dxw Training Module: Understanding and Applying Agile for Croydon Council

Editor's Notes

• #2: Clare
• #24: There are 12 principles in the manifesto: 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 behaviour accordingly. The interpretation of the manifesto may slightly differ in different working environments, which is not a bad thing, it’s important to recognised the central components of the manifesto and the reasoning behind it, rather than follow it exactly as its written. The manifesto has been fundamental in embedding agile principle in to IT practices.
• #27: Scrum is an agile framework, meaning agile is the overarching methodology and scrum is a way of implementing the methodology. Scrum guides how teams work and shapes the processes they follows. Agile roles are key to the scrum framework, the roles which we’ll discuss later today which are more generally associated with agile project teams. One role specific to scrum is the Scrum Master. The Scrum Master (much like a delivery manager) is responsible for the team and the overall delivery of the project/product or service. Scrum champions structure to a project, through sprints and ceremonies - which we’ll cover over the course of today. Pillars (transparency, inspection, and adaptation) and values (Courage, Commitment, Focus, Openness, and Respect) There are some concepts central to scrum: Project teams are self-organising The project delivery is iterative - this means work is done in small more manageable chunks, and there is a necessity for a backlog of work And there is a strong focus on the customer or user
• #28: Kanban originates from Lean. Quite simply it is a way to manage work. It can be applied to many different working contexts. The core principle and advantages of Kanban is that it helps manage work, in a fluid way. Only doing what the team can take, therefore avoiding potential bottlenecks. Kanban doesn’t work by itself though and it does take the discipline of the team using it, and often of a delivery manager or scrum master to lead the use of it too.
• #42: The Government Service Standard. Guides teams in how to design, build and implement high quality and user-centred products, services and initiatives. Central government departments are assessed against the standard before launching new services. Understand users and their needs Solve a whole problem for users Provide a joined up experience across all channels Make the service simple to use Make sure everyone can use the service Have a multidisciplinary team Use agile ways of working Iterate and improve frequently Create a secure service which protects users privacy Define what success looks like and publish performance data Choose the rights tools and techniques Make new source code open Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns Operate a reliable service Technology Code of Practice The Technology Code of Practice is a set of criteria to help government design, build and buy technology.
• #43: Note: Some Local Authorities do assess their initiatives against the Service Standard, however this is not a mandatory requirement for Local Government in the same way it is for Central Government. Some Local Authorities are instead signed up to the Local Digital Declaration, which references working to the Service Standard where appropriate or possible. The Local digital declaration A collective ambition for the future of local public services. Signed by over 150 Local Authorities. It has a set of core principles: Redesigning services around users needs Breaking dependence on inflexible and expensive technology, in favour of common components and standards Safe and secure ways to share information Leadership and transformation Embed an open culture Note: In addition to the above commitments, within the declaration there are also specific commitments for leaders, service managers, board members and politicians. You’ll also notice that the Local Digital Declaration mentions working to the Technology Code of Practice.
• #44: Note: Some Local Authorities do assess their initiatives against the Service Standard, however this is not a mandatory requirement for Local Government in the same way it is for Central Government. Some Local Authorities are instead signed up to the Local Digital Declaration, which references working to the Service Standard where appropriate or possible. Across all the various standards there is a lot to think about, however you’ll notice the relationship between each standard and how the points of each are complementary to one another.
• #84: Multi-disciplinary Small and nimble Ideally focused on the same thing / group of things Empowered to make decisions Working in the open