Our Journey to Agile in the Microsoft Developer Division

AT9 ConcurrentSession11/12/151:30pm

“Our Journey to Agile in the Microsoft Developer Division”

Presented by:

Gregg Boer

Microsoft

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Gregg Boer Microsoft

Gregg Boer is a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft with 25 years of experience in software. Over his career, Gregg has worked as a Project Manager, Program Manager, Requirements Lead, Software Engineer, Analyst, QA Lead, and Software Designer. Most of his experience is focused on leading small to medium software development teams (10-15 people). Over the years Gregg believes he has made many mistakes, learned many lessons, and worked with many smart people to develop great software. He loves the software industry, and considers himself a lucky man to have been a part of it for so long. Gregg joined Microsoft in 2005 because he believed in the vision of Team Foundation Server. He truly believes that the right set of collaborative tools could help make the lives of software engineers better. Most recently at Microsoft, Gregg is working on the team developing a set of world-class Agile Tools built on top of the TFS Platform.

Agile Development, Better Software, and DevOps Conference East November 12, 2015

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Iowa farm boyMarried 27 years. 3 sons. GrandfatherHome office is a tree houseEnjoy Beer


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There is no single way Agile is done at MicrosoftThis is the Developer Division’s story

• 3 week sprints• Scrum at the team level• Emphasis on self-managed teams• Top-down and bottom-up

2 years


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Planning M1 M2

Planning M1 M2

Specs

We knew exactly what to build, and we knew it was right!


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Planning M1 M2

Specs

We knew exactly what to build, and we knew it was right!

Planning M1 M2

We had a perfect schedule and knew exactly when it would be ready!


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Code Test & Stabilize Code Test & Stabilize

CodeCompleteWe wrote all the code months before we shipped a release.

A: We were successful. But…Q: How did it work?


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Diego Lo Giudice and Dave West, ForresterFebruary 2011Transforming Application Delivery

“Firms today experience a much higher velocity of business change. Market opportunities appear or dissolve in months or weeks instead of years.“

• Roles• Organization• Teams• Cadence• Plan• Practices

Alignment

Autonomy

Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose


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http://vimeo.com/85490944

Program Manager – Responsible to ensure we’re building the right thing.Engineer – Responsible to ensure we’re building products that are fast, reliable, and well engineered.


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Program Management Engineering

Program Management Engineering


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• Cross discipline• 10-12 people• Self managing• Autonomous backlog• Intact for 12-18 months• Physical team rooms

PM Engineering


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• Yes, we do have some remote individuals. It’s the exception, not the rule.• We aim for remote teams, not remote disciplines.

Sprint3-week sprints

Season6 month season

Vision18 month vision


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3 weeks

• Common Sprint Cadence


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Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3Week 2 Week 3Sprint 69Sprint 68 Sprint 70

Deployment

Sprint Planning Done!

What we accomplished


Week 1 Week 2 Week 3Week 2 Week 3Sprint 69Sprint 68 Sprint 70

The sprint plan


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Plan Accomplished

• Organization defines information needed• Team decides how to provide that information


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Code Test & Stabilize Code Test & Stabilize

CodeComplete


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• Organization defines quality bar• Team decides how to meet it


Sprint 69


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Things we don’t watch• Team burndown• Team velocity• Original estimate• Completed hours• Team capacity• # of bugs found

Things we watch• # of bugs• Unit test coverage• Rolling build quality

• Organization tracks features / quality / debt• Team tracks … whatever it wants


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SpringFallSpring Fall


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3 weeks


3 weeks



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3 sprintsTODAY

1. What’s next on your backlog?2. What’s your debt situation?3. Any issues?


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3 sprintsTODAYA plan, not a commitment

• Organization sets 6-month plan• Teams create sprint plans that align


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Experience Review

• Storyboard of what you’re going to build• High level execution plan

• Talk about sprints, not hours• Feedback, feedback, feedback


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6 month plan

Experience Reviews

18 month vision

Scenario Review


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Done!

What did we learn over the last 6 months? What did customers tells us? What changed in the marketplace?


6 month plan

Experience Reviews

18 month vision

Scenario Review

Done!Done!


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InitiativeEpic

FeaturesStoriesTasks

InitiativesEpics

FeaturesStoriesTasks


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• Becoming a “data-informed” business• DevOps: Continuous deployment… continuous everything.

1. Less is more2. Get out of your teams’ way3. Autonomy, mastery, purpose4. Plan & learn5. Have fun


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http://aka.ms/engineeringstories