Utah PMA Quarterly Meeting, June, 2009

Agile for Product People

Presented by Bryan Tew

Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC

Introduction

• Bryan Tew of DavisBase Consulting• Agile Trainer and Coach

• 10+ years in software development industry

• IT Roles include PMO Director, Project Manager, Program Manager, Business Analyst, Process Manager

• Novell, The Generations Network, Solution Stream, ASPE

• 4+ years implementing Agile practices with software development teams and IT organizations

• MBA, Certified Scrum Master & Practitioner


Objectives

• Understand the differences and benefits of Agile development

• Provide knowledge and understanding of Agile principles and practices

• Understand the role of the Product Owner and how to work with an Agile team

• Learn how you can help your teams get started


Traditional Development

• Waterfall uses the ‘Big Bang’ approach:

The product is delivered

At the completion of testing


ScopeFeature/functionality

deliverables for the project

ScheduleTimetable for creating the

deliverables

CostPeople, materials, and

equipment used to create the deliverables

The Triple Constraint


• A philosophy about software development

• A collection of processes and practices that uphold that philosophy

• A grassroots movement to revolutionize software development

• What is the problem we’re trying to solve?

What is Agile?


The Agile Advantage

• With incremental delivery:– We address the greatest risks early in the

project – We can make corrections/adjustments with

each iteration– The Product Owner sees the product emerge

before their eyes and has visibly helped to create it– The team incrementally improves with each

iteration


Waterfall vs Agile

• Waterfall can lead to a large gap between what the Product Owner wants and what is actually delivered

• Agility adjusts to the goal based on customer feedback with each iteration.

Waterfall/’Big Bang’Agile

Target

Tim

e

Variance from Target- 0 +


Why Agile?

1. Manage rapidly changing priorities

2. Accelerate time to market

3. Increase Productivity

4. Improve Quality

VersionOne/AgileAlliance Survey, August 2006


Agile Benefits


Paradigm Shift

Flexible

Fixed___

Traditional

CostDate

Features

Agile

CostDate

Features


Agile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and toolsWorking software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiationResponding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items onthe right, we value the items on the left more.

http://agilemanifesto.org/




Agile Fundamentals:Working Software = Customer Satisfaction

• Working software is the primary measure of progress

• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software

• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale

Q: When you go to a car dealership to buy a car, does the dealer:

1. Show you a blueprint of the car?

2. Put you in the make and model of the car so that you can take it for a test drive?

Q: When you need a CRM system for your business, does IT:

1. Show you a set of wireframes representing the software?

2. Develop some functionality so you can try it out?

Copyright 2009 Davisbase LLC15

Agile Fundamentals:Adaptability & Change Are Welcome

• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage – ‘Plans are useless..., planning is indispensable” - Eisenhower• The plan is only a point estimate - a moment in time

• Planning is the ongoing response to a changing reality

–Recognize that changing user needs, market conditions and regulations will necessitate changes to the ‘plan’–While there is a legitimate reason for changes in scope, the

notion of ‘scope creep’ has little meaning in this model


Agile Fundamentals:Sustainable Development

– Prevents the ‘student syndrome’ on projects

– Sustainable, even pace of work allows for more accurate extrapolation of timeline and budget, higher product quality

– Team is not consistently working in a state of emergency or burnout: Duration

Hrs

/wee

k

40

Effort/hrs80

start end

• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.


Agile Fundamentals:Go See for Yourself

• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation

– Do not depend on what you see:• On a computer screen

• In an e-mail

• On an MS Gantt Chart

– Crucial conversations are best had face-to-face. Messages only realize:• 7% of their impact via the actual words

• 38% of their impact from vocal inflection

• 55% of their impact from body language


Agile Fundamentals:Self Organizing Teams

• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from Self-Organizing Teams

– The technical team knows ‘how’ to get the job done based upon technical expertise

– The team knows best how to organize itself to accomplish the work

– The team obtains the ‘what’ from the customer/sponsor

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.“ – General George S. Patton Jr.


Agile Fundamentals:Collaboration is Key

• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project

– “Throw it over the wall” is not a management option

– Continuous customer collaboration ensures the product development is on track and stays on track

– Daily stand-ups with the Product Owner (or the P.O.s proxy) will elevate project issues immediately and allow for timely adjustments of the deliverables


Process Overview

Scrum Alliance 2008


Process Overview

Scrum Alliance 2008


Scrum Terms

• Daily Scrum

• Sprint

• Product Backlog

• Sprint Backlog

• Velocity

• Product Owner

• Scrum Master


Forming the Agile Team

• Customer Unit

• Product Manager

• Customer

• Business Analyst

• Marketing

• Executives

• More....

• Developer Unit

• Developer

• Business Analyst

• QA

• DBA

• Project Manager

• Creative/Design

• IT/IS


Rock Band Analogy

#1 The Team is the rock band – people pay to attend concerts to see and listen to the band.#2 The Product Owner(s) are the fans – those who pay to attend concerts, pay for the music and therefore ultimately determine what music is popular and what music the band plays.#3 The Scrum-Master is the bouncer/manager – they protect the band from over enthusiastic fans, make sure no harm comes to them, book the gigs and make sure the band shows up on time


Product Owner Role

• Identify markets and customers

• Define products

• Establish the Product Vision and Roadmap

• Drive and quantify business value

• Prioritize and manage the product backlog

• Create user stories

• Be prepared with details at the appropriate time

• Set clear expectations for acceptance

• Convince Customers to buy and Executives to invest

• COMMUNICATE


Product Backlog


• Start as a team, finish as a team• Appropriate team size• Empowerment• Decision making pushed down to lowest level

• Come together• Do you have the space for co-location?• Are you available for daily collaboration?

• Open and Honest Communication• Inspect and Adapt

Team Best Practices


Communication

• Forums for communication

• Daily Standup/Scrum

• Iteration Planning

• Iteration Review/Demo

• Retrospectives

• Taskboards

• Burndown Charts


• Find a coach on your team or mentor outside• Start with a project that will span at least 3 or 4

sprints• Pick people who will give it a fair trial (skeptics

okay)• Support it. Listen to what team and data tell

you• Have that team coach the next

How to get started with agile ?


Things to Remember

• Establish a cadence

• Focus on practices that add value - eliminate waste whenever possible

• Communication - transparent and on the main path

• Patience - don’t expect perfection

• Inspect and adapt always!


DavisBase Offerings

• Agile for Product Owners• Agile for Executives• Agile Boot Camp• Agile Project Management• Agile Requirements• Agile Essentials• Transitioning from Waterfall to Agile• ...Coaching Services


Thank You!

• Bryan Tew

• DavisBase Consulting

• [email protected]

• (801) 494-1072

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Utah PMA Quarterly Meeting, June, 2009