agile in the real world: digital moderation (talk for iiba/vuw)

AGILE IN THE REAL WORLD: Digital ModerationPresentation by Cat McRae and Jamie McIndoe

INTRODUCTION AND TEAM OVERVIEWWho are we, and why are we here?

MEET DIGITAL MODERATION

INTRODUCTIONS: DIGITAL MODERATION▫ Based at NZQA▫ The first project in a long-term programme called

Future State which is focused on digitising assessment.

▫ Our project focuses on the moderation process: remember in high school how some of your papers would be sent away during the year?

▫ Core team of about 10, wider team of approx 20 that chip in here and there.

▫ Project will span about 2 years total, 1 year of core work with a full team.

▫ We’re based in a very colourful cube of an office with as much of the core team together as possible.

PROJECT STRUCTURESubject to change...

TEAM STRUCTURE:

Administration

AnalysisTesting

Development

In-House Outsourced

SCRUM MASTER

Agile coach:◦ Scrum Master for the

Digital Moderation project team at NZQA

◦ Worked as an agile coach & team member for Agile teams at:

▫Fairfax▫BNZ▫Westpac▫Xero▫NZQA

SCRUM MASTER

What does a scrum master do?:◦ “Scrum Master”:

▫… responsible for ensuring Scrum is understood and enacted

▫… servant-leader for the Scrum Team.

◦ Reality is more like:▫ Facilitate▫Coach▫Demonstrate

HOW WE WORK

We structure our fortnightly iterations into:◦ Planning (one session at the start)◦ Standups (daily team check-in on progress)◦ Review / Demo◦ RetrospectiveWe also have the following depending on our specific work:◦ Workshops (cross-functional focus on a

feature or sub-feature)◦ Short-term stand-ups / check-ins

COMMON FRAMEWORKS FOR AGILE

Scrum

Popular agile framework with specific roles, events, artifacts and rules.

“A framework within which people can address complex adaptive problems, while productively and creatively delivering products of the highest possible value.”Scrum Guide

Kanban

Inspired by lean manufacturing processes

Focus is on getting work to flow through development by limiting the work-in-progress

More flexible and easier to start with than Scrum

METHODOLOGY: THEORY VS OUR REALITYWaterfall

◦ Begins with the BAs analysing and defining requirements

◦ Stakeholders are consulted once formally

◦ Deadlines are absolute

Scrum◦ Analysis and

requirements defining is continuous throughout the project

◦ Stakeholders provide constant input

◦ Deadlines are flexible

Our Project◦ Had an initial

analysis period, but is open to further development of requirements

◦ Stakeholders are re-consulted at key points

◦ Project deadlines are flexible, but there are outside constraints

METHODOLOGY: THEORY VS OUR REALITYWaterfall

◦ Progress is linear and clearly measurable

◦ Scope is locked in at the start of the project

◦ Documentation is a must!

Scrum◦ Progress is

iterative and in small chunks

◦ Scope can be refactored

◦ Minimize documentation, MVP

Our Project◦ Chipping away

in chunks towards a big goal

◦ Scope is refactorable up to a point

◦ Would dearly like to document less!

‘PASS THE BATON’ VS THE ‘THREE LEGGED RACE’

◦ In Waterfall projects (and a lot of projects in general) work is passed down the chain- the BA passes on the requirements, the developer works from these...

◦ For us, you own the work (sometimes collectively!) the whole way through each cycle; if there’s a mistake, later on you still own it and amend it.

◦ Because of the continual team involvement at all points, strength of the team is very important- this can be a weakness because it does require continual commitment + getting along

◦ This introduces a certain amount of co-dependency within the team: success is collective. It doesn’t matter how well we analysed, designed, tested if the end product doesn’t work.

How cross-functionality works in practice

Elastic role boundaries (Katrina Clokie & Chris Priest)

We all have a primary role or specialisation. Some tasks only relate to our role, some are a regular part of multiple roles.

When a new task appears one role will stretch to cover it and may take it on regularly

We may stretch between roles to help each other out … but the elastic always snaps back.

SO WHAT DO YOU EVEN DO?That’s a very good question...

Good◦Knowing you

can make a difference

◦Interacting with people

◦Knowing your project has purpose

◦Validating your analysis

WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS

Bad◦You can’t

deliver the world

◦You have to be the bad guy sometimes

◦Preconceptions and politics

◦They change their minds!

SLICE OF LIFE: A LOOK AT LAST WEEK FOR ME

Monday: User Acceptance Testing went live. I worked with the the test team, sent emails out to external stakeholders, and coordinated the launch.Tuesday: A timeline and plan I had been creating went for sign-off! I ended up editing a lot of documents thanks to feedback.

Wednesday: I spent the day with internal stakeholders and the instructional designer capturing updated requirements and defects and introducing the stakeholders to the new system.

Thursday: After meeting with the stakeholders, I then met with the developers and the PM to let them know what the feedback had been. I logged the defects and prioritised them.

Friday: I had a meeting with the developers to discuss the high-level process map of a new tool we are designing, and the feasibility of it.

WORKING IN AN AGILE TEAM: GRAD PERSPECTIVE

Flexibility: My work doesn’t have one label! This means being able to learn a lot of new things and discover what I like.

Support: Breaking down inter-team boundaries means you can get advice from the most unexpected of places.

Change: Because of the iterative nature of agile, I don’t end up doing the same thing for a long period of time...good if you tend to get bored!

Lack of Structure: Because everything is a lot more fluid, it’s sometimes hard to know what you’re meant to be doing...self management is a must!

WHAT DO YOU USE?Programs and Post-its

TOOLS OF THE TRADEMicrosoft Visio: We love to hate it. I wish I’d been practicing it for years, so start now!

XMind: Nifty free tool for easy brainstorming. Good for mapping details and drafting.

Jira: Used to track details of tasks, defects and overall project progress. A little hard to get experience in before you’re on a project.

Confluence: Jira’s Wiki-based sister. Good for sharing documents and larger pieces of information between a team.

Pen and Paper: Classic, but still work. Post-its especially are great for making the walls colourful and getting the information out there.

MAPPING DELIVERABLES ACROSS RELEASES

RELEASE STATUS WALL - Status at a glance

USER WORKFLOW VISUAL - Managing Uncertainty

DEFECT HEAT MAP - Aligning Priorities

Thanks!ANY QUESTIONS?You can find us at:linkedin.com/cat.o.mcrae@jamie_mcindoehttps://geetarwords.wordpress.com/