Step-by-Step Complete Agile Program Management Model
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The Agile program management process for the Ratings & Reviews (R&R) initiative is set to revolutionize the industry with an estimated timeline of up to a year and a resource allocation of multiple product teams. Key strategies include smart scoping, integrated quality, cross-functional discovery, and proactive risk management, all within an agile framework featuring two-week sprints and continuous feedback loops. Success will be measured through a robust set of metrics and phase gate approaches to ensure alignment with business goals.
Step-by-Step Complete Agile Program Management Model
- 1. Agile Program Management Process (Hypothetical) R&R Initiative Vishal Sheth, CSM, CSP, CSPO, PMP Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 2. Why Are We Here? Project R&R is ready for launch Scope: Reinvent Ratings & Reviews Expected Timeline: Up to a year Estimated Resources: 3 Product Teams (PO, Dev, QA, UX, Pubs) 1 Marketing / 1 Product Mktg Resource 1 Client Services Resource 0.5 Sales / 0.5 Support Resource Benefit: Revolutionize the world of Ratings & Reviews while generating MIRR >= 20% Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 3. What Does The Opportunity Look Like? Value Proposition (Tangible & Intangible) Target Market Market Size (Revenues/Savings) Success Metrics Competitive Landscape Our Differentiator Market Timing Deployment Strategy Critical Success Factors *Supplemental handout has R&R Opportunity Assessment Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 4. What are our Assumptions? R&R Initiative is the highest value opportunity at this time We want to be nimble to market opportunities/changes Teams are available for the planned duration and are co-located except for some Sales/Mktg folks Each Feature is independently releasable/configurable Users will be available as needed for Usability Tests Program Manager will play a multi-faceted role: Overall oversight & cross-functional coordination ScrumMaster for the 3 Delivery teams Release Manager (managing business readiness) Vendor Manager (if needed) No 3rd Party Vendor/Tool needed Sprints are 2 weeks long Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 5. What Is Our Game Plan? 1. Smart Scoping: Zoom in on 20% of the features that derive 80% of benefit 2. Integrated Quality: Not just Robustness but Usefulness and Usability too 3. Cross Functional Discovery: Involve all functions up-front 4. Feedback Loops: Understand feedback to drive positive change – Agility 5. Escalation Protocol: Surface concerns early and often 6. Proactive Risk Management: Identify and address highest risk at all times 7. Success Metrics: Keep an eye on objective and subjective measurements 8. Phase Gate Approach: Regular checkpoints and course correction 9. Meticulous Planning, Coordination and Communication: Planning and visibility Cross Team, Inter Team, Stakeholders, Sponsor Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 6. Smart Scoping Simplicity will be our overarching theme The art of maximizing the amount of work not done Smart Scoping - Secure highest value (to customers & business) as early as possible 80% of value is typically derived from 20% of the features MS Word, Excel etc Smart Prioritization Mitigate highest risk (by Probability and Impact) as early as possible Architectural Feasibility/Technical challenges Legal issues Align cross-team integration points Ensure early validation of technology touch points Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 7. Integrated Quality – Fitness For Use We ensure robustness in smart yet cost effective ways Manual System Affected Sub-System Integration UI Functional Unit As Needed; As Little As Possible Every Sprint Daily Every Build Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 8. Integrated Quality – Useful & Usable Usability validation is built into process Usability Testing Visual Design Interaction Design UI Implementation Usability Testing & Localization for International Clients from Phase 1 Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 9. Cross-Functional Discovery PO UX TL/ARCH PGM STAKE HOLDERS User Needs Assessment Create/Maint ain Epics Use Cases / Workflows Update Roadmap Write Stories Persona Study Clickable Prototypes Preliminary IA High Fidelity Prototypes Buy v/s Build Decisions 3rd Party Evaluation Proof of Concept Create Release Roadmap / Release Plan Plan High Level Dependencies Facilitation GATE II Review Roadmap / Prototypes User/Client Svcs F/back GATE 1 Review Use Case Details t Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 10. Feedback Loops We will use every opportunity to Inspect-and-Adapt Product Feedback Loops Global Usability Testing – Wireframes/Prototypes Sprint Demos / UATs Usability Testing – Functional Stage Gates Post Release - Alpha, Beta, GA releases Process/Status Feedback Loops (PGM to facilitate) Daily Scrum (Delivery Team) Scrum-of-Scrum (Delivery Leads for Dev, QA, PO) – As needed Weekly Discovery Team Meetings (incl. Pubs, UX, Client Svcs) Weekly Grooming Meetings (Delivery Team) Sprint Retrospective (Delivery Team) - keep an eye on recurring topics Bi-Weekly Program Meeting (Sponsor/Stakeholder/Lead) Market Launch Team Meeting - Sales, Mktg, Product Mktg, Client Svcs, PO Post-Launch Review Meetings (Optional) Agile Brown Bag Lunches Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 