essential patterns of mature agile teams
DESCRIPTION
Many teams have a relatively easy time adopting the tactical aspects of agile methodologies. Usually a few classes, some tools introduction, and a bit of practice lead teams toward a fairly efficient and effective adoption. However, these teams often get “stuck” and begin to regress or simply start going through the motions—neither maximizing their agile performance nor delivering as much value as they could. Borrowing from his experience and lean software development methods, Bob Galen examines essential patterns—the thinking models of mature agile teams—so you can model them within your own teams. Along the way, you’ll examine patterns for large-scale emergent architecture, relentless refactoring, quality on all fronts, pervasive product owners, lean work queues, providing total transparency, saying No, and many more. Bob also explores why there is still the need for active and vocal leadership in defending, motivating, and holding agile teams accountable.TRANSCRIPT
TC Half‐day Tutorial 6/3/2013 8:30 AM
"Essential Patterns of Mature Agile Teams"
Presented by:
Bob Galen RGalen Counsulting Group, LLC
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.sqe.com
Bob Galen RGalen Consulting
Bob Galen is an agile coach at RGalen Consulting and director of agile solutions at Zenergy Technologies, a North Carolina-based firm specializing in agile testing and leading agile adoption initiatives. Bob regularly speaks at international conferences and professional groups on topics related to software development, project management, software testing, and team leadership. He is a Certified Scrum Master Practicing (CSC), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), and an active member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. Bob published Scrum Product Ownership–Balancing Value from the Inside Out, which addresses the gap in guidance toward effective agile product management. Contact Bob at [email protected] or [email protected].
Essential Patterns of Mature Agile Teams
Bob GalenPresident & Principal Consultant
RGCG, LLC [email protected]
IntroductionBob Galen
Somewhere ‘north’ of 30 years experience ☺Various lifecycles – Waterfall variants, RUP, Agile, Chaos…Various domains – SaaS, Medical, Financial Services, Computer , , , p& Storage Systems, eCommerce, and TelecommunicationsDeveloper first, then Project Management / Leadership, then TestingLeveraged ‘pieces’ of Scrum in late 90’s; before ‘agile’ was ‘Agile’Agility @ Lucent in 2000 – 2001 using Extreme ProgrammingFormally using Scrum since 2000Currently an independent Agile Coach (CSC – Certified Scrum Coach, one of 50 world-wide; 20+ in North America)
at RGCG, LLC and Director of Agile Solutions at Zenergy TechnologiesFrom Cary, North Carolina
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 2
y,Connect w/ me via LinkedIn and Twitter if you wish…
Bias Disclaimer:Agile is THE BEST Methodology for Software Development…
However, NOT a Silver Bullet!
First, let’s explore…
What are the basics of “Agility”
What would be indicators (patterns) of Agile maturity?
What about Agile immaturity?
Let’s rank order some of them; I.e. what do you think are
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 3
Let s rank order some of them; I.e. what do you think are the more impactful patterns in either direction?
The SCRUM FrameworkDo we need to review it?
4Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 4
Three CommonMeta-Patterns
Achieving Agile MaturityMany teams seem to have a false sense of over-maturityTeams become complacent or plateau; often regressing over timeCan you have too much self-direction?
Simplicity of the ‘Methods’“doing Agile” is easy; “being Agile” is much harder and continuousOrganizations, teams, and individuals often wait till the last minute to ask for helpInternally - retrospectives are the key; Externally - get a ‘compatible’
h
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 5
coachCulture seems to be the largest “failure factor”
Scrum can be quite disruptive; Kanban can be less so…All-in vs. incremental? Salesforce.com as a commitment model?Generally, how do we handle the term… Commitment?
“Doing” Agile vs.“Being” Agile?
One debate in the agile community surrounds agile maturity. A way of characterizing it surrounds
Doing Agile – focusing towards is tactics, ceremonies, and techniques vs.Being Agile – focusing towards team mindset, leadership mindset, behaviors, organizational adoption, etc.
As an entry exercise, can we brainstorm aspects of Doing vs. Being to capture how you view the differences?
The Mature Patterns workshops sort of crosses both, with an emphasis towards the Being-side of the equation.
