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Craig D. Wilson, MS, PMP, CSM
Matincor, Inc.
IT Management Consulting
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IT Management Consultant
10+ years of service as an independent consultant precededby 10+ years of senior and executive managementexperience in several Fortune 500 companies
Graduate degree in Management Science, additional post-graduate studies at UCLAs Anderson School, ProjectManagement Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum Master(CSM)
Specializing in program / large project management, projectturn-around, and team and organizational development
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Slide 3 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
Presentationassumption:
Audience isfamiliar with
Agile conceptsand perhaps a
specific Agilemethodologysuch as Scrum
or Kanban
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Practice & precepts based on lessons learned from60+ years of software development experience
Most key concepts in use for decades (e.g.; time boxes,iterative development, self-managed teams, co-location, rapid delivery)
Now packaged in several popular frameworks andmethodologies (e.g.; Scrum, Extreme Programming,Kanban, FDD, Crystal, UP lite, Disciplined AgileDelivery)
No single Agile methodology addresses everything!
Past experience can help with successfulimplementation of Agile
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While strongly supporting Agile
Lets not turn a blind eye to the fact that manylight weight Agile methodologies cover only ahandful of the practices necessary for effective
software development projects
Nor ignore the fact that some companies do apoor job of introducing and executing Agileconcepts and precepts
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Slide 6 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
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Project management and software development,
Agile or otherwise, are huge topics impossible tocover in one brief presentation
This presentation is intended only to provide a fewexamples to get the audience to think about their
experience and use it to supplement the oftenlight weight Agile methodologies
My observations are based upon personalexperience and may differ from other Agile
proponents. You must use your own experience todetermine what will work best for your situation.
(Dont follow the GPS instructions over a cliff!)
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Key benefits of Agile include opportunities to
quickly achieve high value features anddiscover problems early
A focus on delivering working solutions asrapidly as possible with minimal re-work
However, we can have problems with a project
using an Agile methodology just as we canhave problems with any project approach
But, if you did it correctly, you wouldnt have problems!
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Slide 9 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
Project results we want Project results we get
exercise
slothdiscipline
lazy
hard work silver bullet
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The Beginning
The Middle
The End
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Inception
Construction
Transition
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Most Agile methodologies and literature focus
on the middle of the project There are preliminary and follow-on activities
that are required to effectively execute an Agile
project or program
Other areas of the organization are impactedby adoption of Agile
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Slide 13 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
Scrum image used by permissionMountain Goat Software
Copyright 2005
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Inception Construction Transition
Management
Team
Stakeholders
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Scrum image used by permissionMountain Goat Software
Copyright 2005
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Enterprise strategic goals, PPM, ROI targets,
cost-benefit analysis, feasibility studies allstill exist
Approach (e.g.; all Agile, combination Agile & traditional,distributed teams, shared teams)
How will teams be monitored, motivated &rewarded?
How will projects be terminated?
Product Owner has achieved sufficient value Early results indicate potential product/project
failure
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Build cross-functional team with shared responsibilityfor project success Must provide training if team new to methodology Identify Product Owner and ensure they understand their
role & responsibility
Define done very specifically
Identify & define leader/coach role depending uponteam needs Scrum Master / Agile PM role will evolve as team matures and
experience is gained
Scope the project Prepare project scope and initial requirements backlog Include non-functional requirements (design is emergent but
architectural boundaries are up front) Initial effort estimates
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Slide 18 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
ScrumZivs Law
Uncertainty is inherent andinevitable in software
development processes and
products
Hadar Ziv and Debra Richardson, "TheUncertainty Principle in SoftwareEngineering," 1997
Sufficient up-front analysis forunderstanding & risk
reduction but not so much asto create rework.
Beware false certainty!
