Scaling agile without the scaling framework
- 1. 1 Scaling Agile without the scaling framework
- 2. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign A bit about Jeff Anderson (that’s me!)… • Been trying out agile since Junit first became a thing… • Developer, Architect, Consultant, even a decent Coach • Help enterprise move along the path to agility, all shapes an size • President of Agile By Design, we have a lot of good agile scaling stories Some (Agile related) Pet Peeves • Lazy, Flaccid Agile, especially from other consultants • Cargo Cult Agile • Not paying attention to mindset • Not paying attention to practice
- 3. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign What this session is about What this session isn’t going to cover • Scaling Frameworks in any real detail • Architecture and technology (TDD, Software Craftmanship, Devops, etc) The Agile Basics • Common Practices, the ones you almost always see • How they scale How to extend (hopefully) familiar concepts, in order to use agile at greater scale
- 4. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign First Off, What do we mean by scalability? Scalability Defined (Wikipedia): the capability of a system, network, or process to be enlarged to a handle a growing amount of work, • A system is considered scalable if it is capable of increasing its total output under an increased load when resources are added. • A business is considered scalable if it's underlying business model offers the potential for economic growth within the company • A method is considered scalable if it provides advice and practices that can be geared towards managing large initiatives that require multiple teams. Scaled Agile • Advice and practices geared towards adapting Agile methods so that you can manage larger and more complex initiatives
- 5. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign During this talk, I will talk about scaling Agile vertically and horizontally Scaling Agile Vertically • Coordinating work within larger and larger organizational boundaries • Managing larger and larger missions, outcomes, etc and the interdependencies, common platforms and enterprise concerns that come with them Idea Discovery Engineering Ship & Measure The typical focus of many agile teams? Scaling Agile Horizontally • Connecting concerns typically considered upstream and downstream from a core agile team, • Bring rapid feedback and self-organization to the entire value stream, from concept to customer feedback Research TeamStrategic PortfolioEnterprise
- 6. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Scaling Agile, what he have seen so far…
- 7. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign In order to scale Agile, we need to add more process, right? Lets get more prescriptive advice on: • Roles • End to end Process • Coordinating Activating • Governance / Ownership • Improving the Process
- 8. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 8 I used to love RUP, (and still kind of like it…)
- 9. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 9I had some great successes here, and then some real challenges… ` Sprint (1/2 weeks) Release Planning Release Burndown Chart Sprint Planning Sprint Review & Retrospectives Scrum Task Board Daily Standups (1/day) Definition of Done Planning Poker / Game Product Backlog Release Sprint Backlog To Do IP Done
- 10. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign At first glance, this SAFE slide made sense to me…
- 11. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign I *really* like this DAD slide…
- 12. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 12 Context matters, adding to your process does not result in fit for purpose solutions…
- 13. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 13 Too much methodology is worse than not enough… • Failure to understand • Failure to reduce • Knowledge required to right size the process • False sense of safety
- 14. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 14 • As we scale, our methods become more complicated, and contain more overhead • Linear addition of coordinating artifacts, roles, steps, etc as we scale horizontally (number of teams) • Linear addition of content artifacts, roles, steps, etc as we scale vertically (stages in the value stream, new types of work, etc) • An explosion of combinations as we try and cover every scenario! Method density as a strategy to increasing scale doesn’t scale!
