An Executive Scrum Team. Alexandre Magno Figueiredo

Transcription

1 An Executive Scrum Team Alexandre Magno Figueiredo

2 Agenda 1. What led me to use Scrum with executives? 2. Some pains in the executive world 3. The Scrum Executive

3 Alexandre Magno, CST - novembro.2008

4 1. What led me to use Scrum with executives?

5 Using Scrum practices to support executive teams wasn t planned at any moment

6 I noticed that some agile practices could help those teams, once I noticed that - surprisingly - many problems from project world also repeated in the executive world

7 Planning Poker in the director s board The CIO of a certain bank called me in his room to ask about something he considered curious : he was just walking by the project s floor when he saw many people playing cards during working hours!

8 Planning Poker in the director s board After explaining the whole Planning Poker process to the director and telling him that it stimulates communication and avoids influencing opinions, I was amazed by a Ha...that s what I need for our management meeting!

9 Coffee break at IT floor I loved those boards, the CIO told me after the meeting. With them I have daily updates about the project without having to ask anyone.

10 TaskBoard in the CIO s room With the visibility the team s radiators gave him, it didn t take long to elaborate a Board with the projects and actions under the CIO s responsability.

11 TaskBoard in the CIO s room With the visibility the team s radiators gave him, it didn t take long to elaborate a Board with the projects and actions under the CIO s responsability. This model was showed in a management meeting and replicated to other fields.

12 Short term goals and planning aligned to the goals Attending some Review Meetings, the CIO understood how interesting it was working with short term goals within a short time-box.

13 Short term goals and planning aligned to the goals Attending some Review Meetings, the CIO understood how interesting it was working with short term goals within a short time-box. It didn t take long to be asked to help him - the CIO - on elaborating a way that he could work with his managers team on small sprints with short term goals.

14 For some time, I kept questioning myself if what I was starting was something of real value or if - because of my passion for the Agile way of working - I was involved with something fictitious and would suffer the consequences in a near future.

15

16 2. Some pains in the executive world

17 In software projects we are used to hearing complaints about requirements change.

18 In software projects we are used to hearing complaints about requirements change. However, this pain is not restricted to the software project teams - the business reality requires frequently changes in the company s strategic plan, right after being created.

19 The problems with silos in software projects made us to consider using multi-disciplinary teams and the same thing is happening in the business world.

20 The problems with silos in software projects made us to consider using multi-disciplinary teams and the same thing is happening in the business world. How to make an HR manager focus not only on his own goal but turn him into a team member, which in turn is compound of managers from different areas and make them focus on the company s goal?

21 The solutions don t deliver what they can, mostly because of the gap between who creates the strategic plan and who executes it.

22 The solutions don t deliver what they can, mostly because of the gap between who creates the strategic plan and who executes it. In the most of the companies, executives are capable to plan competitive business strategies, but are not capable to implement them.

23 The solutions don t deliver what they can, mostly because of the gap between who creates the strategic plan and who executes it. In the most of the companies, executives are capable to plan competitive business strategies, but are not capable to implement them. In organizations focused on long term results, projects considered strategic are sponsored and in many cases managed by higher levels.

24 To Norton and Kaplan (2001), there is a misbelief that the right strategy is a mandatory condition to reach success. They estimate that in 70% of the cases, the real problem is not a bad strategy but its bad execution.

25 3. The Scrum Executive

26 After the isolated experiences I mentioned before, I decided to think on how to apply something really close to Scrum as proposed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in an executive team.

27 The flow

28 1 day The Executive Team (First who...then what) 30 days Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Product Backlog Who would help? PO PO PgO Product Backlog Program Backlog Executive Review & Retro PO Product Backlog PO Product Backlog PO Actions

29 The Executive Team

30 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The Executive Team (First who...then what) The Executive Team was formed by managers or directors of the unit (Sales, IT, Finance, Support, HR and Marketing).

31 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The need to have a facilitator for this became apparently right in the first meetings and because of this the team got an Executive ScrumMaster.

32 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The need to have a facilitator for this became apparently right in the first meetings and because of this the team got an Executive ScrumMaster. The Executive ScrumMaster was an executive (PMO) for the company with knowledge in the process Scrum and in facilitation and leadership techniques.

33 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The Portfolio Owner (or Executive Product Owner) was the Executive Director.

34 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The Portfolio Owner (or Executive Product Owner) was the Executive Director. An Executive Product Owner owns one or more portfolios.

35 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The Portfolio Owner (or Executive Product Owner) was the Executive Director. An Executive Product Owner owns one or more portfolios. This role is responsible for prioritizing Executive Backlogs.

36 THE EXECUTIVE TEAM The Portfolio Owner (or Executive Product Owner) was the Executive Director. An Executive Product Owner owns one or more portfolios. This role is responsible for prioritizing Executive Backlogs. The owner makes sure the vision and strategy of the organization mirror the portfolios.

