agile for managers
DESCRIPTION
This presentation introduces some of the most common reasons why organizations choose to adopt Agile approaches. It presents high level statistics on software development project success to demonstrate why the traditional project management approach may not be suitable for all projects. The presentation introduces what Agile is and the reasons justifying its adoption. Once the Agile concepts have been presented, the material introduces the Scrum approach by giving a walk through of a typical process. The presentation ends with the main impacts on people managers within organizations who are adopting Agile.TRANSCRIPT
Agile for managers
Introduction to AgilityChallenges, operation, and impact on leaders
The training objectives are to help you understand:• Why transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one?
• Traditional approaches do not suit all projects• What is an Agile approach?
• Foundation, concepts, and goals targeted by Agility• How Agile approaches work?
• Iterative and incremental approaches • What is going to change?
• Impact on managers and theirmanagement style
• How are managers supported?• Support provided to managers during the
transition
Objectives
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Let’s get acquainted
‘Wheat (shredded grain) side’:• Traditional education–business administration and information systems• Experienced manager–over 15 years of experience in managing software
development teams‘Sweet (frosted) side’:• I have been experimenting Agile
approaches for a few years• I joined Pyxis in 2008 as vice-
president of consulting services• I am an Agile organizational coach • I am a member of the International
Coaching Federation (ICF)
Like Mini-Wheats…
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Result-oriented(nutritional quality)• Is mainly oriented towards achieving
results• Defines objectives, sets priorities,
and assigns resources• Makes decision based on facts• Is consistent and action-oriented
Enjoyment-oriented(fun to eat)
• Is mainly oriented towards people to achieve results
• Defines challenges, promotes autonomy, and provides appropriate
support• Makes decision based on emotions
• Is emotional and relational
What type of manager are you?
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Results Enjoyment
A few questions to get to know you
1. In order to get best results, it is better to control the activities of all team members.2. A process that is not well-defined right from the beginning will always produce
suboptimal results.3. In order to cut productivity loss, it is better to isolate team members in cubicles and
use e-mails as a means of communication.4. A team made up of specialists with extensive skills is more efficient than a
multidisciplinary team.5. The best tools and processes are those chosen by the organization and used by all
groups.6. It is generally preferable to comprehensively document what we do even if it
reduces our speed.7. Money is the best way to motivate individuals.8. It is more important to respect a pre-established plan than to adapt to changes.9. A signed contract is more important than an informal agreement to obtain
cooperation between different departments.
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TrueTrue FalseFalse
Number of answers (out of 9) where you
chose ‘False’
Your Agility level
9 Congratulations! You got a perfect score! If you already master the theory of Agile approaches and apply it to your daily activities, you could teach this training course.
5 to 8 You are almost there! You will feel at ease with most concepts presented during this training course. During the next 3 hours, you will have the opportunity to revise fundamentals on which your management approach is based.
1 to 4 You are up to a good start towards a more Agile management style. Concepts and fundamentals of this training course should help you become a more Agile manager.
0 During the next 3 hours, you could ask yourself many questions arising from the course content. Your current paradigm will most probably be harshly tested but you could be really surprised.
ResultsAre you an Agile manager?
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Why transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one?
What we hear from business people…‘What we get from IT is not what we need, what we asked for.’‘There should be more control because project teams often do not respect deadlines and budgets.’‘What is developed has no value to us.’‘Applications delivered contain too many bugs.’‘We have to provide the project team with all documentation required before they begin to work.’‘Deadlines are way too long. The project must end earlier.’We do not understand the language used by IT, and we often areunder the impression that they do not understand ours.’‘The situation would be better if IT would collaborate.’
Traditional approaches pose many challenges
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What we hear from IT people… ‘Users do not know what they want.’‘With constantly changing needs, we are not able to respect our deadlines.’‘We are asked to produce more documents than applications.’‘Usually projects start slowly, but then we work like crazy at the end.’‘Nobody has fun in the team. People feel like to go elsewhere.’‘We do not have much room for manoeuvre. Therefore,we must reduce our costs yet again.’‘How can we increase collaboration between business representatives and us?’