- 15. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign A different perspective on scaling agile
- 16. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 16 Complex systems come from atomic, simple, building blocks Lego • the epitome of modular atomic design • small blocks, all of which can interact with each other • Complex, imaginative outcomes • Number of brick types grows sublinearly compared to number of overall pieces! Micro - Services • Small components with one goal, and a well defined interface • Release multiple times a day without disruption • Limited blast radius, A/B testing etc
- 17. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 17 Scale Agile methods through use of a Complex method, not a Complicated one! Complicated • Many small parts • all with a different, precise role • Predictable • The system IS the sum of its parts • Many, many, many smaller parts • Simple interaction produce emergent behavior • Unpredictable • The system IS GREATER then the sum of its parts! Complex ≠
- 18. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 18Let’s take a look at Scrum, what are some of the simple behaviors that we can use to create a system to manage complexity at scale? ` Sprint (1/2 weeks) Release Planning Release Burndown Chart Sprint Planning Sprint Review & Retrospectives Scrum Task Board Daily Standups (1/day) Definition of Done Planning Poker / Game Product Backlog Release Sprint Backlog To Do IP Done 4 Self Organizing Team • Enhance Team collaboration using Visual Story/Task Management • Align Sprint using Definitions of Done • Synchronize using Sprints Ceremonies • Plan with Product and Sprint Backlogs • Let the team Self Organize to deliver
- 19. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 19We can scale agile by abstracting these concepts into a collection of behaviours that can be applied at the appropriate scale • Enhance end to end collaboration using Visual Flow Management • Align end to end flow using Knowledge Worker Agreements • Synchronize using Events held at a Steady Cadence • Plan using Graduated & Hierarchical Backlogs • Enable a Self-Forming Value Network in order to deliver • Enhance Team collaboration using Visual Story/Task Management • Align Sprint using Definitions of Done • Synchronize using Sprints Ceremonies • Plan with Product and Sprint Backlogs • Let the Team Self Organize to deliver Scaling Agile requires a deep understanding of why agile works at the smaller scale, and then applying that understanding to different perspectives
- 20. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Enhance end to end collaboration using Visual Flow Management and Knowledge Worker Agreements
- 21. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign The classic Agile visual management system • Focused on a team developing and testing stories • Deliberate tracking of all the tasks required to complete the story • Used daily to manage progress, impediments • coordinates the work in progress • Align using Definitions of Done Story To Do In Progres s To Verify Done As a User I… 8 pts As a User I… 5 pts Define Acceptanc e Criteria for… Code the Front End for… Code the Back End for… Update Test Harness.. Test Individual Story Regressio n test with Feature Create Mocks / Stubs for … Create Spec by Example for … Define Acceptanc e Criteria for… Create Spec Skeleton Explore Assumption / Unknowns for… Define Acceptanc e Criteria for… Create Spec by Example for … Explore Assumption / Unknowns for… Create Spec Skeleton Code the Front End for… Update Test Harness.. Code the Back End for… Define Acceptanc e Criteria for… Code the Front End for…
- 22. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 22 How not to scale Agile Visual Management: More tasks, bigger board While a great first step, task style Agile Card walls are hard to scale!
- 23. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 23 As your team gets bigger your visual management system starts to feel a little cluttered
- 24. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 24I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to I must write out my task for each story even though they are the same 80% of the time because agile dogma tells me to
- 25. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Your task cards contain a hidden truth about your system of work…
- 26. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign How to scale Agile Visual Management: start by visually managing the flow of work across team 8 pts 5 pts Define Acceptance Criteria Code the Front and Back End Test Individual Story Regression test with Feature Create Mocks / Stubs Create Spec by Example Create Spec Skeleton Explore Assumption/ Unknowns Update Test Harness Create Shared Agreement Define and BuildStory Backlo g 3 pts 12 pts 8 pts 8 pts 5 pts 3 pts 3 pts Validate 3 pts … 3 pts … • Tasks are ordered according to an agreement of a reasonable workflow • Each state is self governed by the team through knowledge worker agreements (policies) • The team has a lightweight way to continually update their system of work • This approach scales vertically and horizontally!