37 Company s Vision - Strategical Planning -

38 COMPANY S VISION Executive Product Vision Increase 30% the incomings The Executive Team (First who...then what) Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) 1. Build Mission Statement 2. Define Business Values 3. Define Goals 4. Develop growth strategies for Values and Goals 5. Negative propensites - risks, impediments => Create the Portfolio Backlog

39 The Portfolio Backlog, or The Executive Product Backlog

40 PORTFOLIO BACKLOG The Executive Team (First who...then what) Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog

41 PORTFOLIO BACKLOG Having the right vision to guide our executive team, we started the creation of an Executive Product Backlog (or Portfolio Backlog) That Backlog was made of: :: Executive Stories :: Executive Themes :: Executive Epics

42 PORTFOLIO BACKLOG Having the right vision to guide our executive team, we started the creation of an Executive Product Backlog (or Portfolio Backlog) That Backlog was made of: :: Executive Stories :: Executive Themes :: Executive Epics Those Backlog Items were created by the Executive Product Owner with support of the Executive ScrumMaster and the team

43 PORTFOLIO BACKLOG business case other business informations strategic annual plan increase incomings in 30% Executive Portfolio Owner Executive Product Backlog (Portfolio Backlog) In order to gain more control over the sales process closure and follow up, the sales department needs a CRM tool and methodology Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: ROI estimates: Metrics P Executive Story usually an executive action In order to increase the participation on the Brazilian north and northeast region, the unit needs a partnership plan to work with regional companies Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: ROI estimates: Metrics Pg Executive Theme usually an executive project In order to increase our brand visibility the unit needs a marketing campaign that comprehends different medias Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: ROI estimates: Metrics P In order to reduce the default in 50% the financial department needs to elaborate an active collection strategy In order to reduce the turnover and waste in the bonus model, the unit needs to restructure the HR strategy. Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: ROI estimates: Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: ROI estimates: Metrics Metrics P P Executive Epics usually an executive program Resource Portfolio Backlog Asset Portfolio Backlog

44 PORTFOLIO BACKLOG Besides the annual strategic plan, where the projects usually come from, there are other sources. Daily, problems and opportunities, such as market and clients demands, technological improvements, legal or environmental requirements, etc., are brought to discussion to be resolved.

45 Executive Sprint Planning Meeting

46 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING The Executive Team (First who...then what) Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Who would help? PO PO PgO

47 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING Our Sprints, which were 30 days long, started with a Sprint Planning Meeting

48 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING Our Sprints, which were 30 days long, started with a Sprint Planning Meeting In this meeting the Executive Team met to plan what they would work with in the following Sprint.

49 Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Balance Portfolio Sprint s Goal Identify tasks Define Velocity Who would help? Select what fit on the Sprint Estimate it if needed Estimate it if needed

50 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING The Executive Product Owner presented the goal and explained all the priority items.

51 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING The Executive Product Owner presented the goal and explained all the priority items. The team clarified all doubts and discussed which roles would be involved in each item, in an activity called Who Would help? IT IT IT IT support support support HR

52 EXECUTIVE SPRINT PLANNING MEETING Executive Backlog In order to reduce the turnover and waste in the bonus model, the unit needs to restructure the HR strategy. Sponsor: Priority: Kick-off date: P Identifying premisses for the project Identifying the team for the project Gathering the history of all plans used up to now Gathering financial data from the currently plan Defining the budget for the project During the Sprint Planning Meeting, the team started to identify what tasks would be needed to execute each item, anticipating any problems and risks.

53 Executive Sprint

54 THE EXECUTIVE SPRINT The Executive Team (First who...then what) 30 days Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Who would help? PO PO PgO Product Backlog Product Backlog Program Backlog PO Product Backlog PO Those projects were executed inside the departments using Scrum and, in most of them, had the Executive Scrum team member as the (Chief) Product Owner or Program Owner. Product Backlog Actions PO

55 The Executive Daily Meeting

56 THE EXECUTIVE DAILY MEETING 1 day The Executive Team (First who...then what) 30 days Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Who would help? PO PO PgO Product Backlog Product Backlog Program Backlog PO Product Backlog PO Product Backlog PO Actions

57 THE EXECUTIVE DAILY MEETING Everyday, the team did a Daily Meeting. Believe me, it s a hard task!

58 Executive Review & Retro

59 THE EXECUTIVE REVIEW & RETRO 1 day The Executive Team (First who...then what) 30 days Company s Vision (Strategical Planning) Portfolio Backlog Executive Sprint Planning Meeting Who would help? PO PO PgO Product Backlog Product Backlog Program Backlog Executive Review & Retro PO Product Backlog PO Product Backlog PO Actions

60 THE EXECUTIVE REVIEW & RETRO At the end of the Sprint the executives presents the results to the Executive Product Owner, just like a regular Sprint Review. Thru those results he evaluated if the Sprint Goal was met or not.

61 THE EXECUTIVE REVIEW & RETRO At the end of the Sprint the executives presents the results to the Executive Product Owner, just like a regular Sprint Review. Thru those results he evaluated if the Sprint Goal was met or not. Finally, the team did an Executive Retrospective.

62 CONCLUSION

63 Despite being just the first step in reaching more adequate techniques for executive projects and programs, using Scrum in this scenario was a very good experience.

64 Despite being just the first step in reaching more adequate techniques for executive projects and programs, using Scrum in this scenario was a very good experience. As a result: :: a new behavior of their executives.

65 Despite being just the first step in reaching more adequate techniques for executive projects and programs, using Scrum in this scenario was a very good experience. As a result: :: a new behavior of their executives. :: execution and strategy were closer.

66 Despite being just the first step in reaching more adequate techniques for executive projects and programs, using Scrum in this scenario was a very good experience. As a result: :: a new behavior of their executives. :: execution and strategy were closer. :: greater visibility of how executive actions were aligned to the business goals.

67 If you wish to know where your company is heading to, don't look at the static strategic plans. Instead, look at your projects portfolio Thank you!