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Agile Challenges and Opportunities From Organizational Change to Co-Location, what types of challenges and opportunities are unique to Agile projects Tricia Hembling Certifications PMP, Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner Roles Technology Director (Application Development and Infrastructure), Agile Transformation Manager, Program Manager, Project Manager, Product Manager, Agile Coach, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Business Analyst, QA, Developer, Consultant, UX Design Domain Expertise eCommerce, DAM/CMS/Workflow, CRM, Health Insurance/Quoting/Apps, Interactive Media, Food Delivery/Online Ordering, IT Audit, Finance Organization Types Fortune 500 companies, Technology start-ups, Consulting The Agile Manifesto We are uncovering better ways of developing technology by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value: Individuals and Interactions over Processes and tools Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation Responding to Change over Following a Plan That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more Agile Alliance - 2001 What do we gain by adopting Agile? Agile Benefits Key Benefit How Realized Ensures consistent delivery ► Business is tightly engaged in the development process of solutions that meet ► Real working software is reviewed earlier in project lifecycle and very frequently business needs ► Testing is a continuous activity ensuring quality Delivers working product faster to start realizing value sooner ► Products are developed and tested to the point that they are ready to be deployed ► Releases can be as large or small as needed ► Complete solution is deployed progressively through multiple releases Responds to changing priorities and reduces waste ► Backlog of needed features and relative priority is maintained continuously ► High-level objectives are defined a release at a time and analyzed as sprints are defined, which accommodates dependency discovery, reprioritization and emerging business requirements ► Completed functionality can be removed from a release when appropriate Recognizes and address risks early in project ► Each iteration is completely developed and tested, concepts are proven quickly and learning is accelerated ► Retrospectives establish a consistent focus on establishing the most effective team in a manner that identifies problems and mitigations, reducing impact on delivery Does Agile Have Any Real Structure? Scrum employs Empirical Process Control and many levels of planning to provide opportunities to perfect processes and produce predictable results with high business value The Agile Landscape Agile is Mature: Over 20 years of practicing Agile • Agile practices, frameworks, and techniques have been used since the 1990’s with the Agile Manifest introduced in 2001. • Agile continues to grow in popularity, particularly Scrum and its variants projects) ( ~70% of agile Agile is Widespread • The vast majority of companies are using Agile, have tried it, or are considering adopting it in the next year • No longer primarily small companies and teams are becoming geographically dispersed more frequently Agile is Not Just for Software Development Anymore • Companies are exploring the benefits of Agile delivery techniques for all types of projects. Experienced Agile resources are in very high demand Is Agile a Silver Bullet? There is nothing magical about agile… but it does represent a different approach that is rooted in quickly delivering business value while continuously increasing the team’s efficiency and quality. Change is never easy, for some organizations the transformation comes more naturally, for others it requires fundamental changes throughout the organization and its people. The Transformation Not just new processes, but a new way of thinking • One Team – Business and IT together – Self Organizing – Highly collaborative without many formal hand-offs • Planning and Refining Plans vs Formal Contracts – Requires IT Management to measure success differently – Shifts the focus to providing Business Value, rather than a specific Scope • A New Kind of Communication – What does transparency really mean? • Learning to Share – Shared Space, Shared Code, Shared Ideas Organizational Change The organization as a whole will need to transform over time to optimize success • Top Down, Executive Mandate – Universal support on the surface, but underlying resistance – Common education and direction – Often have strict accepted methodology based on ideals, not experience in the organization • Bottom Up – Grass Roots Effort – – – – Lots of passion from the team Variable business and senior management support Partners do not know how to support an Agile team Often must still follow traditional project processes • Executive Support, Structure without a Mandate – – – – Slower acceptance/evolution Not all departments at the same level of Agile maturity Challenges with Agile and Traditional teams working together Learn and adapt best practices for the organization of time and experience State of Agile Survey 9th Annual State of Agile Survey - VersionOne We Use Scrum….But We have implemented Scrum and we are still struggling… – But we do all of our design at the beginning of our project – But we do all of our story development without any input from the developers and testers – But our Product Owner is not available to the team for clarifications and context – But we don’t do retrospectives after every sprint…its just a waste of time to get the entire team together to complain • Agile and Scrum intentionally include items like these in their principles for a reason – They are the key things that make agile effective The Agile Purist We need to implement exactly as described in our favorite Agile book, they are the expert right? – How could we go wrong if we follow their guidance to the letter? • Take a more pragmatic approach – Thoroughly understand Agile Values and Principles – Implement in a way that stays true to the values and principles while embracing organizational strengths and minimizing weaknesses – Always allow time to inspect and adapt regularly • Scrum is easy to learn, but difficult to master and maintain in practice Distributed Teams What if I can’t have a co-located team? Can I still use Agile? • Co-Location is highly recommended in all Agile methods – Improves real-time collaboration, allows ad hoc conversations, and increases productivity and quality • In larger companies it can be difficult to get the right resources, at the right time, in the right place. How can we over come this? – – – – Allow time for collaboration every day Simulate a co-located environment Employ a virtual Product Backlog, Taskboard, and Test Cases Select team members who are highly collaborative, flexible, and with good communication skills Dedicated Resources Agile methods encourage teams to have all fully dedicated resources, but we work in a matrixed organization. Can we work with that? • Some roles lend themselves to being dedicated, but not fully allocated – Project Manager, Product Owner, Architect • Others are better to be completely dedicated – Scrum Master, Develop, QA Analyst It is critical to have dedicated resources, even if they are not fully allocated in all roles. Staffing Resources for Agile Projects Total resource requirements for Agile and Traditional projects are about the same, but it is a much different model Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Developers, Business Analysts/Story Authors, Testers, UX Designers, Technical Infrastructure resources, etc all have ongoing engagement. Rapid Release Cycle How do I develop and release to production every two weeks? It can take weeks just to get the required approvals! • Automate – Testing – Builds – Deployments • Real-Time collaboration between the Scrum Team and with the Product Owner • Streamline your release approvals • Build a close relationship with Operations, or consider including DevOps on your team Production Support vs New Features We are doing great with Scrum for new development, but production support issues are killing us! • Anticipate unplanned tasks and plan for them – Determine how much to allow for in a sprint – Adjust you velocity as appropriate – Ensure your team maintains a Sustainable Pace Sustainable Pace The team commits to the Sprint Backlog but they are always putting in long hours to achieve it…They can’t continue like this • Achieve a Sustainable Pace, not a Max Velocity – Do not allow the team’s estimates to be influenced – Ensure the team knows their Definition of Done – Do not take on work that has unmet dependencies Agile in the Evolving Workforce The new generation of professionals have a much different approach to working together and solving problems They work best in an environment where - There is constant Communication and Collaboration Their voice heard, even if their idea is not chosen They can ask why, challenging the status quo, and look for a better way While Agile certainly challenged conventional thinking about project delivery, as Millennials advance in their careers I expect to see even greater evolution in the way we manage projects. Soon there will be whole generations of professionals that have never worked on a Waterfall project. Parting Thoughts… Agile methodologies and frameworks can be very powerful tools to delivery high-quality software to market quickly However, if the proper care is not taken to stay true to the Agile Principles and Values, many of the benefits are lost and the risks are increased – Within those parameters, the most successful implementations of Agile are by those who think creatively, are willing to try new things, and are continually inspecting and adapting.