agileAgile methodology or myth-odology?avoiding pitfall and achieving success with agile methodology
Jaison Mathew is a Transformation Agile Strategist and Quality Practitioner with successful implementation of Agile methodology within Government, Healthcare, Insurance, Commodities Trading, Education and Fortune 500 enterprises.
He holds Certifications in Agile SAFe (SA), Scrum Master (SCM), Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE), Certified Software Test Manager (CSTM), and serves as a QA/QC Trainer and Talent Developer. He has authored multiple white papers on Software Test Automation Framework, Testing Refactoring & Optimization. His blend of technical expertise better serves his passion about Agile practice including, DevOps, CI-CD, and TDD/BDD.
Jaison has over 15 years of experience in the IT industry partnering with CTO’s in organizations to assess their Operating Model and provided improvements through strategic advisory, setting up Agile COE and Governance model.
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Key Takeaways…
In this session, we will:• Explore the key challenges that face many organizations
before and during their Agile journey.
• Focus on successful implementations and why they worked in those organizations.
• Introduce some of the challenges so you do not fall into common pitfalls.
• Provide guidance on getting started with Agile Scrum framework.
• Explore SAFe Methodology to scale Agile
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“Agile is all about doing moreof what works for you, and less of what doesn’t
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What is Agile?
• Agile is an incremental and iterative methodology where self organizing, cross functional team determine how to accomplish their work while improving from the lessons learned from the previous sprint.
• The team manages and owns their work
• Agile is a time boxed, that builds software incrementally from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end.
• Agile is not limited to software development, it applies to other aspects of business
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2018/01/18/how-michelle-peluso-is-redefining-marketing-at-ibm/#714514de1940
• It is implemented by a wide range of businesses and start ups
• Agile is guided by the Agile Manifesto consists of 12 principles listed below
• https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
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What is Agile?
• There are different types of Agile Framework: Scrum, Kanban, XP, TDD/BDD,
Extreme Programming (XP), Feature-Driven Development (FDD), Kanban, and Lean
• The focus is on delivering value to customers. The customer is the boss, not the manager.
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Organizations that Adopted Agile
• Ability to collaborate
• Speed to market
• Establishing competitive edge
• A different mindset
• Formula 1 - Pit Stops 1950 vs. 2013
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOJbM0aXZp0
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What makes Agile powerful?
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Plan Driven (Waterfall)Methodology
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
DESIGN
IMPLEMENTATION
TESTING
MAINTENANCE
Agile (Scrum)Methodology
Value delivered6 mt – 1 year or more
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Agile vs Waterfall
………………………………………………………………………………………….…
……………………
Value delivered2 weeks – 1 month
Waterfall workspace
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Work environment is isolatedwhich debilitates collaboration
Agile workspace
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Collaborative space which promotes real time Q&ATeam focuses on the Goal at hand, not the role
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SCRUM Framework
Process/Cadence• Daily Standup Meeting• Product Refinement• Sprint planning meeting • Sprint review meeting • Sprint Retrospective
Artifacts• Product backlog• Sprint backlog • Product increment
People• Product Owner• Scrum Master• Scrum Team
Benefits of Agile
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Speed to market
Improved Quality
Transparency
Stakeholder Engagement
Team Ownership
Better EstimationAllow for change
Focuses on business value
Benefits of Agile
High Quality ProductIn Agile development, testing does not occur in a sequence or in a vacuum which limits the testers ability to test the product with business acumen. They are embedded into a • The whole teams take ownership of the development and testing of capabilities delivered• Not having to wait for months before testing • Integrating continuous development and testing enabling teams to address anomalies near real
time• Ability to implement TDD (Test Driven Development) or BDD (Behavior Driven Development) into
the Testing practice within CI/CD pipeline• Leverage Automation test suite • Through preemptive method, quality is improved by finding and fixing defects during each
iteration• Continuous improvement of process and tools through Sprint Retrospective• Validation of Stories through Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done• Enables UAT testing incrementally
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Benefits of AgileIncrease Customer SatisfactionVisible, transparent, and flexible
• Promotes customer involvement in Sprint Review/Sprint Demo
• Demonstrate working features at the close of each sprint
• value realization,
• Incremental business value being delivered
• Faster customer feedback
• Stake holder involvement and engagement
• customer being able to see finished work and can work collaboratively to determine MVP or MMF
• Enables the ability to frequently toggle on marketable features
• Keeps the Product owner and Stakeholders informed on progress and risks throughout product delivery
Benefits of Agile
Faster ROI
Agile is an iterative development cycle where features are deployed incrementally. This translates to the realization of value throughout the development life cycle.
• Promotes competitive advantage
• A functional shippable capability is delivered throughout multiple iterations
• Due to the speed to market, lengthy delivery cycles causes problems for businesses
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“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton
Benefits of Agile
Allows for change
• While teams are focused on the Sprint Backlog, there is an opportunity for to reprioritize the Product backlog which welcomes changes within a few weeks.
Focuses on business value
• As the client prioritizes the features to be delivered, the team becomes aware of the most important value for the client’s business
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Benefits of Agile
Improved Estimation Accuracy• Sizeable work unit - by breaking down large units of work into manageable units, they can better
estimate and predict delivery timeline• Productivity predictability• Smaller work units to ensure they will meet product launch timeline removing the “watermelon”
affect
Predictable cost and delivery timeline• The cost is more predictable as Sprint is within a fixed time box with defined work that the teams
can perform. This accentuates the approximate cost for each of the feature being developed per iteration
So If Agile cures all these challenges, why is it difficult to get started?