Traditional approaches pose many challenges
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Projects’ success rate has not improved since 2000.To obtain better results, we suggest to use an approach that is radically different.What is the situation like in your organization?
Too few projects are successful
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Chaos Report–Standish Group, 2009
In spite of technological progress, projects are more and more complex.Success is uncertain for larger projects.To reduce complexity, projects must be broken up into smaller parts.
Larger projects are less likely to be successful
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“To eat an elephant, one has to eat it one bite at a time."– an anonymous savannah hunter
Chaos Report–Standish Group, 2009
Return on investment is low.Nearly 50% of functions are never used.Traditional approaches force users to prepare a comprehensive list of their needs at the beginning of the project.The longer it takes to develop functions (that will not be used), the longer it takes to reach the market.
Solutions do not meet the users’ needs
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Jim Johnson @ XP days–Standish Group, 2002
To remain competitive, organizations must:• Rapidly adapt to changing markets• Keep room for manoeuvre regarding resource allocation• Remain flexible while rapidly making decisions• Develop and maintain their human capital
When complexity increases, centralized management and control systems rapidly reach their limit.It is impossible to anticipate every thing inadvance.
Complexity and change will keep increasing
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“In the past few years, Agile processes have not only gained increasing adoption levels; they have also rapidly joined the mainstream of development approaches (...) 35% of respondents stated that Agile most closely reflects their development process.”–Agile Development: Mainstream Adoption Has Changed Agility, Forrester, January 2010“By 2012, Agile development methods will be utilized in 80% of all software development projects.”–Predicts 2010: Agile and Cloud Impact Application Development Directions, Gartner, December 2009
Market trends confirm the increasing adoption of Agile approaches
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What are Agile approaches?
Agility: 4 simple values…
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Individuals and interactions
Individuals and interactions
Working softwareWorking software
Customer collaborationCustomer collaboration
Responding to changeResponding to change
processes and toolsprocesses and tools
comprehensive documentation
comprehensive documentation
contract negotiation contract negotiation
following a planfollowing a plan
over
over
over
over
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Lean approach
Agile
Project management (Scrum)
Agile approaches are offered in a variety of forms
Development practices
Agility does not mean...• To no longer do project management• To be a chaotic organization that no longer respects its IT governance
framework • To no longer produce documents• To leave the team to itself• To do things partially• To change every thing overnight• That there will no longer be any
problemsIt simply means to do things differently!
Agility means that things will be done differently
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To develop solutions meeting the business needsTo develop solutions on time and within budgetTo increase efficiency and productivity
Using an Agile approach to increase ROI and employee motivation
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Applying Agility to all phases of a project means:• To frequently deliver business value at a sustainable pace• To maintain a high level of quality• To encourage the team’s empowerment and accountability as well as
collaboration between all stakeholders• To use an iterative and incremental approach• To remain open to change requests throughout the project
“One source of frustration in the workplace is the frequent mismatch between what people must do and what people can do. When what they must do exceeds their capabilities, the result is anxiety. When what they must do falls short of the capabilities, the result is boredom.˝–Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Agile approaches aim at delivering value by capitalizing on individuals and their interactions
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How do Agile approaches work?
Management allowing to reach the vision by delivering tangible added valueUse of an iterative and incremental approach within well-established timeboxes Implementation of performing teams
To reach our goal, we must implement a structured approach
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Constraints
Flexibility
Agile approaches require a change of paradigm
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Traditional approach
Requirements(functionality)
Budget(cost)
Deadline(schedule)
The plan leads toestimates relating to cost and
schedule.
Agile approach
Requirements(functionality)
Budget(cost)
Deadline(schedule)
The vision leads toestimates relating to
functionality.
A traditional approach relies on
the PLAN.
An Agile
approach relies on the VISION.
