the executives step-by-step guide to leading a large-scale agile transformation

THE EXECUTIVES GUIDETo Leading Large Scale Agile Transformation

[email protected]

404-312-1471

www.leadingagile.com

twitter.com/mcottmeyer

facebook.com/leadingagile

linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer

MIKE COTTMEYER

Brief Agenda

• Understand How to Think About Transformation

• Discuss How to Organize Transformation Work

• Explore How to Plan, Manage, and Track Progress

THE GAME HAS CHANGED

EXECUTIVES CARE…

• Executives want to adopt agile but don’t know how

• They need line of sight to how the transformation is going to unfold

• Have to be able to continuously justify the economics of the transformation to key stakeholders

Key Point

Even if we believe in self-organization, many executives

will not buy into an unplanned, emergent style of agile

transformation…

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ABOUT TRANSFORMATION?

Culture

PracticesSystems

BELIEFS…

Culture

PracticesSystems

• Focused on changing hearts and minds

• Focused on being agile rather than doing agile

• Focused on values and principles

CULTURE DRIVEN

Culture

PracticesSystems

• Focused on changing hearts and minds

• Focused on being agile rather than doing agile

• Focused on values and principles

• Belief that delivery systems will emerge based on new thinking

CULTURE DRIVEN

Practices

SystemsCulture

• Focused on the things that you do

• Focused on roles, ceremonies, and artifacts

• Can be management driven or technically driven

PRACTICES DRIVEN

Practices

SystemsCulture

• Focused on the things that you do

• Focused on roles, ceremonies, and artifacts

• Can be management driven or technically driven

• Belief that agile is a process or way to work

PRACTICES DRIVEN

Systems

CulturePractices

• Focused on forming teams and governing the flow of value

• Focused on aligning the organization first

SYSTEMS DRIVEN

Systems

CulturePractices

• Focused on forming teams and governing the flow of value

• Focused on aligning the organization first

• Belief that culture and practices only emerge within a rational structural and planning framework

SYSTEMS DRIVEN

Systems

CulturePractices

... all three are essential, but where you start is also essential…

WHERE TO START?

WHAT DO I MEAN BY SYSTEMS?

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlogs

Teams

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlogs Teams

Teams

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

WorkingTested

Software

Backlogs Teams Working Tested Software

Teams

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

WorkingTested

Software

• INVEST• CCC• Small enough

for the team to develop in a day or so

• Everything and everyone necessary to deliver

• Meets acceptance criteria

• No known defects

• No technical debt

What Do I Mean?

Backlogs Teams Working Tested Software

Teams

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

Backlog

WorkingTested

Software

What Do They Look Like at Scale?

Governance Structure Metrics & Tools

• Governance is the way we make economic tradeoffs in the face of constraints

• They way we form teams and foster collaboration at all levels of the organization

• What do we measure, how do we baseline performance and show improvement?

WHAT GETS IN THE WAY?

Matrixed Organizations

Team


Non-instantly Available

Resources

Team


Limited Access to Subject Matter

Expertise


Resources

Team



Expertise


Resources

Shared Requirements

Between Teams

Team



Expertise


Resources

Too Much Work In Process

Shared Requirements

Between Teams

Team



Expertise


Resources


Shared Requirements

Between Teams

Large Products with Diverse Technology

Team



Expertise


Resources


Shared Requirements

Between Teams

Technical Debt & Defects


Team



Expertise


Resources


Low Cohesion & Tight Coupling

Shared Requirements

Between Teams

Technical Debt & Defects


Team

A THEORY OF TRANSFORMATION

Theory of Transformation

Adopting agile is about forming teams, building backlogs, and regularly

producing increments of working tested software


Adopting agile at scale is about defining structure,

establishing governance, and creating a metrics and tooling strategy that supports agility


Anything that gets in the way of forming teams, building backlogs, and

producing working tested software is an impediment to

transformation


Solid agile practices will help operationalize the system and

encourage a healthy, adaptive, and empowered culture emerge over time

ORGANIZING THE WORK

Services Teams – These teams support common services across product lines. These teams support the needs of the product teams.

Team

Product Teams – These teams integrate services and write customer facing features. This is the proto-typical Scrum team.


Team

Team

Programs Teams – These teams define requirements, set technical direction, and provide context and coordination.



Team

Team

Team

Portfolio Teams – These teams govern the portfolio and make sure that work is moving through the system.

Programs Teams – These teams define requirements, set technical direction, and provide context and coordination.



