Agile : Today and Tomorrow presented by Rick Freedman Director, Project Management Adams Gabbert
Contents Introductions Agile Core Concepts Where We Are Today Where We re Going How The PM Role Will Remain The Same How The PM Role Will Change AdamsGabbert Proprietary 2
Introductions Rick Freedman, Director of Project Management, Adams Gabbert: Agile coach and mentor to clients: Microsoft, Intel, HP, Motorola, Dept of Homeland Security, Turner Broadcasting, Bank of NY, Credit Suisse, etc. Author: The IT Consultant, The e-consultant. Building the IT Consulting Practice ESI s Agile Project Management Course TechRepublic s Project Management Blog TechRepublic s IT Consultant Blog AdamsGabbert Proprietary 3
Pandora: The Agile Enterprise Tom Conrad, Pandora CTO: If you d asked me during my career, what were the biggest innovations, I wouldn t have said laptops, or the Internet, I definitely would have said that the massive change in the way we write software was the single most disruptive thing I d seen. AdamsGabbert Proprietary 4
Pandora: The Agile Enterprise Tom Conrad, Pandora CTO: We were a launch partner for the iphone, for Google TV, for Facebook, and if we weren t able to respond to these market opportunities it would have meant the difference between success and failure for the entire company. AdamsGabbert Proprietary 5
What Pandora (and others) have learned Agile is Not a Methodology! Agility is Strategic! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 6
Agility Jim Highsmith, one of the originators of the Agile Manifesto, defined agility as the following: Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability. AdamsGabbert Proprietary 7
Core Agile Concepts Core Concepts Iterative, incremental development Constant, committed collaboration Change-readiness Self-directed work teams Measurement by Results! Results First Things Fast Focus on high-impact activities Creative, innovative teamwork Emergent outcomes Business Agility! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 8
Agile Business Objectives Continuous Innovation Product Adaptability Improved Time-to-Market People and Process Adaptability Reliable Results Egalitarian Meritocracy: Reality-Based Intrinsically Motivated AdamsGabbert Proprietary 9
The Agile Mindset Value over Constraints Continuous Flow of Value over Time Innovation by Iteration Lean Thinking AdamsGabbert Proprietary 10
Focus on Value, not Constraints AdamsGabbert Proprietary 11
Traditional vs. Agile Project Triangles Scope Value Cost Schedule Traditional Project Triangle Quality Constraints Agile Project Triangle AdamsGabbert Proprietary 12
The Agile Mindset Team over Tasks Manage Things Lead People Self-Organization means Self-Discipline Collaboration and Participation AdamsGabbert Proprietary 13
The Agile Mindset Adapting over Conforming Deliver, Inspect, Adapt Respond to Change Agile is NOT a methodology! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 14
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Where We Are Today Agile has become the majority methodology! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 16
Where We Are Today VersionOne State of Agile 2011Survey: Improvements Cited: Manage Changing Priorities: 87% Improve Project Visibility: 78% Improve Team Morale: 71% Accelerate Time to Market: 70% Improve Strategic Alignment: 68% AdamsGabbert Proprietary 17
Where We Are Today: My Observations: (Not A Scientific Survey) Interest In Agile Is Universal Most Agile Experiments Are Bottom Up Most Utilize Tiger Team Approach Most Encounter Resistance From Waterfall Advocates Many Encounter Resistance From Product Or Financial Teams PMOs Can Be Enablers Or Inhibitors Vast Majority Are Hybrid Implementations As They Mature, Most Orgs Introduce Roadmaps Once You Go Agile, You Won t Go Back AdamsGabbert Proprietary 18
Where We re Going New Directions in Agile: Scaling to large teams Roadmapping Hybridization Agile Metrics Agile Top-to-Bottom AdamsGabbert Proprietary 19
Scaling Large Projects Look Traditional But Feel Agile: May Require More Structure And Governance, But Still Adhere To Agile Philosophy: Collaborative, Iterative, Change-ready, Self-directed, Lean Create A Leadership Team Divide Teams Into Specialty Areas Or Functions Collaborate Based On Coupling Requirements Push Decision To The Lowest (Efficient) Level Teams Of Teams (Scrum Of Scrums) AdamsGabbert Proprietary 20
Roadmapping Executives have 2 questions: What s the investment? What are the risks? Engineers have 2 questions: Is it feasible? What (in our current infrastructure / architecture) has to change? AdamsGabbert Proprietary 21
Roadmapping For Innovation / Exploration Projects, Detailed Specs Can t Reduce The Risk Only Exploration / Iteration / Adaptation Can! Iteration 0: Useful But Not Sufficient Roadmap Is A Long-term Vision And Strategy, Not An Estimate Less Specific As It Projects Further Out AdamsGabbert Proprietary 22
Roadmap Example Health Care Exchanges 2014 2011: Define Business Rules Program 1: Process and Rules Discovery 2012: Internal System Test 2013: Limited Public Access Program 2: System Solution and Prototype 2014: Regulatory compliance Program 3: Production and Inspect/Adapt Loop Project Level Release Level Sprint / Iteration AdamsGabbert Proprietary 232
Hybridization Scrum-erfall Scrum-ban Scrum, but Selection Criteria: Executive Sponsorship Size Scale Risk Marketplace Agile Readiness AdamsGabbert Proprietary 24
Agile Metrics Our Focus On Adapting Rather Than Conforming Requires Different Metrics Quality: More Than Just Conforming To Spec Also Requires Ability To Extend And Adapt Agile Quality Requires Modular Integration Agile Quality Enables Continuous Flow Of Value Budget: Governance Rather Than An Absolute Number Value For Investment, Not Predictability AdamsGabbert Proprietary 25
Agile Top To Bottom No matter how agile the development team, they hit the wall when: The Strategic Planning Process is Not Agile The Budget Process is Not Agile The Product Development Process is Not Agile Mature Agile Enterprises Migrate Towards All-In Agility! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 26
Agile Top To Bottom Agile Strategic Planning Process Runs on an agile schedule: 90 days, not annually Includes the right people: Not just executives Produces priorities and decisions: Not just lists Same with Agile Budgeting and Product Development: They re inclusive, iterative, Adaptive, Flexible AdamsGabbert Proprietary 27
How The PM Role Will Remain The Same PMs still need to be leaders Must be risk-focused Must be influencers Must have intrinsic authority Must understand the processes they re managing Must be able to recognize quality and value Must deliver business results! AdamsGabbert Proprietary 28
How The PM Role Will Change Just getting an agile certification is not enough! PMs must internalize the egalitarian meritocracy that drives agile philosophy They must be collaborative: The Project Bureaucrat hiding in a room adjusting Gantt charts will fail: agile is too transparent They must be facilitative: Facilitation skills drive agile work processes, decisions They must be adaptive: Plan driven, constraint-focused PMs will struggle AdamsGabbert Proprietary 29