1. An Agile Odyssey:A Case Study of Agile Adoptionwithin a Health Insurance CompanyAlston Hodge, Agile Coach 2013 AgileIndy Conference March 8, 2013

2. My first week on the job... Our metrics do not show that Scrum is any better than waterfall. IT director Im not sure Agile really works for us. IT manager So glad youre here to tell us what we are doing wrong. - ScrumMaster 3. Agenda History Assessment Findings Anti-Scrum Patterns Root Causes Impacts to the insurance company Fixing the Problems Lessons Learned 4. History Nov 2007 IT dept established Agile charter Feb 2008 IT dept created implementationplan, training campaign, pilot projects Oct 2008 IT dept created Agile Community ofPractice Oct 2009 consulting firm recommendedcoaches Apr 2010 IT dept created Agile Maturity Model Oct 2010 BP survey highlighted Agile issues Apr 2011 hired first Agile coach, conductedorganizational assessment Oct 2011 BP survey highlighted Agile issues 5. Organizational Assessment 6. Assessment Topics Scrum Training? Following the basic Scrum practices? Timeboxed work? Goal of potentially deployable product? Have a SM and PO? Team maturity? Retrospectives? Demos? 7. Assessment Findings 55% of people trained (mostly IT) 53% of projects use some variation ofScrum 70% global partner utilization Sampled 35% of Scrum teams (47/136): 13% (6 teams) practice true Scrum 87% (41 teams) struggle with 4 or more key Scrum principles and practices 8. Anti-Scrum Patterns Scrum-> Scrum-lite-> O-gile Mini-waterfall approach Multiple concurrent projects in Sprints 83% have 3 or more projects Teams with few or no retrospectives Risks not being identified andmanaged 9. LowestLower Higher HighestAttributeRiskRiskRisk RiskTeam Collocated Distributed DistributedDistributionCollocated Part-time OverlapNo OverlapProductLead multiple POsOwner1PO2(no lead)ProductComplexity 1 system2 systems3 systems 4+ systemsTrue SprintLength 2 wks 4 wks6 wks 8+ wksProjects per Team1 23 4+Scrum AdvanceExperienceExpert Proficient BeginnerNoviceXPAdvanceExperienceExpert Proficient BeginnerNoviceTeamTruly cross-SpecializedStructurefunctional roles 10. More Anti-Scrum Patterns SM assumes some responsibilities ofPO No lead Product Owner Stakeholders not attending demos Inconsistent use of VersionOne New teams adopting anti-Scrum habitsof early adopters IT PM, Business PM 11. Product OwnerTeam Scrum MasterSimple Scrum 12. ProductOwner 4 Product Owner 3 Business PMProduct ScrumOwner 2 Team IT PMScrum SME/ArchMaster Product Owner 1 13. And some more. Individual performance measures Workload exceeds capacity Start most/all stories at same time No sprint goals No tracking velocity Teams larger than 12 members Separate testing from development 14. Sprint Models Model DSUDEV-SIT-UAT DEV-SIT-UATDEV-SIT-UAT. Model DS-UDEV + SITUAT DEV + SIT UATDEV + SIT UATModel DDD-S-U DEVDEV DEV . SIT UAT Model D-S-U . DEV SIT UAT Defects DefectsDEVSITUATDefects DefectsDEV SITUAT 15. Assessment Findings Top 10% teams (highest performers): 93% with only one PO 1.9 projects per sprint 7.4 core team members 6.8 yrs average company experience (POs) Bottom 10% of teams (failing): 56% with more than one PO (one with 7 POs!) 4.6 projects per sprint 12.1 core members/team POs with only 1.8 yrs average company experience 16. Root Causes 17. Root Cause 1: Adapting vs. Adopting Scrum We need your help to adapt Scrum to fit ourculture PMO Program Manager Perhaps we need to adopt the Values andPrinciples, and adapt the techniques andpractices instead. Alston 18. Agile Values and Principles Already complement our corporate values andprinciples. Guide us in our daily decisions. Are foundational, the core of what we believeto be true about us. Generally accepted Scrum practices arebased on Agile values and principles. Changing the values and principles de-stabilizes our Scrum framework. 19. Examples Choosing to not have retrospectiveshampers: Continuous improvement Transparency Sustainable development Not tracking velocity hampers: Continuous improvement Transparency Sustainable development 20. Root Cause 2: Adoption Viewed as an IT campaign,not a company campaign Initiated and supported as IT campaign Business partners not fully understanding theimplications: PO develops the backlog PO prioritizes based on business value PO approves story completion PO decides when to release With Agile, the Business is in the drivers seat! 21. IT left with un-answered Questions Service Provider vs. Business Partner IT projects vs. Business projects What to do with PMs? Scrum-> Scrum-lite-> O-gile? 