- 27. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign How to scale Agile Visual Management: Work with upstream and downstream collaborators to map the entire value stream 8 pts 5 pts Define Acceptance Criteria Code the Front and Back End Test Individual Story Regression test with Feature Create Mocks / Stubs Create Spec by Example Create Spec Skeleton Explore Assumption/ Unknowns Update Test Harness Create Shared Agreement Define and Build Story Backlo g 3 pts 12 pts 8 pts 8 pts 5 pts 3 pts 3 pts Validate 3 pts Hardening & Release 3 pts Analyze Customer Traction 3 pts … Discovery 8 pts8 pts 8 pts Discovery Backlog Security Scan NFR Testing Package Notes completed Outline Story Map Initial Story Count Architecture and Dependencies
- 28. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Making it Real: vertically scaling agile by connecting design thinkers, UX, and the delivery team
- 29. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Delivery Date: MVP:4 ZSZS How to scale Agile Visual Management: Visually managing the flow of more macro increments of value at the Portfolio or Strategic Level Delivery Date: MVP:4 WW Oct MarketNovDec Jan - Mar Discovery ReleaseIdea Apr - June July - Aug Team DeliveryNext P B S B S12 Stories 8 Stories 8 Stories 5 Stories 8 Stories Delivery Date: MVP:4 ZSZS B P5 Stories 3 Stories 3 Stories Team 1 Team 2 Team 3
- 30. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Definition of Done > Knowledge Worker Agreements Making It Real: Visually Managing flow of features for a large program at scale • 90 FTES • 20 Teams • 112 Features • Approx 20 Million spend • 8 month burn
- 31. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Synchronize using Events held at a Steady Cadence
- 32. 32A foundation of agile is providing feedback at a steady cadence Instead of planning everything in advance, we run events at fixed intervals: • Short term planning • Impediment resolution • Stake holder review • Improvement Planning
- 33. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 33 The scrum sprint, and the events that happen in them are examples of steady cadences that provide feedback to the team ` Sprint Sprint Planning Sprint Review Daily Standups Sprint Retrospectives (1/day) (1/2 weeks) Are these cadences enough for larger engagements? Is this all we need to deliver value with agility across the organization? Determine where cadence can improve agility across your value stream by answering: • Where feedback can provide value • What are the ideal points to pause to gain alignment • Where repeatable activities can add value • What are the time horizons for each cadence
- 34. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Scrum style ceremonies can be extended to enable management of larger, multi team initiatives Team Lvl Sprint Planning (Day 1 Afternoon) Program Lvl Sprint Planning (Day 1 Morning) Team Daily Standup (Every Morning 9:00 – 10:30) Program Daily Standup (3X/Week Morning 11:00) Team Demos (Day 10 Afternoon1:00) Program Sponsor Update (Day 10 Afternoon 3:00) Team Retro (Day 10 Afternoon 2:30)
- 35. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Portfolio Alignment (1/6 weeks) Strategic Alignment (1/Quarter) There are a “standard” set of event that can be used to manage and govern with Agility, exact names, frequency, and purpose will vary with context Sprint Alignment (1/2 weeks) Strategic Alignment • True North • Key Priorities, Outcomes, Investments • Significant change to capability / capacity Portfolio Alignment • Achieving the mission, Epics and Feature • Team structure / organizing for value • Cross team improvements Sprint Alignment • The current increment of value • The current increment of improvement Determine the exact frequency, time horizon, and objectives for the cadences you want to use to scale agile horizontally
- 36. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Cadence is an effective way to manage work traditionally considered “upstream/downstream” from the team Idea Discovery Engineering Ship & Measure Co-Create a business / product model Make your Assumptions Explicit Should I build it? Can I build It? Potentially shippable software Customer feedback Did the output achieve the outcome? (a reasonable Agile life-cycle)
- 37. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 37The wrong way to scale cadence: sprint cycles focused on one stage within your delivery life cycle, followed by planned gates for higher level feedback Idea Sprint • Waterfall governance with “agile” style check-points • No feedback on shippable business value • Projects that need help miss the gate, and get less feedback! • A nice example of practice in complete absence of mindset Discovery Sprint Eng. Sprint Test Sprint Discovery Sprint Eng. Sprint Dev Sprint Test Sprint Planning Gate Analysis Gate Eng. Gate Test Initiative 1 Release Sprint overy rint Eng. Sprint Test Sprint Discovery Sprint Eng. Sprint Dev Sprint Test Sprint Analysis Gate Eng. Gate Test Gate Initiative 2 Releae Gate Release Sprint Planning Sprint Discovery Sprint Eng. Sprint Test Sprint Planning Gate Analysis Gate Eng. Gate Test Gate Release Gate Planning Sprint Dis S Planning Gate Initiative 3
- 38. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign The Mental metaphor for a Lean-Agile organization > constantly watch the baton, not the runner A different way to scale cadence: Use the sprint cycle to align on predicted and actual flow across the value stream
