Kanban in the Scottish Government

How Kanban practices have helped usrespond to four key challenges within mygov.scot

@jose_casal – jose.casal@actineo.xyz@calumshepherd – calum.shepherd@gov.scot

Information spread across 160+ organisations

...over 480+ websites

6 million content items on main websites alone

We have more content items than people

VisualiseLimit WIP

Manage flowMake process policies explicit

Implement feedback loopsImprove collaboratively, evolve

experimentally

WARNINGThese were our responses to our

challenges and in our context

Don’t just copy them, *please* tailor your own

Our programme’s reputation was compromised due to early

promises and ambition

#1

The challenge of digital transformation isn’t one of technology, instead it is one that requires a focus on people

and culture

Avoided the temptation to change everything at once

We let people know that it is OK not to have all the answers

Proactively supported experimentation

We were not delivering at a pace that would support our short-term

ambitions, instead blinded by our end-goals

#2

100-day drives

Short, focused tactical delivery aligned to our roadmap

Reorganising into vertical teams to dissolve silos and enable

on-demand delivery

Moved the programme swiftly through beta and live product iterations,

helping provide clarity to others on our maturity and progress

We struggled with conflicting prioritisation and strong views from

influential members of our senior team

#3

Improved planning and visibility through the introduction of a roadmap, horizon board and

combined delivery board

Began to deliver value early and often

Morale was suffering within the teams and we were lacking opportunities for

true innovation

#4

Empowered people to deliver against our ambitions

Re-introduced regular retrospectives and reignited our

product demos

Re-introduced Hackathons for the team to explore new ideas and

solutions

Content colleagues arranged a content rally, which led to…

co-design workshops

So, have the changes all been worthwhile?

40+ releases in 200 dayscompared to

2 releases in 8 months

We have more productive relationships with public sector

subject matter experts

An increase in the transparency of our planning, clearer short term delivery and improved morale

Thank you.@jose_casal / linkedin.com/jcasal

@calumshepherd / blog.calumshep.com@mygovscot / inside.mygov.scot