Laying a Strong Foundation for Agile Transformation

Laying A Strong Foundation for Agile Transformation (Experience Report Presentation @ Agile India 2016 on March 17 2016)

Dr. Gopinath Ramakrishnan Independent Consultant

e-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @gpnth

Website: www.rgopinath.com

(c) Gopinath Ramakrishnan, 2016

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.rgopinath.com/

About the Client

• Multinational Product Company

• Product Development mainly in India

• Organizational Structure – Function Based

• Waterfall Lifecycle

• Prior Exposure to Agile - NONE


5 Steps for Effective Agile Initiation

1. Set Sponsor Expectations Right

2. Get Leadership Buy-in

3. Assess the Current Scenario

4. Start, Train & Coach Pilot Project

5. Measure the Impact


Why Agile ?


Agile Journey is Not Easy!

Be Prepared for A Major Change !!









First Understand Agile

AND ONLY THEN

Commit to Transformation


Agile Values & Principles Workshop for Leaders


Agile Workshop – Outcomes

• Business Expectations Emerged

• All Agile Values and Principles found Relevant

• Leadership Team Buy-in Obtained


If Being Agile makes Business Sense And Leadership is Willing to Change Then Do Gemba Situation Analysis


Gemba: Place where value is created








Assessment - Objectives

• To Compare Current Practices with Agile Practices and Baseline them

• To Surface any Critical People Issues


Comparative Agility™

https://comparativeagility.com/


https://comparativeagility.com/

Parameters Assessed

1. Teamwork

2. Requirements, Architecture and Design

3. Project Planning and Monitoring

4. Engineering Practices

5. Product Quality

6. Work Culture

7. Continuous Improvement


Assessment - Inputs

• Release Retrospectives

• Survey Responses


Release Retrospectives

• Most Recent Product Release

• 3 Separate Sessions

– Session 1: Team Members from Potential Pilot Project

– Session 2: Team Members from Other Projects

– Session 3: Project Managers & Line Managers


Survey Questionnaire


Extract from the Survey Questionnaire

Pre-Pilot Survey Results - Parameter Ratings

Pilot Candidate 1


Pilot Candidate 2

Pre-Pilot Survey Results – Practices Needing Attention • Visibility of Progress (41 %)

• Ability to Start with Incomplete Requirements (29%)

• Visibility of Technical Debt (29%)

• Early Identification of Non-functional Requirements (26%)

• Involvement of the Testers (26%)

• Being Productive without Overworking (26%)

• Consideration of Team oriented behavior in Performance Reviews and Compensation (26%)

[Figs. in the bracket are the % of responses rated FAR or VERY FAR from the proven Agile practice]


Assessment - Conclusions

• Practices lie in the middle of the Agility Scale

• Some Practices need attention

• No Critical Risks to Agile Transformation

– No major issues with Work Culture and Teamwork

Pilots Can Start !









Pilot Project Details

• Pilot Duration – 6 Weeks ( 3 Sprints)

• Pilot A – Feature Based

– External Customer

– 7 Team Members (5 Programmers + 2 Testers)

• Pilot B – Component Based

– Internal Customers

– 3 Team Members (2 Programmers + 1 Tester)


Pre-Pilot Workshops

• Agile Values & Principles

• Overview of Agile Methods

• Role of Managers in an Agile World

• Teamwork


Pilot Project – Process Framework

• Scrum Derivative - NOT Scrum !

• Scrum Events & Artifacts

• Roles different from Scrum

– Project Manager Local Product Owner (LPO)

– Functional Manager Sprint Manager (SM)

• Reporting relationships among LPO, SM & Team Members

– Not an issue ; Work Culture conducive


Pilot Project – Training & Coaching • Just-in Time; Bite-Sized Workshops

– Timed just before a sprint ceremony

– Actual Work Artifacts (vs simulated exercises )

• Focus of Coaching

– Changing the Mindset

– Improving Teamwork

– Ensuring Effective Sprint Ceremonies










Extract from the Survey Questionnaire

How many people said

Situation has Become BETTER?


Impact of Agile on Parameters %

of

Res

po

nse

s


Impact of Agile on Parameters %

of

Res

po

nse

s


Parameters % of Responses Rating it “Better”

Requirements, Architecture and Design

100 %

Project Planning & Monitoring

100%

Continuous Improvement 100 %

Teamwork 93 %

Product Quality 93 %

Work Environment 79 %

Engineering Practices 71 %

Impact on Practices


Impact on Practices


Impact of Agile on the Practices which were Rated Low in Pre-Pilot Survey

% o

f R

esp

on

ses


Impact of Agile on the Practices which were Rated Low in Pre-Pilot Survey

% o

f R

esp

on

ses


Practices % of Responses Rating it “Better”

Progress Visibility 100 %

Early Tester Involvement 93%

Encouragement of Team Behavior

71%

Ability to Start Work with Incomplete Requirements

57 %

Being Productive without Overworking

50 %

Early Identification of NFRs

50%

Technical Debt 36 %

Outcome

Another 8 Teams

earmarked for Agile Transition

in the Next Release


Thank You !

Dr. Gopinath Ramakrishnan Independent Consultant

e-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @gpnth

Website: www.rgopinath.com


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.rgopinath.com/

Presentations & Public Speaking

Laying a Strong Foundation for Agile Transformation