Transitioning From a Waterfall Mentality to Agile

Transcription

1 Transitioning From a Waterfall Mentality to Agile presented by: in partnership with:

2 Introduction and Agenda Leslie Morse, Davisbase Consulting Business Analyst by Trade Start-up Fortune 50 Experience Both Business & IT Roles Exclusive Agile focus since 2011 Agenda Define Your Boundaries Manage Dependencies Partner with the Project Management Office (PMO) Share Your Experiences Your Next Steps. Q & A.

3 Embrace the Mindset Transitioning to Agile from a Waterfall World isn t for the faint of heart, yet it is an journey many organizations are undertaking. There are effective techniques to help you take the plunge without becoming history.

4 Determine your Boundaries Determine the boundaries of your organization. What is your value stream? How do things get done? Ask how you can influence your upstream and downstream stakeholders to manage the flow of work entering and exiting your boundaries.

5 Manage Dependencies Communicate your project needs and time frame with the external group(s). Determine if they can provide what you need when you need it. If not, determine if it is worth mocking the needed item until it becomes available so that project velocity continues.

6 Partner with the PMO - Compliance Understand what is required in your organization from an audit, risk and release perspective. Understand that your Agile project will need to conform to these standards. Ask the PMO if you can fulfill any compliance requirements in an Agile manner. If not, then adapt to work within that constraint.

7 Partner with the PMO - Risk Learn the process to capture and manage risks and issues in your organization. Adopt the approach used by the PMO to manage risk at the macro level, such as using a Risk Matrix. Use the Daily Stand Up as the canary in the coal mine to identify and address issues and risks that emerge. Escalate those issues that can t be resolved by the Agile team and add new risks to the Risk Matrix.

8 Partner with the PMO - Funding Determine if you can move away from a Big Funding Upfront (BFU) to an incremental funding model. Inform the PMO that using Agile actually provides a more consistent and accurate way to determine cost by fixing time and resources and making scope flexible.

9 Partner with the PMO - Release Understand the release process in your organization in terms of timing, preparation and requirements. Ask the PMO if the process can be altered to suit more frequent releases to support Agile projects. If not, then learn to work within these constraints.

10 Partner with the PMO - Documentation Ask the PMO if Agile equivalents can be used in place of some required documents. Example: substituting the Product Backlog for the Business Requirements Document (BRD). Ask if all of the sections of the required documents must be complete if they are not relevant.

11 Partner with the PMO - Metrics Ask if Agile metrics can be used to report status as opposed to traditional waterfall metrics. Example: The Agile One Page Project Manager (OPPM) template is a great way to succinctly communicate Agile project status. Inform the PMO why Agile metrics paint a more accurate picture of where the project is because it uses working software as a measure of progress.

12 Share Your Experiences Develop or join an Agile Community of Practice (CoP) in your organization. Develop a partnership with your PMO. Seek out local Agile groups in your area.