connecting with customers
DESCRIPTION
Even today, to the detriment of agile success, most organizational cultures remain delivery date-driven—resulting in delivery teams that are not focused on creating value for the customer. So how can we redirect stakeholders, the business, and the project team to concentrate on delivering the greatest value rather than simply meeting dates? Pollyanna Pixton describes the tools she has used in collaboration sessions to help all stakeholders and team members begin the process of adopting customer-centric agile methods. These tools include laying out an end-to-end customer journey, forming reusable decision filters to help prioritize backlogs, converting features into actionable user stories, and developing a solid process for making group decisions and communicating those decisions. Pollyanna shares questions that product owners and managers can use to define the problem while making sure they don't solve the problem prematurely. After all, that is the responsibility of the delivery team.TRANSCRIPT
WK1 Keynote 11/13/2013 8:30 AM
"Connecting with Customers"
Presented by:
Pollyanna Pixton Accelinnova
Brought to you by:
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Pollyanna Pixton Accelinnova
International leadership expert, Pollyanna Pixton developed the models for collaboration and collaborative leadership through her thirty-eight years of working inside and consulting with many organizations. She helps companies create workplaces where talent and innovation are unleashed—making them more productive, efficient, and profitable. Pollyanna is a founding partner of Accelinnova, president of Evolutionary Systems, and director of the Institute for Collaborative Leadership. She writes and speaks on topics of creating cultures of trust, leading collaboration, and business ethics. Her models are found in her book, Stand Back and Deliver: Accelerating Business Agility. Pollyanna co-founded the Agile Leadership Network and has chaired Leadership Summits in the US and England. Contact her at [email protected].
Connecting with Customers
Co-‐Founder, Accelinnova
President, Evolu3onary Systems Director, Ins3tute of Collabora3ve Leadership
Text: 801. 209. 1095
Blog: Pollyannapixton.com
Pollyanna PIXTON
date driven
vs
value driven
can we predict…
customer needs and when
we can ship?
…future
revenue generated reliably?
…real cost
saved? …market
pricing?
Competition Pivots
Faster to market Differen3a3ng features (we become parity)
Unfortunately…
we don’t know
what we don’t know
5% -‐ NASA
chance of getting it right
Leadership Role
You can’t defy gravity! - Paul Gibson
Product Not Ready
§ High technical debt
§ Poor quality § Loss of credibility
and reliability § Not enough
features § Unhappy
customers
why do we keep doing it?
leaders want to create urgency
“I need it now!”
“It ALL must be done in 3 months!”
“The customers must have all of this!”
leaders want control
“What is it going to cost?”
“How long will it take?”
“Can you do it in less?”
move to value driven
understand the value to
your
customers
understand the value to the
business
learn at the pace of the market
delight customers as you build
§ Product Inception Planning
§ Customer Journey § Decision Filters § Proactive Risk
Management § Minimal Viable
Product § Metrics
Tools You Need
(from many meaningful thoughts, one valuable vision)
product inception planning
Objectives
§ Clear and compelling vision § Shared understanding across
team § Prepare to actively design and
build § Who owns what, who is
responsible for what § Form a product/project team
(alignment and understanding)
customer journey and
touch point mapping
Four Important Questions
The business should provide the problem – not the solution. 1. Who do we serve? 2. What do they want and need most? 3. What do we provide to help them? 4. What is the best way to provide
this?
Customer Journey
Example: Online Postage
Search online, Compare,
Read reviews
We go to the post office a lot and waste time in line.
Sign up for trial
Buy decision Set up account
Installation Printer setup Billing options
Customer support Maintenance Prove value
what parts of your product touch the
customer?
Online Postage Touch Points?
Search online, Compare,
Read reviews
We go to the post office a lot and waste time in line.
Sign up for trial
Buy decision Set up account
Installation Printer setup Billing options
Customer support Maintenance Prove value
articulate the
vision
the “billboard” test…
“To be the low cost airline.” -‐ Southwest Airlines
Online Postage Billboard?
decision filters (focus on vision)
“Will this help us be
the low cost airline?” -‐ Southwest Airlines
decision filters: make daily decisions
prioritize backlogs set realistic goals
Tips and Examples
§ Integrity matters § Don’t ‘sort of’ pass the filters! To increase performance: § “Will this increase performance
by20%?” To release in 6 months: § “Can this get done in 4 months?”
cascade decision filters throughout the
organiza3on
decision filters for
online postage?
brainstorm product ideas
create epics
Transaction Costs
do they all pass the decision filters?
priori3ze based on value to the
customer and to your
business
now….
dealing with uncertainly and
ambiguity
ambiguity…
an estimate is an estimate,
a range,
not an exact number
group es3mates
are beZer
leaders want certainty…
reality is … there isn’t any
we need some help!
accept reality
prepare for change
don’t over commit to the market
use 60/40 rule!
team only commits to 60% of time
available
Leading Agile
§ Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process
don’t make compromises
without business
buy-in
stand by your estimates don’t cave or pad them!
when change happens …
… ask why?
customer relevance? importance to other
commitments?
what can be done later?
show progress
minimal viable product (MVP)
Go To Market Quickly
to maximize return on
investment and
learning
“Do we need this for the MVP?”
Decision Filter
mitigate risks entire team
identifies risks together
uncertainty market uncertainty
technical uncertainty
project duration number of customers
dependencies scope
complexity team size culture
mission criticality team location
time zones
team maturity domain
knowledge gaps dependencies lack of trust
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 Market Uncertainty
Technical Uncertainty
Project Dura3on
Number of Customers
Dependencies
Scope Flexibility
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10
Acceptable Risk
Itera3on 1 Itera3on 2
Itera3on 3
risk mi3ga3on progress
when all risk inside acceptable risk then begin to narrow date
metrics
people do what they are
measured by
measure results let team evaluate
themselves
Watch out for Vanity Metrics
Good Metrics
§ Measure progress towards business goals
§ Motivate right behaviors § Inspire improved performance § Simple to measure § Simple to understand Don’t have too many metrics!
For Customer Satisfaction *How likely are you to recommend this product?
summary
tools that help product incepDon
planning
decision filters minimal viable
product
incrementally reduce risk
continuous customer feedback
measure to get the
behaviors you want
learn more Our new book due November 2013