Download - Beyond the Crystal Ball: The Agile PMO
Beyond the Crystal Ball:The Agile PMO
Right Work, Right Time, Right People
Tonight we will cover...
● Who are these people?
● PMO Challenges
● Getting back to Agile
● Our Fantastic Voyage through Process Experiments
○ ROIs and Roadmaps
○ Swagathons
○ The Social Experiment
● Q&A
Hello!
Heather Fleming, Sr. Director, PMO● Started out in front-end development, management and design in 1996● Was PMP Certified, is Myers-Briggs (MBTI®) Certified● Heading up PMOs since 2006 for The Knot and Gilt
Justin Riservato, Director, Program Mgmt● Started out in Customer Service and Product Marketing, realized that the
best part of every job was the Project Management● Fell in love with Gilt’s PMO’s philosophy and never looked back!
What is Gilt?
Gilt (www.gilt.com) is an e-commerce company focused on flash sales. We provide insider access to top designers at up to 60% off, in sales typically lasting 72 hours.
We’re also one of the top tech companies in NYC!
Check out tech.gilt.com to learn more about us!
Are Traditional PMOs Set up to Fail?
Responsibilities of Traditional PMOs● Planning & Roadmapping● Resource & Capacity Planning● PM Processes & Standards
In a recent survey by EDI International titled “The State of the Project Management Office: On the Road to the Next Generation”, more than half of the respondents report that the value of their PMO is being questioned by key stakeholders.
What’s the problem?
The company is expecting you to predict the future... Months (sometimes years) out...
In software engineering...Given a short (one sentence) description of the work...And you will be held accountable for your predictions!
So what do most people do?
● They believe “going Agile” is a silver bullet.● People use the word “Agile” in many ways.● They implement Scrum
And then what happens?
● The company still wants you to predict the future.● The engineers are rebelling against the Scrum process.● The PMO is called into question anyway
Oh noes!
Remember the Triangle of Truth
Remember the Cone of Uncertainty
Image from agilenutshell.com
And Remember the Manifesto!
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
The PMO @ Gilt
We get things done.
We tackle a lot of the operational function of running Gilt Tech.
We help Gilt Tech explore and experiment with efficient processes to select and execute strategic projects.
(Notice we didn’t say “standardize”...)
Our Fantastic Voyage
● ROI, Roadmaps and RFW Process● One Pagers and Swagathon● The Social Experiment
Everybody Loves RoadmapsProject Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
SEO v2
CMS
Email Redesign
Site Redesign
Landing Pages
WMS Upgrade
Referral Program
ROI/Roadmap Process
3 Month Roadmap
New Project Ideas
How long will it take? (ROI)
Who can do it?
Re-prioritize!Re-plan!
Get Exec Approval
CHANGE
ROI/Roadmaps Retrospective
What works well with this model?
What doesn’t work well?
ROI/Roadmaps Retrospective
What we learned...
● We were on the “less valued” side of the Manifesto○ We were spending more time planning than doing○ ...and more time on documentation○ ...and more time on processes and tools
● We change a lot!
● We want transparency and a say in the order of work
The Spirit...
Swagathon
One Pager
Project Team
(maybe?)Backlog Product
CouncilSwagathon
Process States
Swagathon Retrospective
What works well with this model?
What doesn’t work well?
Swagathon Retrospective
What we learned...
● We were still on the “less valued” side of the Manifesto○ ...we were following a plan instead of developing working software○ ...we spent too much time on processes and tools
● Creating “on the fly” teams was challenging
● We were giving people false hope with our backlog
● We could respond to change easier, butwe were still missing a bigger story...
The Social ExperimentStrategy
Initiatives
KPIs
Teams
Ingredients
Execution
The Social ExperimentStrategy: Big Areas of Focus
Initiatives: What are we doing / not doing?
KPIs: Answering WHY
Teams: Who do we need?
Ingredients: Qualities, Not Titles
Execution: Get Working!
Product VisionaryDriving product vision and strategic innovation. Strong point of view.
PR and Relationship ManagerManaging the external view of the team. Communicates well both verbally and via email. Knows how to deliver an excellent presentation.
Product IdeatorThinking creatively and driving tactical innovation. Being the voice of the customer.
Visual DesignerCreates on-brand visual designs.
UXBuild wireframes, runs usability tests, designs user interactions.
CoderWrites feature and test code. Create queries and reports.
Product MarketerAnalyzes the market and competitive landscape, determines product/feature positioning so the customer clearly understands the benefit, figures out ways to drive traffic to the product or feature.
Business thinkerDriving KPI thinking. Understanding business mechanics. Sizing opportunities.
OrganizerDriving planning of work, running productive meetings, keeping the team focused on execution.
Engineering ArchitectHigh level system design. Managing technical debt. Building for the right amount of performance and scale. Providing technical leadership and mentorship.
Quality ManagerEnsuring the quality of releases. Making sure that the right amount of automation is built (unit tests).
MotivatorCreating a sense of urgency while ensuring a sustainable pace for the team.
Cruise DirectorMaking things fun. Creating a sense of team spirit.
AnalystDrives product instrumentation. Proposes tests (e.g. a/b tests). Analyzes data. Creates and tests hypotheses and uses these to influence product direction. Can clearly communicate what data means.
Technical OperatorDrives product instrumentation. Pays attention to production operational parameters (alerts, tuning, etc).
The Social Experiment Retrospective
What works well with this model?
What doesn’t work well?
The Social Experiment Retrospective
What we learned...
● We know how our work ties into a bigger story
● We know we are working on the things that matter the most
● We want to continue to get better at Collaboration
● Valuing Individuals and Interactions is key
● Responding to Change will always be challenging
Q&A
Thank you!