22. Root Cause 3: Accelerated Contract/Offshore Utilization 2008 60% company, 40% contractor 2011 30% company, 70 % contractor Source of business innovation cut in half 23. Look at the numbers US health insurance experience 160+ years as an industry Over 80% of Americans with healthcare insurance today Indias health insurance experience 12 years experience in industry Less than 6% with healthcare insurance (as of 2010) 24. Root Cause 4: ADD Agile Deficit Disorder Symptoms Difficulty in focusing Hard to develop self-discipline (team & organizational) Commitment issues Scrum Buts Resistance to Transparency Workload exceeds capacity We need to take on this additional work because it is important. But it goes without saying that we cant let anything fall off the plate. IT manager 25. Impacts to theInsurance Company 26. Collaboration Challenges Agile Community of Practice stalled Increasing collaboration issues Increase turnover (company, vendors) insome areas Decline in Partnership survey scores Innovation Communications Ownership Increased use of PMs (IT and Business) 27. Fixin the Problems 28. Update the training Use experienced SMs and Pos as trainers Focus more on the Why of key Scrumconcepts Lots of new resources available now Address the common Anti-Scrums Introduce eXtreme Programming Continuous integration Paired programming Automated testing 29. Key Concepts of Scrum Transparency Prioritize Business Commitment Value Continuous IncrementalImprovementdevelopment Collaboration Minimal documentation Discipline Sustainable pace Stop.Inspect.Adapt Iterative development Cross-functional teams Swarming Retrospectives Sprint planning Product Demos 30. Re-build the Agile Community Coachs Corner BUZZ (internal social media) Tips and Tricks (12 guidelines) Agile tract in Learning Week Monthly Corporate Scrum Gatherings Agile Team of the Year Award Louisville Agile Forum Partner with regional Agile groups 31. Coaches CoachesCoaches Coaches CoachesCoachesCoaches 32. Promote Value of Coaching organizationally agnostic - not subject to the samepecking order, enabling them to tell the hard truthsthat may need to be said help teams develop self-discipline and good habits provide needed on-the-job learning and mentoringopportunities soon after training 33. Training with CoachingCoaching 34. Promote Value of Coaching Challenge teams to address the difficulties they face rather than sweep them under the rug. bring both tried and new practices and processes to the team and organization reducing the degree of trial and error. bring an outside view of the organization, team and individuals and remove intrinsic bias and interpersonal issues. 35. Grow your Own Coach Internal coach program 6 months to coach the coach Full time commitment Workload of 12-15 teams Already knows the business Limitations Agile experience limited to one company Not organizationally agnostic No previous coaching experience 36. Educate Business leadership Find the champions Educate top down and bottom up 30 minute intro to Scrum Provide Product Owner learning plan Solicit their help to champion Scrum Sell the idea of external coaches Help Business take back the reins. 37. Educate IT leadership Find the champions Provide Agile PM learning plan Address the unanswered questions: Are we a Service Provider or Partner? How to develop Agile PMs? Do we understand and accept the risk of offshoring? Are we serious about Scrum adoption? 38. Treat the ADD Guidance of prioritizing projects/features Help teams develop self-discipline Educate on myth of multi-tasking 39. Address Collaboration Issues Lack of trust - team building exercises Triangulation Painters Pyramid Matthew 18 360 Surveys Monthly joint meetings 40. Agile AdoptionLessons Learned 41. LLs for the Company Involve the Business from beginning Utilize external coaches for first year Honor Scrum values & principles Be transparent Be honest 42. LLs for an Agile Coach You can lead a horse to water Culture is hardest to change. Got to know when to quit. 43. A company has to decidefor itself Do you want to be a Guppy or an OlympicSwimmer? 44. ProductOwner 4 Product Owner 3 Business PMProduct ScrumOwner 2 Team IT PMScrumSME/ArchMaster Product Owner 1 45. Product Owner 4ProductProduct Owner 3Owner 2 Business PM Lead Product Owner Scrum TeamScrumMasterSME/Arch IT PM 46. Questions? 47. Contact me! alstonehodge@gmail.com Twitter: @alstonhodge Join me each month at the Louisville Agile Forum Farm Credit Mid-America (1601 UPS Drive, Louisville) 4th Wednesdays (6PM) Call me at 502-631-3175