With the client at the centre of the project, managing according to the vision allows us:• To avoid planning everything right from the beginning• To support an incremental investment model• To ensure that priority is given to the delivery of added value• To question ourselves about the relevance of additional functions• To satisfy our clients early with a useful solution• To refine the understanding of the client’s needs• To evaluate progress based on results rather than
respecting a plan• To take care of the quality component throughout
the project• To adapt ourselves to change requests
We do not wish to deliver a ‘plan’, we aim at achieving business results
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Using an iterative and incremental approach toincrease ROI
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Improves the ability to meet the change challenge
Improves the ability to meet the change challenge
Reduces total project cost
Reduces total project cost
Increases the project’s ROIIncreases the project’s ROI
The use of an iterative and incremental approach:
The use of an iterative and incremental approach:
Reduces planning time
Reduces planning time
Helps define requirementsHelps define requirements
Helps determine the added value of new requests
Helps determine the added value of new requests
Reduces development time
Reduces development time
Delivers business value more
rapidly
Delivers business value more
rapidly
I give you 6 plastic pieces each containing 3 colour stripes.All pieces have the same shape.All pieces must touch.All pieces have a blue stripe, a red stripe, and a yellow stripe.Each piece is unique.You must put the pieces together in order to create a blue loop or a long blue trail.
How long do you need to perform this task?
Let’s try something
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The Scrum approach
PO’s responsibilities:• Communicate the vision of the solution• Appropriate the specifications
• Evaluate the solution’s increments
• Collaborate with the project team
• Collaborate with the solution’s management team
A good PO must:• Know the solutions’ commercial value• Have the authority to combine various interests and wishes• Be available• Be the leader of a product management team• Remember that the system belongs to the users
Scrum roles–the Product Owner or POProduct Owner: the vision leader
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ScrumMaster’s responsibilities:• Remove the barriers between the product team and the PO• Show the client how to maximize the ROI• Increase the project team’s productivity• Improve the project team’s daily• Improve the development practices and tools• Ensure the observance of operational rules
A good ScrumMaster must:• Have a good understanding of the team’s issues and opportunities as well as of the
obstacles they encounter• Be a natural leader who motivates the team to achieve the goals established• Be a facilitator who helps remove the team’s internal or external obstacles• Be a guardian to preserve the team’s autonomy
Scrum roles–the ScrumMasterScrumMaster: the team’s facilitator and leader
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Team’s responsibilities :• Choose the sprint goal and specify the results to be produced• Establish what has to be done in order to reach the sprint’s established goal without
violating the project guidelines• Be self-organized and plan their own work• Present to the PO quality results• Communicate transparently their progress as well as the obstacles encountered • Move decision making to the lowest level
A good team must:• Consist of 6 to 10 members making up a multidisciplinary team• Be co-located ideally• Understand the complete expertise required to execute the project• Say no to interchangeable individuals
Scrum roles–The teamTeam in charge of the solution: mean to reach the vision
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The Scrum processProject start-up–sprint 0
The business prime prepares an initial high-level proposal.
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The Scrum process Project start-up–sprint 0
A multidisciplinary team is made up to define the project’s vision.
Estimated benefits= $1 500 000
Estimated cost= $1 200 000
Return on investment= 20%
Duration= 18 months
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The Scrum process Project start-up–sprint 0
The requirements (functionality) are defined at a high level and prioritized according to their estimated business value.Associated costs are estimated by team members.
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The Scrum process Project start-up–sprint 0
The PO and ScrumMaster are appointed.The main team is formed.
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
In collaboration with the PO, team members work on the tasks they have selected in order to complete them within a cycle that is between 2 to 4 weeks long.
2 to 4weeks
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
According to the priority established by the PO (based on the business value), team members partition requirements into smaller components.Team members also refine the estimation of efforts associated with selected items.
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
Team members choose the content of the current sprint and are committed to deliver it within the agreed cycle (e.g. 4 weeks).
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
In order to eliminate impediments and synchronize their activities, team members meet during 15 minutes for a daily scrum.
Each day:15-minute scrum
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
Team members integrate ‘Done’ items as soon as they are available.
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
At the end of the 4-week sprint, the project team integrates all ‘Done’ items and presents them to the PO for validation and approval.