- 39. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign A different way to scale cadence: Replace Gates with Events at Cadence that validate work in progress across the value stream Outcome Alignment Monthly Planning Review Bi-Monthly Sprint Review Bi-Weekly Traction Review Monthly • Force a quality check of all work in process • Ensures that work is progressing according to governance • Makes any bottlenecks in governane capacity obvious • Frees work to flow independently
- 40. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign The traditional Engineering focus of the sprint cycle can cause agility to suffer upstream and downstream Sprint Bi-Weekly • We focus on meeting sprint commitments • We use impediments as a lever to drive change in the rest of the organization • We assume end to end agility can be achieved by focusing on the velocity of one part
- 41. 41 Sprint Planning 2 weeks Discovery Int TestingIdea Validate Story Ready 4 Prod ReleaseWaitingWaiting MVP / Feature Backlog Grooming Story Backlog Engineer Working Software • Start at the right hand side of the board and progressively move to the left • Indicate priority and likely flow by end of sprint on each story / ticket Measured Outcome One solution > Use the sprint planning cycle to align on predicted and actual flow across the value stream Waiting
- 42. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 42 Making it real: Team annotating their board with Sprint commitments based on anticipated flow Sprint Target: Engineering Done Sprint Target: Feature Test Done Sprint Target: Engineering In Progress
- 43. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign • The typical standup: Ask everybody in the team to provide an individual update, eg: I did the following yesterday, today I plan to do the following, and I need the following help • Work Focus: Discuss each work ticket on the board and have the assigned team member provide a quick update • Flow Focus: Focus the stand-up on only the defects and blocking issues preventing work from flowing and either assign an owner or obtain an update from the assigned owner A side notes: Scale Daily Stand-ups by shifting the focus from the worker, to the work, to impediments and improvements Walk the board from Right to Left
- 44. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Making It Real: Leadership Stand-up for our 90 FTE program
- 45. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Work is blocked… Lead time is unusually high… Walk the board from Right to Left New Build (12) Maintenance (2) Defect Fix (6) Input Queue (8) Story Test (3) ReleaseEngineering (4) Exploration (3) Int Test (2) Dev Ready (3)IP Done IP Done Test Ready (4) IP Done Int Ready (3) IP Done Testing Is idle…Excess WIP In Dev! 12 You can run a standup at scale by spending a few minutes prior, marking down discussion areas and questions for the group based on impediments to flow Story Defect Blocker High number of defects!
- 46. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Plan using Graduated & Hierarchical Backlogs
- 47. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Release Planning Sprint Planning Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Many Agile teams make use of both a product and sprint level backlog
- 48. 48 start date weeks monthsquarters soonlater Months Weeks Days next now Take advantage of a graduated backlog: work increases in granularity and precision the closer the work is to being started
- 49. 49 Sprint 3-4 Sprint 2 Sprint 1 Sprint 4-6 Epics, Features, Sagas, whatever, are estimated in terms of number of Stories Work Items are placed into Sprint Queues that are filled until an estimated Story capacity is reached Next Sprint Inspect and Adapt is used to adjust backlogs based on Team Throughput 12 Stories 12 Stories 12 Stories 24 Stories 24 Stories A Graduated backlog is a place where value is progressively decomposed from larger, less understood objectives into finer grained, better understood units of value 14 10 6 3 7 4 4 4 Work is progressively broken up and story counts are refined as the start date gets closer
- 50. 50 Visually managing your backlog provides a place for stakeholders and teams to collaboratively estimate, prioritize, and adjust capacity at scale Epic9 Feature Feature 24 Feature 26 Feature 21 Feature 16 Feature 8 Oppt 6 Feature US1 US2 US3 US9 US10 US5 US6 US7 US8 US1 US2 US4 US1 US2 Oppt 5 US5 US6 US7 US8 Feature 23 US5 US6 US7 US8 US5 US6 US7 US8 US7 DoneDoingSprint 1Sprint 5 Sprint 4 Sprint 3 Sprint 2 SoonLater Sprints 7+ On the Rader Teams Feature 12 Feature 13 Feature 13 Feature 13 Feature 23 US1 US2 US3 US5 US6 US6 US8 US5 US6 US8 US7 US1 US2 US3 US5 US6 US6 US8 US5 US6 US7 US8 US7 US1 US2 US3 US5 US6 US6 US8 US5 US6 US7 Now Team 1 Oppt 3 Feature 27 Feature 19 Opportunity 4 Sprint 6 Oppt 5 Oppt 7 Oppt 9 Oppt 11 20 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 60 Stories 20 Stories 30 Stories 30 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 20 Stories 20 Stories 10 Stories 10 Stories 20 Stories (45)(45)(45)(45)(45)(45)(100) Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Team 5
- 51. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Enable a Self-Forming Value Network
- 52. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign The importance of the agile team is held as a sacred component of most agile model 1 2 4 5 • Stable • Cross – Functional • Delivers Customer Value • Self Organizing! How can we scale the team concept without sacrificing the attributes critical to making it an agile team?
