how agile are you really?
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How Agile Are You, Really? J. Boye Web & Intranet Conference Århus
Karoliina Luoto · 6 November 2013
Karoliina Luoto + Codento Consultant for
Agile project management Business and use case oriented digital service concepting Before: product owner, collaboration strategist, communications specialist
Consultancy company for not only superhero coding
Even agile projects are not always easy
Sometimes, in search of fixes, It’s good to look at the basics
Photo: Buzz Hoffman, Flickr
How many of your organizations have used agile development for projects?
Really? One possible set of agility criteria: 1. End users are a constant part of the development process 2. The development team has power to make decisions 3. Requirements strech, the schedule/budget doesn't 4. The requirements are described on top level, lightly and
visually 5. The development work is done in small increments that can be
developed further 6. Focus on regular delivery of working product parts 7. Finishing each requirement before moving to next one 8. 80/20 rule: focus on search of 20 % solutions that can fulfill 80
% of the need 9. Testing throughout the project – test early, test often 10. Collaborative approach from _all_ players in the project Criteria credits: Allaboutagile.com
Agile Principles Behind Scrum, Kanban…
Early and continuous delivery… (every couple of weeks)
Photo: California Bakery, Flickr
…of valuable software
Photo: CBGB_Hoser, Flickr
Photo: justmakeit, Flickr
Welcome changing requirements Even late in the process
Business people and developers work together daily
Photo: massdistraction, Flickr
Photo: Diamond Geyser, Flickr
Find motivated individuals And support and trust them
Most efficient method of communication is face-to-face conversation
Photo: sean dreilinger, Flickr
Primary measure of progress is working software
Photo: Victory of the People, Flickr
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design Photo:
DanieVDM, Flickr
Photo: by me
Simplicity – The art of maximizing the work not done
Team reflects on how to become more effective and adjusts its behaviour
Photo: Gwenael Piaser, Flickr
Solutions for pain points are simple Projects that struggle with their agility can be made better by:
Waking up the Product Owner Proritize, bridge development team with users and stakeholders
Getting method help Retros led by a pro scrum master, agile coaching for key roles Freshening up the Definiton of Done The quality code needs to be agreed on and revisited
Trusting the developers Build the team’s technology vision ownership
Deploying more often If it’s hard, do it more
Adding artefact transparency for the Scrum team Vision documents, release plans, budgets...
Afterword: Before starting a new project, make sure agile is the way to go. 1. How known is the concrete project outcome?
a) Blurry b) A bit unstructured c) Quite clear
2. How code-oriented is the project? a) It's all about new code b) We are using a product/framework but customizing it c) We are taking an out-of-package product and making it work for us, content is the king
3. Can the project be resourced with a full-time product owner? a) No probs, we want to invest in this one b) It will be a bit painful c) No way
4. Are we ready to prioritize between requirements? a) Of course b) Not so sure about everybody c) Come again?
The results for the agility test 3 points for each a-answer, 2 points for a b, 1 points for each c • 10-12 points: Clearly there is a case for an agile project. Still,
remember to plan and resource it well and ensure that main stakeholders share the agile ideas.
• 7-9 points: Twilight zone. Do you have enough resources and buy-in for agile? If you go for it, how about coaching or courses?
• 4-6 points: No question, your case is a clear one. Just take the vendor's process as it is, launch the project and stay sharp.
Original test credits: Perttu Tolvanen
