optimize your current agile process for scalability
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Applications / Application Selection & Development / Application Development
Optimize the Current Agile Process for Scalability to Prepare for a Wider Rollout
Use your retrospectives and experiences from previous Agile sprints to continually improve and optimize.
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Your ChallengeThe goal of your initial Agile pilot was to learn how the process functions in your situation and to find and address impediments. As more sprints were completed, your Agile process was refined to better address the working style of the pilot team.You are now looking to optimize Agile in order to scale it out to multiple teams and projects.
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Our AdviceCritical InsightYour teams may not have the right mindset or flexibility to accept and foster Agile for a wider rollout. It will be harder to manage resistance if teams are not prepared for change and if there is a lack of flexibility in accommodating Agile into your team’s specific context and challenges.Adding more teams to your projects can present additional collaboration and ownership challenges to an already successful team, since some of the issues were not experienced previously.Use Agile to implement Agile. Because Agile embraces change, creating a rigid structure to optimize your process is self-defeating. You will never reach an end state with Agile.Scaling out brings new challenges. There are new perspectives on how multiple projects are prioritized. Cross-team communication and transparency with business stakeholders can take longer and the value of key Agile artifacts can diminish if not managed properly.Impact and ResultYou are constantly looking for ways to optimize the productivity of your teams and increase the communication and collaboration between members in order to complete large projects that are highly relevant and valued to stakeholders.Conduct Your Retrospective: Discuss your experiences with previous Agile projects with all team members to determine how Agile can be collectively optimized and scaled out to multiple teams.Optimize and Improve: Identify techniques to optimize your existing Agile implementation before rolling it out to other areas in the organization. Build an Agile culture to improve team cohesion, communication, productivity, and empowerment.Scale Out: Always keep scalability in mind when rolling out Agile. Communication and process complications can occur as you begin adding more teams of various personalities into one project.
Optimize the Agile process for scalabilityEnhance the Agile process for a successful scale out within the organization. Storyboard: Optimize the Current Agile Process for Scalability to Prepare for a Wider RolloutBuild and train the team to begin scaling out the Agile processCreate knowledgeable and well-supported Agile project teams within an Agile culture.
Compile a list of lessons learned from previous Agile projectsConduct engaging and insightful retrospectives to uncover impediments experienced in previous Agile projects and sprints. Agile Team Satisfaction Survey User Story WorkbookBreak down optimization user stories and execute the sprintCreate a list of tasks to complete your prioritized optimization user stories and begin your sprint. Visual Process TemplateReview the optimized Agile process with a retrospectiveEvaluate the fit of your optimization initiatives and identify future optimization opportunities.
Guided ImplementationThis guided implementation is a three call advisory process.Call #1: Start with a list of lessons learned to optimize and scale out the Agile processConduct Project Retrospectives: Gather all team members around the table and discuss their experiences with past Agile projects. Review the list of successes and pain points to begin building optimization user stories for future Agile sprints.Call #2: Break out the optimization user stories into achievable tasksCreate the Tasks for Your Optimization User Stories: Learn about the solutions to the common Agile issues many organizations are encountering when scaling it out to multiple teams to help build out the tasks to your user stories. Take note of the sentiments that can arise during your Agile sprint.Call #3: Review the optimized Agile processReview Your Metrics and Agile Process: Discuss your team’s experiences with the changes to your Agile process through a retrospective. Begin building a list of lessons learned to be injected back into your team’s backlogs.
Schedule Your First CallOnsite Workshop
Module 1: Optimize the Agile Process for ScalabilityThe Purpose
Stay focused on stakeholder expectationsAnticipate common Agile pitfallsStay focused on your culture to ease new teams into AgileKeep scalability in mind when arranging your teams
Key Benefits Achieved
An understanding of the common Agile challengesA case to begin optimizing and scaling out Agile to multiple teams
Activities: Outputs:1.1 Measure your reliency against further Agile adoption High level assessment of your organization’s ability to scaleModule 2: Build and Train the Team to Begin Scaling Out the Agile ProcessThe Purpose
Conduct both technical and soft skills training with the entire teamLeverage an Agile coach in your training sessions and Agile sprintsOvercome challenges when fostering an Agile cultureRealize the shift in roles when you scale out Agile
Key Benefits Achieved
An understanding of the importance of an Agile coach and enhancing an Agile cultureA clear description of the roles and responsibilities of your Agile teams with scalability in mind
Activities: Outputs:2.1 Establish the roles and responsibilities of your optimized and scaled-out Agile teams Table of roles and responsibilitiesModule 3: Compile a List of Lessons Learned From Previous Agile ProjectsThe Purpose
Conduct retrospectives to reveal your team’s past experiences with AgileBenchmark your Agile practices against the principles and values in the Agile manifestoAssess your metrics to validate your team’s pain points and uncover additional issuesWrite your Agile optimization user stories that addresses your team’s needs
Key Benefits Achieved
A list of pain points experienced by your team in past projects and sprintsAn evaluation of metrics of past projectsSized and prioritized Agile optimization user stories
Activities: Outputs:3.1 Draw your current Agile process Current Agile process flow diagram3.2 Assess your alignment to the principles of the Agile manifesto Agile manifesto gap assessment3.3 Conduct your retrospective List of Agile issues and gaps experienced in previous Agile projects3.4 Write your optimization user stories Agile process optimization user stories3.5 Size and prioritize your optimization user stories Sizing and prioritization of your optimization user storiesModule 4: Break Down Optimization User Stories and Execute the SprintThe Purpose
Reinforce your Agile culture with quick winsAddress the common issues and risks of your Agile process: large and distributed teams, project and sprint planning, retrospectives, and demonstrationsAcquire and configure tools to support your Agile implementationBreak down your user stories into achievable tasksPlan for various team sentiments during the execution of your sprint
Key Benefits Achieved
Suggested solutions to help resolve the issues you identified in the previous module of this workshopList of tasks for each of your user storiesStrategies to handle potential issues during your Agile sprints
Activities: Outputs:4.1 Break down your optimization user stories into achievable tasks List of tasks to complete user stories4.2 Define plans to deal with resistance to change, objections, and fatigue Objections-Response table4.3 Draw your optimized Agile process Optimized Agile process flow diagramModule 5: Review the Optimized Agile Process with a RetrospectiveThe Purpose
Focus on continuous improvement in order to regularly improve performanceValidate and monitor your optimized Agile processReflect on the success or failure of your optimized Agile processBegin to add more Agile teams, if necessary
Key Benefits Achieved
A list of new issues to address in the next Agile sprintNext steps to continuously scale out Agile
Activities: Outputs:5.1 Evaluate your optimization initiatives with retrospectives and metrics