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Ensure that all stakeholders are identified and
understand their needs / responsibilities Necessary in order to define done
May help to categorize stakeholders including
those external to the organization Set expectations - primary stakeholders will be
more intimately and frequently involved thanin traditional projects
Determine how to coordinate feature anditeration planning with other teams
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Must support progress tracking based on feature
delivery May require dropping or modifying traditional
benchmarks and stage gates
Earned Value becomes more effective
Agile techniques call for more frequentrefinements of estimates than traditional processes
Death marches have always been disruptive but
even more so for Agile teams Crashing & fast tracking destroy ability to project long-
term forecasts and put product quality at risk
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X
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My hot buttons:
Need continuous backlog grooming Beware technical debt (done violations)
Continuous builds and effective regression testing
are key to quality
Maintain a sustainable pace
Cant build to a story need to define & design
Release planning & coordination are on-going
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Rapid and easy access to stakeholders is critical to
iteration progress & success Including up-stream and down-stream process owners
Coordination with inter-dependent Agile teams is
frequent (e.g.; Scrum of Scrums) Beware of delayed communications
e.g.; monthly or quarterly coordination meetings
Disciplines may coordinate
e.g.; designers with designers, QA with QA
Product Owners have an especially key role
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Capture project metrics and results for final
Cost Benefit retrospective Perform a project governance retrospective
Are we getting the information we need?
How can we improve in an Agile environment?
What cross-enterprise process improvements
are recommended? Beware overly prescriptive procedures
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Slide 26 of 39Copyright Matincor, Inc. 2013
Agility at Scale:
Economic Governance, MeasuredImprovement, and Disciplined Delivery
By Alan Brown, Scott Ambler, Walker RoyceTo be published: May 2013
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/mydeveloperworks/blogs/c914709e-8097-4537-92ef-8982fc416138/entry/agility_at_scale_economic_governance_measured_improvement_and_disciplined_delivery?lang=ent
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May require integrated QA test, UAT, beta
testers, training, phased deployment, etc. Coordinated turn-over to down-stream
stakeholders (e.g.; operations, support)
As built documentation includingarchitecture and design, technical debt, andknown defects
Project completion retrospective and teamrecognition
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The Land that Scrum ForgotBy Robert Uncle Bob Martin
December 14, 2010
http://www.scrumalliance.org/articles/300-the-land-that-scrum-forgot
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Acceptance of product
Feedback to team and Product Owner
What product improvements are needed?
What inception, construction, and transitionprocesses improvements are needed?
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Requirements hierarchy
Communication structure Interaction coordination
Integrated testing
Release planning
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Program
Product
Theme
Epic
Story Story
Epic
Theme
Product
Theme
Epic
Theme
Epic
Story Story
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Quick time boxed iterations allow a team to
adjust their feature priorities anditeration/release goals
Changes to schedule or deliverables still need
coordination with other teams andstakeholders
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Most Agile methodologies focus only on team
dynamics Software engineering is given short shrift
Your product is likely developed using Object
Oriented programming and Service OrientedArchitecture
A basic understanding of Object OrientedAnalysis and Design will greatly improvecommunications between team members Especially between non-technical and technical staff
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Team development Communities of Practice
Private open source code Anyone can contribute
Monitored by responsible party
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Strictly speaking, it isnt a failure of Agile
- Not a failure of the Agile Manifesto
- Not a failure of lessons learned from 60+ years ofsoftware development
But more often
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Cause Correction
Limitations of individualmethodologies.
For example, limited span of projectlifecycle (looking only at
development and not inception,development, transition) or lack ofcomprehensive requirementsengineering techniques.
Evaluate your organizations needsand perform a gap analysis betweenthose needs and the scope of thechosen methodology. Using your
experience, knowledge, and othersources, supplement the methodologykeeping Agile principles in mind.
Failure to apply discipline to theapplication of the methodology andprocesses.
For example, failure to groom the
project backlog or allowing technicaldebt to build up.
Enforce team discipline in theapplication of Agile concepts and theselected methodology.
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Management of software development is
constantly evolving and improving Never stop learning (& un-learning!), never
stop pushing the envelope
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E-mail to:
Visit website at:
www.matincor.com
Connect on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/matincor
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