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19901970 2010
20001980
• Waterfall Model• Adaptive Software Dev.
• Agile Manifesto• Lean Software Dev.
• Agile SAFe v1.0 – v4.5• Rapid Application Dev.• SCRUM• FDD
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Agile Evolution
Consists of 12 principals• Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous
delivery of valuable software.• Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile
processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.• Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of
months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.• Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the
project.• Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment
and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.• The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and
within a development team is face-to-face conversation.• Working software is the primary measure of progress.• Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors,
developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.• The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-
organizing teams.• At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective,
then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Kent BeckMike Beedle
Arie van BennekumAlistair Cockburn
Ward CunninghamMartin Fowler
James GrenningJim HighsmithAndrew HuntRon Jeffries
Jon KernBrian Marick
Robert C. MartinSteve Mellor
Ken SchwaberJeff SutherlandDave Thomas
Authors:
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Agile Manifesto
Originally published:February 2001
• Sherpa/Agile coaches• Learn from mistakes of others• Leadership commitment as well as involvement needed• Patience required• Organization Change Management• Training required• Agile COE• Leave enough time to learn, reflect and improve• Selection of an Agile collaboration tool• Process changes warranted• Understand that cultural change starts with HR • Measurements/KPI
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Getting Started with Agile
This is what happens when leadership is not involved with the transformation.
They are the stich that holds a garment together. One stitch that gets torn will soon
have seams that starts to break loose and eventually the entire garment falls apart. If you do not fix the “jeans pocket”, you will
start to hemorrhage cash.
W. Edwards Deming
“Support of top management is not sufficient. It is not enough that top management commit themselves for life to quality and productivity. They must know what it is that they are committed to — that is, what they must do. These obligations can not be delegated. Support is not enough: action is required.”
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Agile SherpaIf you are climbing Mt. Everest wouldn’t you want a Guide?
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• Guides the organization through their agile journey
• Work closely with Leadership and trains them on Agile
• Provide feedback on what is working what is not
• Evaluate the existing methodology in place to determine best FW for each organization
• Identify “Right” People for the movement• Track progress of the transformation• OCM planning and implementation• Offer guidance, mentorships, coaching,
training
Average percentage of projects using predictive approaches
Average percentage of projects using agile approaches
Average percentage of projects using hybrid approaches
Average percentage of projects using “other” approaches
44%
30%
23%
4%
Source: Project Management Institute, 2018)
Companies report that agile practices are widely used within the development team
44%Agile popularity is growing too, with 61% of traditional
marketing teams reporting plans to start building Agile into their workflow 61%
Out of 500 senior executives from around the world, 92% said they believe organizational agility is critical to business
success. (Achieving Greater Agility, Forbes Insights, 2017)
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28%
Agile projects are 28% more successful than traditional projects. (Source: PwC)
92%
Agile Statistics bore you for you
The biggest roadblocks to implementing Agile are too many projects per team member, lack of company vision, & unclear project scope.Source (Critical Success Factors for Agile Project Management in Non-Software Related Product Development Teams, Western Michigan University, 2017)
Source: Project Management Institute, 2018)
Source: Project Management Institute, 2018)
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Agile Adoption
Cultural fit
People
Distributed Delivery
Transformation planning
Value Realization
Collaboration Tools
Does Agile fit into the culture of our organization?
What is the current perception of Agile?A positive outlook will receptive of agile adoptionThere is also a psychological aspect to change
Will the constraint of geographic locations debilitate the agile mindset of collaboration and one-team mindset?
Is there a Strategic Roadmap that defines all the critical aspects of change?
Define the expected results from adopting AgileHas this been clearly laid out, defined and are there measurements in place?
Are people more focused on the tools to drive the change than the People and Process
Handling uncertaintywhen change is certain
Agile transformation journey is not simple, neither difficult. An assessment must be conducted prior to embarking on the journey
• Lack of Environment/Collaborative space – especially holds true for global delivery teams
• Some of us understand Agile, but how do we influence others in the organization to get buy-in
• We want to get started but we do not know where to start; What are the various strategies for Agile adoption
• What does Agile Journey really look like? – Are there roadmaps
• Is there a R&D project we can select from? – if so what are the criteria for selection?
• There are many Agile Framework, how do we decide which one fits into our organization?
• What are some of the major pitfalls or gotchas
• If we run a pilot, how do we know its working and what happens next?
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Top Agile Adoption Challenges
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Top Challenges
Leadership not fully involved or does not
understand Agility
Large backlog with Conflicting Priorities
Rework due to quality issues
Cultural changes are difficult
Heavy process and documentation
No method to measure value
Global delivery teams need to change as well
Missing or ambiguous requirements
Lack of empowerment and low morale
Expectation to see immediate value
Unrealistic delivery dates Overemphasis on tools
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Agile Adoption Strategies
Top Down Executive buy-in Meet in the middleBottom Up (Grassroots)
Command and controlGet executive buy-in for
need to change and adoption strategy
Get few teams to pilot agileTrain Leaders and business in advance to obtain buy-in
Enable few teams to pilot agile
Let success rise from bottom up
RiskGo Agile or else approachNeed OCM plan and buy-in from mgmgnt
RiskMultitasking and lack of strategic alignment
RiskLack of mgmgnt support can result in work prioritizationlack of team stability
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Additional Info.
• Need additional information on getting started with Agile?
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Contact Presenter: Jaison MathewEmail: [email protected]: www.pittsburghcdx.com