11. Established Escalation Protocol We are an empowered and responsible Team If issue can be resolved by Individual, it should be If issue can be resolved by Team, it should be If issue is across Teams, it should be addressed at Scrum-of- Scrum level If issue is Organizational, it should be raised at SoS or to PGM Escalation Opportunities Report to PGM – Always & Anytime Team – Email, Daily Scrum, Retrospective Program – Email, Daily SoS Sponsor – Tier 1: Immediate; Tier 2: Bi-weekly Sponsor Mtg Public log of Open Blockers Date Details Severity Impact Owner Status / ETA Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 12. Proactive Risk Management We will succeed and fail together An unmitigated risk can wipe out best laid plans No one person can identify all Issues/Risks Environment of collective ownership, openness, awareness All Risks Matter and should be reported to PGM Address Highest Risk Item(s) by Probability & Impact Not all Risks require action but all require a mitigation plan P/I Assessment conducted by Discovery Team Public log of Potential Risk Date Details Probability Impact Owner Mitigation Plan Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 13. Success Metrics We will take calculated, measured, Risks We will monitor tangible and intangible benefits at each phase Primary focus on Leading Indicators as we iterate in Production We plan to re-plan and course correct Tracking to be built in as features are developed Appropriate Metrics will be reviewed at Phase Gates Only Features that meet or exceed targets will be promoted from Beta to GA (this comes with a huge side benefit) Feature Category Stated Goal Operational Definition Specification Units Data Needed Leading / Lagging Indicator? Expected Measurable LL UL Target Benefit Actual Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 14. Phase Gate Approach While we believe in our ideas, we will optimize spend by testing each hypothesis as quickly as possible We will review objectively across various dimensions and course correct as appropriate PAB Review MMF Review Architectural Feasibility Usability Review Sprint Demos Alpha Feedback Beta Feedback Post-GA Leading Indicators Review Post-GA Lagging Indicators Review Opportunity Assessment Phase Discovery Phase Implementation Phase Limited Availability Phase General Availability Phase Market Opportunity Window/Competitive Factors Analysis Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 15. Planning Release/Feature Level Plans to include: Milestones Release/Feature Description Release/Feature Goals/Metrics Customer Benefits (to be used by and for Marketing) Inter-Team Dependencies (Inbound and Outbound) UX/Design Needs (provided by UX Leads, PO) Technical Needs (provided by Tech. Leads & IT/Ops) Regression Needs (provided by QA Lead) Other Needs (Alpha/Beta Testers, Consulting etc) Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 16. Milestones t Feature1 DISCOVERY: User Needs, Persona, Use Cases PHASE GATE 1 PHASE GATE 2 PHASE GATE 3 PHASE GATE 4 PHASE GATE 5 PHASE GATE 6 DISCOVERY: IA, Usability Testing, MMF/Stories, PoC SPRINTS ALPHA BETA GA HARDENING: Bug Fixing, Usability Testing VALIDATION: Metrics Collection, Fdbck/Improvements GA Launch Prep HARDENING: Bug Fixing, Metrics Collection MONITORING/IMPROVEMENTS: Metrics Collection, Fdbck/Improvements Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 17. Coordination & Communication Dashboard Regular Product/Process/Status Meetings Management Cross-Functional Cross-Team Inter & Intra Team Mailing lists for each of the above groups Phase Gate Review Meetings Docs – Tech Pubs, Samples, Marketing/Sales Pitch Training – Videos, Sessions (Client Svcs, Support) Escalation Protocol (for anything outside the norm) Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 18. Dashboard Pulls everything together into a consistent snapshot Overall timeline with critical Milestones from Release Plan For each Release/Feature currently in-flight: Current state of Minimum Marketable Feature (MMF) Blockers/Risks/Delays Dependency Tracking Current Spend (# of FTE) v/s Budgeted Spend - Burn Rate Success Metrics For each Team currently assigned: MMF/Component being worked on Blockers/Risks/Delays Dependency Tracking Sprint Burndown/Velocity/Total MMF Size For each Feature already released: Maintenance Spend (Man Hours) Customer Satisfaction (SUS Score) Metrics - Expected v/s Realized Benefit in Production Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 19. Summary – Agile PGM Model Successful Programs depend on pulling together multiple Factors 1. Smart Scoping: Zoom in on 20% of features that derive 80% of benefit 2. Integrated Quality: Robustness, Usefulness and Usability too 3. Cross Functional Discovery: Involve all functions up-front 4. Feedback Loops: Understand feedback to drive positive change – Agility 5. Escalation Protocol: Surface concerns early and often 6. Proactive Risk Management: Identify and address highest risk at all times 7. Success Metrics: Keep an eye on objective and subjective measurements 8. Phase Gate Approach: Regular checkpoints and course correction 9. Meticulous Planning, Coordination and Communication: Planning and visibility Cross Team, Inter Team, Stakeholders, Sponsor(s). Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012
- 20. Questions? Vishal Sheth, CSM, CSP, CSPO, PMP Pragmatic Agile PMO vsheth@yahoo.com Copyright Vishal Sheth 2012