Making Agile Pay

Making Agile Pay

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Alas! how deeply painful is all PAYMENT!

finbarr@joy.uk.net

Disclaimer

I reserve the right to give you advice which conflicts with the ‘norm’.Based on my experiences not set texts!

I reserve the right to be heretical WRT ‘sacred’ texts’

Culture eats strategy for breakfastSo pick only those battles you can win..

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Devt. Cost– what’s the big deal?

Customer “changes their mind”Misinterpretations – requirements

Takes longer than expected – cascading impacts – badly estimated?

Testing reveals too many problems – cost of rework

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There’s a hole in my bucket..

Reduce scope for misinterpretations

Enable / work with / assume change

Improve levels of inspection/ testing

Reduce financial exposure per delivery

4Agile !!

Impedance mismatch

Expectations..?!

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I don’t have to make commitmentsI don’t have to document anything

I pay less for developmentI’ll get stuff fasterI can change my mind at any time

Impedance mismatch

Expectations..?!

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We can iterate over the requirementWe’ll decide at the last possible moment

Chaos is loomingI must pin them to a planI don’t know WHAT I’m getting

Fog

XP versus scrum versus DSDM versus ..

Terminology

Religion

DSDMCommon reference

Business – focused terminology

UK culture ..

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The road to hell..

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

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Agilemanifesto.org

And..?

This will only work if:

We can prioritise (negotiate!)

You’re available to collaborate

We keep the plan fluid

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Don’t burn moneyPrioritisation – the right to negotiate

IncrementalFixed scope

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sometimes16%

rarely 19%

never45%

often13%

always7%

Source: Standish Group : Chaos Chronicles 2000

Prioritisation

You can’t have EVERYTHING

If you can’t prioritise then (arguably) you have no business case

Useful: Imagine if...

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PM – same as it ever was..

Controlling the project

Planning, estimating, budgeting

Managing change – negotiating priorities

Managing risk

Managing quality.

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PM Imperatives: Planning

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OR

Change Control

Agree in/ out of time-box boundaries

Context: renegotiating priorities

Explicit Trade offs

Central log, visible record / history

AssumptionsEstimates to hand

Velocity is known

Decision is objective

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Contract / Agreement

Essential:Change control – boundariesprioritisation

Deliverables – what paid for

Quality – nature of ‘re-work’

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Contract / Agreement

Are the right people in the room?

Authorised for cost sign off?

Highlight what WILL be done

Must haves

Timescales

Preventing over-spends

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Making the transition

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Caution..

Knee-jerk response .. Not a panacea – culture?Complexity? Skills? Budgets/Expectations?

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Realistic Targets

Avoid ‘cultish’ terminology

Use the dictionary not a creed..

Impact of IT organisation business change

Benefits management

Agree benchmark/ targets.

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Stakeholder buy-in

How much will this cost?

What will be delivered?

How will I know whether you’re on track

How will I know that what you’re building will work.

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Roadmap

Small projectsMinimal risk

Piecemeal technique adoption

Perceived wisdom

Critical projectsSuccess better recognised

Easier to get broader support

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Implications

Collaborative culture Stakeholder time!

TRUST

Decisions ‘at last minute’ rather than up front

Freedom to honour the ‘spirit’ of the contract

Team skill sets

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Summary

Principles, culture are key

Methods are NOT recipes

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finbarr@joy.uk.net