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 6
OutlineMaturity Patterns
1. Truly Emergent Architecture2 A i R f t i
13.Product Ownership takes a Village2. Aggressive Refactoring3. Pursue Ruthless KISS4. Behaving Like a Team5. Truly Collaborative Work6. Lean Work Queues7. Performing Extraordinary
Facilitation8. Quality on ALL Fronts
14.Pervasive Product Owners15.The Nuance of a Healthy Backlog16.Righteous Retrospectives17. The Power of Complete
Transparency18.Doing More than Thought
Possible19 E h i St th B d
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 7
9. Testing is Everyone’s Job10. Active Done-Ness11.Stopping the Line12. Investing in Serious CI
19.Emphasize Strength-Based Teams
20.Congruent Agile Measurement
For each pattern…workshop discussions
For sets or groups of patterns, we’ll pause and discuss the patterns in small groups
Looking for examples where you’ve seen the pattern in operation and have a story to tell
ORExamples where you’ve seen related anti-patterns in operation and have a counter-story to tell
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 8
Either way, we’ll be looking for group-based discussion around the ways and means of achieving agile maturity
Technical
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 9
#1) Truly Emergent Architecture
Comfortable with on-the-fly de composition;de-composition;
no BDUF!
Sprint #0’s as appropriate
Backlogs contain learning activity – Research Spike stories
Architects work in “slices”Perhaps ‘skewed’ a bit forward from other teams
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 10
Should demonstrate architectural evolution in Sprint Reviews
other teamsDeliver architecture from within the Scrum teamsPublish system metaphors, guidelines, big picture views – to keep everyone focused on goals
#2) Aggressive Refactoring
It’s easy to refactor on new work or greenfield project…so clearly do that.
But what about hairy, old, y, ,fragile code?
Aggressive refactoring
Put it on your BacklogsJustify / explain it in business terms
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 11
Remember the relationship to automation – making refactoring effective & Fear-Less
#3) Ruthless KISS
Getting LEAN deep into your cultural DNA
Fight complexityPeople & Collaboration over Process & ToolsFight Gold-plating developing (Just Enough) of EVERYTHING!
Deliver small increments (Just in Time) and pay attention to
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 12
in Time) and pay attention to feedback
Continuously engage your Product Owner
Teaming
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 13
#4) Behaving Like a Team
Includes the Scrum Master and Product Owner
Developing trustCongruent feedbackGetting the “Elephants” on the tableAsking for help; helping each other
Strengths & weaknesses; dj t t h i i i &
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 14
Spending personal time together
Passionate debate; Healthy conflict
adjust to each; maximizing & minimizing
Succeeding or failing – as a team
#5) Truly Collaborative Work
Co-located teams
Avoiding Scrummerfall-like dynamics
Stages and gates within the teamLong queues with hand-offs
Comfortable pairings (across the team); Triad
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 15
(across the team); Triad
Listening to each other; mutual respect, honor experience
#6) Lean Work Queues
Limiting WIPFewer things “in process” and small tasksVisible workflowKanban is interesting variant of the ‘correct’ team behavior
Blending roles – individuals doing more themselves and handing off less
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 16
Swarming!
Think in terms of reducing & eliminating WASTE
KanbanIteration-less Production
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 17
#7) Performing Extraordinary Facilitation
Grooming meetingsDiscussions are at the “right level”Win-win discussions
Everyone on the team facilitates
Off-line action settingPlanning meetings
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 18
Teams get options on the table and pick best solutions
CraftsmanshipTechnical debt
Quality & Testing
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 19
#8) Quality on ALL Fronts
Leaving behind the notion of “Testing in quality…”
Professionalism within the teamProfessionalism within the teamDoing the right things…doing things right
Self-inspecting; self-policingJust enough quality
Quality has a cost and should b i bl b d
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 20
be variable based on your context
Focus on Craftsmanship and Professionalism
#9) Testing is Everyone’s Job
Willingness on the part of the whole-team to pitch in for testing
All types even manualAll types, even manualExtending it to test automationNever letting tests breakBuilding in testability
Listening to test estimates as part of work estimation
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 21
Understanding functional and non-functional testing
Root Cause Analysis as a team
#10) Active Done-Ness; Readiness
Actively create and automate Acceptance Tests on a Story or a Feature basis
Customer heavily involved with ydefinitionNot functional tests
Have established a view to multiple levels of Done-Ness
Work - DoneStory AcceptanceSprint Goals
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 22
Sprint GoalsRelease Criteria & Goals
Think in terms of traditional Entry, Exit, and Release criteria
Levels of Criteria
Activity Criteria Example Basic Team
Work Products Done’ness criteria Pairing or pair inspections of code prior to check-in; or
development, execution and passing of unit tests. p , p g
User Story or Theme Level
Acceptance Tests
Development of FitNesse based acceptance tests with the customer AND their successful execution and passing. Developed toward individual stories and/or themes for sets of stories.
