may be called for. Instead of betting the whole pot up front (as in waterfall), break opportunities into incremental objectives that can be validated along the way. By embracing the concept of a Minimum Viable Product, you can get to market quickly, then refine and expand.

Visibility and feedback are critical for steering effectively and making smart decisions. Kanban boards help people collaborate by making it easy to see the stage of planning or development key projects are in. Simply getting executives involved to see how much work is “in flight” on a Kanban board often brings an “ah ha” about what really matters to the business. Then, everyone can agree on working on the most important things first.

Don’t Be Left Behind

A new wave of Agile transformation is changing the way businesses fund and develop projects. Business must learn to embrace agility as more than a development approach if they are to survive. Strategic planning, product and portfolio management are now recognizing that Agile offers the best chance to keep pace and win the race. Agile is becoming a necessity for businesses trying to keep current in this changing marketplace.

To learn more about how to build an Agile business, sign up for Rally’s conference, RallyON June 3-5, 2013 and attend my session on Monster Portfolios.

Join us in Boulder, CO to learn from industry experts and peers, hear what's next for Rally's product suite; and have a little fun while you're at it!

Schedule of Events

RallyON Hackathon
Fri - Sat, May 31 - June 1
National Civic Day of Hacking
Sat - Sun, June 1- 2
RallyON! Conference
Mon - Wed, June 3 - 5

Bruce Winegarden