top 10 agile gotchas, problems and challenges + what you can do about them
TRANSCRIPT
1. Our&User&Stories&Suck&2. Sprint&planning&mee7ngs&take&forever&&3. Team&members&are¬&working&together&4. Daily&standups&are&long&and&boring&&5. We&keep&geEng&new&stories&&6. We&never&finish&all&our&stories&in&a&Sprint&&7. We&don't&know&when&our&release&will&be&
done&&8. We&stopped&having&retrospec7ves&K&waste&of&
7me&9. It&feels&like&we&are&pushing&rocks&up&hill&to&
keep&Agile&going&
User story Independent Negotiable Valuable Estimable Sized Appropriately Testable Acronym courtesy of Bill Wake – www.xp123.com
So that <why>, As a <stakeholder> I want <what>
How&to&demo:&1) Enter&store&2) Put&a&book&in&shopping&cart&3) Press&”save&cart”&4) Leave&store,&and&enter&it&again&5) Check&that&the&book&is&in&my&cart&
Save%Shopping%Cart%So&that&I&can&con7nue&shopping&later&As&a&buyer&I&want&to&save&my&shopping&cart&
8
A B C
C
GUI
Client
Server
DB schema CC Henrik Kniberg
Whole&Team&writes&stories&together&so&they&have&the&right&
“shape”&for&Biz&and&IT&to&communicate.&
Es7ma7on&offers&another&opportunity&for&geEng&to&good&
stories.&
Organizing&an&Priori7zing&may&trigger&story&restructuring.&
Backlog Grooming Meeting
Whole&Team&1. Es7mate&New&Stories&2. Split&large&stories&into&smaller&stories&and&
es7mate&them.&3. Pick&stories&for&the&upcoming&itera7on.&
– Discuss&what&is&needed&to&get&those&stories&READY&and&who&will&do&it.&
&This&is&the&cri7cal&piece.&
What are you doing to turn the “people” knob to 11?
Develop&Team&through&building&interKpersonal&connec7ons&and&self&knowledge.&&• Sharing&Food&&&Drink.&• Have&fun&together:&events,&funny&video&clips&• Learning&about&each&other:&
– Constella7ons,&Marketplace,&Timeline&– StrategicPlay®&with&Lego®&– Communica7on&and&Collabora7on&Workshop&
• Core&Protocols&• Temenos&Workshop&(next&slide)&
Standup as Daily Planning
• A&good&way&to&think&about&the&daily&standup&is&as&a&mini&planning&session&for&that&day.&
• Everyone&is&focused&on&delivering&the&most&important&work&each&day.&
An7Kpagern:&Everyone&looking&at&and&repor7ng&to&Project&Manager&or&Manager.&
Standup%is%for%the%team,%not%manager!%
An7Kpagern:&Everyone&is&working&on&different&things&–&there&is&no&real&team&or&teamwork.&
Scrum-style Standup
Less&important&with&use&of&a&task&
board.&
Consider&suspending&the&“3&ques7ons”&and&exploring&how&other&formats&work&for&you.&
Recipe for Awesome Standups
For&five&days,&hold&a&miniKretrospec7ve&on&how&to&improve&your&standups&• Do&this&immediately&aler&the&standup.&• Aim&for&10K15&minutes.&• Write&down&changes&agreed&to&by&team&on&s7cky¬es.&
• Evolve&your&own&standup&“rules”&(conven7ons)&
New Stories
• Usually&a&symptom&of&reKwork&due&insufficient&understanding.&UX&is&a&common&problem&area.&– Try&“Specifica7on&By&Example”&
• High&complexity&domains&may&require&itera7ve&approach.&
• Totally&OK&as&long&at&Product&Owner&is&making&scope/date&tradeKoffs&and&backlog&is¬&filled&with&mandatory&items.&
Dysfunctions Causing Unfinished Stories
• Stories&are&too&large&to&be&completed&in&an&itera7on&– Split&large&stories&– Every&team&has&a&max&story&size&that&“fits”&
• Management&pressure&– Explain&that&overfilling&itera7on&is&slowing&things&done.&Too&many&cars&on&the&highway.&
• Considered&Acceptable&– If&the&team&thinks&it’s&OK,&then&it’ll&con7nue&to&happen.&
Team “Forecasts” completion of all Stories in Sprint Planning
• Helpful&to&think&of&this&like&“Sales&Forecast”&–&there&is&uncertainty!&
• Using&term&“Commitment”&can&help&team&cohesion&but&can&also&induce&damaging&pressure.&
• The&team&needs&to&advise&Product&Owner&if&stories&are&in&danger&of¬&finishing&and&reKnego7ate&itera7on&scope.&E.g.&split&story&
• Retrospec7ve&help&understand&reasons&and&create&counterKmeasures.&
Use&a&Scope&and&BurnKup&Chart&
Copyright © 2007-2009 Dave Nicolette
Iteration 0Iteration 1
Iteration 2Iteration 3
Iteration 4Iteration 5
Iteration 6Iteration 7
Iteration 8Iteration 9
Iteration 10Iteration 11
Iteration 12Iteration 13
Iteration 14Iteration 15
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Burn-Up and Burn-Down
Remaining Story PointsCompleted Story Points CumulativeLinear Regression for Completed Story Points Cumu-lativeTotal Story Points (Scope)Linear Regression for Total Story Points (Scope)
Total%Scope%Line%
BurnAup%Line.%Slope=Velocity%
Retrospectives • No&fixed&format.&There’s&a&whole&book&on&ways&to&run.&&
• Discuss&any&personal,&team&or&process&issues.&
• Discuss&what&worked&and&what&&needs&to&change.&
• Agree&on&top&items&to&be&addressed&and&fixed.&
• See&an7Kpagerns:&hgp://skycoach.be/2011/05/16/agileKretrospec7vesKan7Kpagerns/&&&
No Action (Retrospective Anti-Pattern)
• Who?&• What?&&• When?&
Failure&to&act&is&a&guaranteed&Retrospec7ve&Killer.&
Some Tips
• Start&by&reviewing&ac7on&items&from&last&retrospec7ve.&
• Have&everyone&sign&up&for&ONE&ac7on&item.&If&the&finish,&they&can&pick&up&another&one.&
• Walk&management&through&the&output&and&ask&them&what&they&can&help&with&
Some Easy Retrospective Practices via Yves Hanoulle
Project Coach Training, Coaching & Consultancy Services
on agile & Team practices n EMEA. How to make your retrospective the heart of your agile process See full slide deck: http://www.hanoulle.be/2009/10/how-to-make-your-retrospective-the-heart-of-your-agile-process/
Agile Fails Due to Culture
Sources: Multiple Workshops with 100�s of participants; Version One Survey http://agilitrix.com/2012/08/agile-2012-workshop-results/
Culture Mismatch will Slow and Ultimately Fail Your Agile Initiative
Avoid seductive fantasy that Agile practices will change your Culture. They won�t.
Adopt Agile Practices that fit Culture (Option 1)
Example: Introducing automated testing to reduce regression test costs and time.
Find the practice (puzzle piece) that fits your problem.
Start Evolving Your Process and Practices with Kanban (Option 2)
1. Visualize Work 2. Add Metrics 3. Make Improvements
Change Culture through Organizational Transformation (Option 3)
�75% of a company�s management is honestly convinced that business as usual is totally unacceptable.� - John Kotter
Get Help with Agile Practices to Avoid Wasting Time & Effort
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