Sprint or Iteration Level
Done’ness criteria Defining a Sprint Goal that clarifies the feature development and all external dependencies associcated with a sprint.
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 23
p
Release Level
Release criteria Defining a broad set of conditions (artifacts, testing activities or coverage levels, results/metrics, collaboration with other groups, meeting compliance levels, etc.) that IF MET would mean the release could occur.
#11) Stopping the Line!
Fix your bugsRuthless testing; immediate testing; immediate feedbackg;Less logging more fixing
Build is broken ?Fix it!
Need automation for a key area?Build it!
N d t f t l l d
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 24
Need to refactor ugly legacy code that is bug infested?
Refactor it!Key impediments to your team?
Resolve them!
#12) Investing in Serious CI
Build on every check-inAll artifacts – DB code (stored procedures, structure)Automated deployments toAutomated deployments to environments (real and/or virtual)
Automation everywhere!DashboardsLava lamps
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 25
Serious focus – dedicated teamTools are only part of the answerDevelop infrastructureContinuous refactoring of CI
Product
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 26
#13) Product Ownership takes a Village
Fostering an environment where the entire team ‘owns’ the Product Backlog
Freely contributes User StoriesPassionate debate on priority, themes, and release goals
Shared—Vision & GoalsBusiness Values
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 27
Technical direction
Functional, Technical, and Product ‘voices’
#14) Pervasive Product (Customer) Owners
Can be a ‘team’, but needs a unified decision-maker
Organizationally ‘sticky’ decisions
Engaged as a team member
Outwardly focused toward the market & stakeholder demands
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 28
market & stakeholder demandsAdvocate for the team
Engage the customer and stakeholders
www.leadingagile.com
#15) The Nuance of a Healthy Backlog
Considering it a tapestry of work that is considered in turn:
Architecture & designArchitecture & designQuality & Test AutomationTechnical debt, InfrastructureBugsInnovation & creativity
As well, planningFeature workflow & valueD d i & i k
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 29
Dependencies & riskUltimately deployment
Never ‘done’ grooming; iterative
Organization
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 30
#16) Righteous Retrospectives
For the team!Remember Norm Kerth’s“Prime Directive”:
Everyone tried their bestEveryone tried their bestSafe environment
Drives “Continuous Improvement”
Challenge one other!
Get the “Elephants” out in the
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 31
Get the Elephants out in the open
Be creative – try new things; take some risks
#17) The Power of Complete Transparency
Opening up your stand-ups & Sprint Planning to everyone
Even sales folks and customers
Rampant Information Radiators
Tell it like it isCongruent truth-tellingCourageSuccess or Failure
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 32
Expect organizational engagement – questions, suggestions, trade-offs towards core goals
It is what it is…now how do we ADJUST towards our GOALS
#18) Doing More than Thought Possible
Stretch goals within Sprints
CreativeCreative solutions – not simply following the Story or Task listsexploring alternatives with Product OwnerThe Wisdom of Crowds
Iterations that lead towards…
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 33
Iterations that lead towards… “Good Enough”
Fighting Parkinson’s Law and Student Syndrome
Supporting – Slack TimeInnovation TimeCreativity thinkingExperimentation
#19) Strength-Based Teams
Individuals focus on what they’re good at; enjoy
While still ‘stretching’ themselves
Notion of Appreciative Inquiry leveraged in retrospectives
And continuous improvement
Team-building - interview for complimentary strengths
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 34
At scale, consider strengthsWhen Release Planning – loading workLoad-balancing teams by skill-set
#20) Congruent Agile Measurement
Don’t focus too heavily on metrics; instead on results
Look for measures surrounding–
Value Delivered & Customer DelightedQuality being Built-InTeam Health & MoraleProductivity & Predictability Traditional measures can lead
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 35
y y
1-2 measures per areaFocus on trendingBehaviors
Traditional measures can lead to Metrics Dysfunction
Measure bugs for reward…get more meaningless bugsMeasure LOC for reward…get more meaningless LOC
WorkshopWrap-up
What were the most compelling patterns?patterns?
What essential patterns did I miss?
Final questions or discussion?
Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 36
Thank you!
Contact Info
Bob GalenPrincipal Consultant,
RGalen Consulting Group, L.L.C.
Experience-driven agile focused training, coaching & consulting
Contact: (919) [email protected]
BlogsProject Times - http://www.projecttimes.com/robert-galen/BA Times - http://www.batimes.com/robert-galen/
Podcast on all things ‘agile’ - http://www.meta-cast.com/
37Copyright © 2013 RGCG, LLC 37