Team

Team

Team

Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Product & ServicesTeams

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam


ProgramTeams

Team

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams


Scrum

Team

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Team

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

• Backlog Size• Velocity• Burndown• Escaped Defects• Commit % Ratio• Acceptance % Ratio• Scope Change


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

• Cycle Time• Features Blocked• Rework/Defects• Backlog Size• Velocity• Burndown• Escaped Defects• Commit % Rate• Acceptance % Ratio• Scope Change


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

• Backlog Size• Velocity• Burndown• Escaped Defects• Commit % Ratio• Acceptance % Ratio• Scope Change

• Cycle Time• Features Blocked• Rework/Defects

• Takt Time/Cycle Time• Time/Cost/Scope/Value• RIO/Capitalization

INCREMENTALTRANSFORMATION

(EXPEDITIONS)


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Increment One


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Increment One

Agile Rollout

Increment Two


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Increment One

Agile Rollout

Three - N

ITERATIVETRANSFORMATION

(BASECAMPS)


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Iteration One


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Iteration Two


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

KanbanTeam

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Agile Pilot

Iteration Three


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration Four

Team

Team Team Team

Team Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration Five

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team

EXPEDITIONS &BASECAMPS


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration One

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team

Iteration Two


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration Three

Agile Rollout

Iteration One

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration Four

Agile Rollout

Iteration Two

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team


ProgramTeams

PortfolioTeams

Scrum

Kanban

Kanban

Agile Pilot

Iteration Five

Agile Rollout

Iteration Three

Team Team

Team Team Team

TeamTeamTeam

Team

Team

Team

THE EXECUTIVES GUIDE

STEP ONE

• Agile transformation isn’t something that can be done to the organization

• They have to be full participants

• Executive Steering Committee

• Transformation Leadership Team

• Hold the organization accountable

• Removeimpediments

• Plan the work• Review

progress• Inspect and

adapt

Build a Leadership Coalition

Why How What

STEP TWO

• We have to have some idea of where we are going before we start

• We accept the plan will change

• Create a working hypothesis for structure, governance, and metrics

• Plan to Progressively Elaborate

• TransformationWorkshop

• Pilot• Broad

Organizational Rollout

• Create feedback loops

Define an End-State Vision

Why How What

STEP THREE

• We have to be able to give the organization some idea of what we are doing, when, and for how long

• Expeditions• Basecamps• Sequenced in

Time

• What teams are going to formed

• What training do they need

• What coaching do they need

• When will all this happen?

Build a Roadmap

Why How What

STEP FOUR

• Very similar to an agile release plan, we want arolling 90 day, fairly specific view of what is going to take place

• Transformation leadership team meets periodically to plan forward, assess progress, and adjust as necessary

• Week by week training and coaching plans

• Detailed resource planning

• Expected activities and outcomes

Maintain a Rolling 90-Day Plan

Why How What

STEP FIVE

• Very similar to the sprint cycle in Scrum

• We want to periodically assess progress, retrospect, and adjust

• ELT reviews progress against strategy and outcomes

• TLT focuses on how well the plan is moving along

• Scheduledrecurring meetings

• Reviewplanning artifacts

• Reviewmetrics

• Improvement plans

Conduct 30-Day Checkpoints

Why How What

STEP SIX

• The whole reason we are doing this is to get better business outcomes

• This is where we begin justifying the investment

• Create hypotheses

• Conductexperiments

• Demonstrateoutcomes

• Pivot based on what we learn

• Assessments• Status Reports• Coaching

Plans

Connect Activity to Outcomes

Why How What

STEP SEVEN

• We want to be able to trace improvements in the system to tangible business benefits

• Business metric baselines

• Regularly show progress

• Update coaching plans as necessary

• Assessment Outcomes

• Transformationmetrics

• Business Metrics

Connect Outcomes to Business Objectives

Why How What

STEP EIGHT

• Our understanding will evolve throughout the transformation

• Re-assess the End-State Vision based on the evolving understanding

• Refine the End-State Vision and the Roadmap

Incorporate Feedback

Why How What

STEP NINE

• Letting everyone know what is going on and the success of the program will create excitement and energy

• Regular communication from leadership

• Be transparent about progress and impediments

• Town Halls• Executive

roundtables• Signage• Information

Radiators• Cadence of

Accountability

Manage Communication

Why How What

STEP TEN

• Understand what’s in it for everyone involved and help them see where they fit in the new organization

• Clarity• Accountability• Measureable

progress

• Team assignments

• Staffing plans• Job

descriptions• Job aids• Communities

of Practice

Create Safety For Everyone Involved

Why How What

IN CONCLUSION…

In Conclusion…

• Adopting agile is a systems problem, especially at scale

• Performant organizations are the unit of value

• Change can be planned, measured, and controlled

[email protected]

404-312-1471

www.leadingagile.com

twitter.com/mcottmeyer

facebook.com/leadingagile

linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer

MIKE COTTMEYER