- 53. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign The wrong way to scale teams: a value network typified by frequent handoffs across teams Feature Team Feature Team Feature Team Component Teams Feature Team Feature Team Component Teams Feature Team Component Teams Component Teams Simple Structure • One team • Team can self organize • Nice More Complicated Structure • Some cross team dependencies • Partial self organization • Manageable Crazy Complicated Structure! • Rampant multi team disorganization! • Self organization is impossible • Better break out the (agile) PMO to manage things
- 54. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign A different way to scale teams: a dynamic value network where knowledge workers form into teams based on the shape of the demand Feature Team Simple Structure • One team • Team can self organize Structure that can handle more complexity • Specialists move across a limited number of teams • Different specialist > emergent complex behavior • Limited Team forming capabilities required Structure that can even handle more complexity • Specialists move across a larger number of teams • More differing specialist >> emergent complex behavior • Greater Team forming capabilities required Feature Team Feature Team Feature Team Feature Team Feature Team Focus management on de-scaling your organization, not on managing hand-offs across teams!
- 55. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Traveler Pools • Work onsite with the upstream team for a short period of time • allow scarce / ad-hoc resources to be deployed to team as needed Examples • Legacy / Integration Developers • UX / UI • NFR Testing Enablement teams • Allocate expertise to a cohesive grouping of teams • coach, consult, and guide Examples • DevOps • Agile Coaches • HR • Architecture Facilitate team travel through the introduction of Travellers and Enablers
- 56. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Managing for self organization is facilitated by continually adjusting team structure based on team backlogs EpicEpicEpic EpicEpicEpic 1 2 3 Group team and their backlogs based on similar demand & capability Analyze backlogs for skillsets required to deliver on them Adjust team structure eliminating hand offs • Group teams into larger structures that foster self forming based on a larger mission • Maximize the number market facing / feature teams • Minimize the use of component teams • Favor pools and enablers over component teams • Adjust to eliminate hand offs
- 57. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign 57 Making It real Standing up Agile Structure in Real time JIT backlog analysis at the Program Level: • Identify feature teams and traveller pools • Re-allocate people based on next set of features • Dynamically deploy Travellers during pre-sprint planning and leader stand- ups
- 58. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Payments Lab Making it Real: An ever evolving Ecosystem of Agile Labs, laying out the interaction model between the different agile teams and there stakeholder Enhancements PacificAlignment Agile EnablementLeadership PMO Modernization Channels Lab WiresVision Mobile Payments SmallCompanies Traveler Pool Legacy Origination Lab PIAP SPW Onboarding Traveler Pool Billing Data Lab Traveler Hand Off
- 59. agilebydesign.com @agile_bydesign Putting it all together • Agile behavior is inherently scalable • If you understanding why agile practices work, you can extend and alter them so as to apply them at different scales • Avoid over attachment to specific implementations of a practice, focus on the why! • Adapt to your context