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The Scrum process Next steps–sprint 1
The project team holds a sprint retrospective meeting to:• establish the means to enhance performance for the next 4-week sprint• discuss other topics the team wishes to address
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The Scrum processNext steps–following sprints
At the end of each sprint, value delivered and costs incurred are assessed.
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The Scrum processNext steps–following sprints
The cycle starts over and the team organizes itself in order to carry out the next sprint.The PO can add or delete items. He can also change the items’ priority by revising their business value.
4 semaines2 to 4weeks
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The Scrum processNext steps–following sprints
Team members ask themselves whether the project must be carried on or not. (Is the business value higher than anticipated costs?)
Synthetized Srcum approach
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Every day:15-minute scrum
2 to 4weeks
People are more motivated when they manage themselves.People are more committed when they make their own commitments.Teams and individuals are more productive when they are not interrupted.Teams are improving when they solve their problems by themselves.Productivity is compromised when changes are made to the team composition.Face-to-face communication is the most productive way for a team to work and exchange.
"The opposite of autonomy is control. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.”–Drive, by Daniel Pink
Self-sufficient teams produce best results
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The ‘potential’ team is the most common team within organizationsThe real team is a small number of individuals with complementary skills and with a goal, an approach, and a set of common performance-related objectives for which they hold themselves mutually accountable
"The desire for intellectual challenge (the urge to master something new and engaging) was the best predictor of productivity."–Know What Makes Them Tick, by Max Siegel
The objective is to create high performance teams
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The Wisdom of Team, Katzenbach and Smith
We are coaching rather than commanding or controlling.We create environments promoting collaboration to foster team work.It is ideal to reorganize the physical location, but this goal could be reached gradually.We involve business people right from the beginning in order to promote commitment.We create communities so people can communicate and improve themselves.We use tools to disseminate information.
How will we proceed?
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What will change?
What does it mean to the managers?
LEADERSHIP• Definition of the objectives and performance management• Management and leadership style
ENVIRONMENT• Work environment and organizational culture
PROJECT TEAM•Self-sufficiency and accountability• Collaboration and teamwork• Communication and knowledge sharing• Skills and professional development• Continuous improvement e and organizational learning• Processes and tools
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Transfer authority and responsibility to the team so it can do its work adequatelyAvoid interference and micromanagementPromote collaboration and teamworkSupport learning and not systematically penalize failuresReview best practices in order to adapt them to changing realitiesMake adjustments to the facilities so the environment facilitates the execution of Agile projectsAdapt the management style to the context of the team
Managers are also impacted by the transition from a traditional to an Agile approach
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How managers are being supported?
As members of the expertise centre, organizational coaches:• Offer training courses to groups of managers (e.g. Agile for managers)• Participate in steering committees of pilot projects• Individually support the managers that are related to pilot projects in order to
go from a traditional management style to a more Agile one • Provide individual or group coaching in order to address fears, challenges, and
resistances and to provide appropriate support
Managers will be supported by organizational coaches
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A transition from a traditional approach to an Agile one is not an IT project, it is rather an organizational change.An Agile approach highly impacts project teams but it also impacts managers and their management style.When this type of transition is successful, it gives a competitive advantage to the organization.Supporting managers is critical to the success of this type of initiative.
Conclusion
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A few references
Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum, by Mike CohnAgile Coaching, by Rachel DaviesAgile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, by Esther DerbyAgile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken SchwaberManaging Agile Projects, by Sanjiv AugustineCollaboration Explained: Facilitation Skills for Software Project Leaders, by Jean TabakaThe Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter Senge
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• Drive, by Daniel Pink• Know What Makes Them Tick, by Max Siegel• Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play, by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick M. Lencioni• The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, by Jon R
Katzenbach• Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than
IQ, by Daniel Goleman• Coaching for Performance, by John Withmore
A few references
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To carry on our discussion
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• Martin Proulx, organizational coach
http://pyxis-tech.com
http://twitter.com/analytical_mind
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/martinproulx
http://analytical-mind.com
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