KAA How to get your Good agile teams to Great

Getting Your Agile Team from Good to Great! Interactively explore team challenges & discover proven techniques to focus,

accelerate learning, and enjoy building great products.

David Hawks @austinagile

Brad Swanson @bradswanson

Collaborate in small groups (2-4) to identify characteristics of a great agile team

Put your top items on three Post-Its and place on an easel pad paper sheet

5

Minutes

!

20 Slides Automatically advancing every 20 seconds

A Coach’s opinion on what techniques help teams get to great

David Hawks Lessons From the Trenches

CEO of Agile Velocity!Agile Trainer and Coach!

!

!

Agile Austin Board Member !(Education Chair)!

!

@austinagile!!

austinagile.com (blog)

Delivering Innovative Products Faster

Problem #1 We are Focused on the Wrong Goal - Output

45%$

19%$

16%$

13%$7%$

Never$Rarely$Some5mes$O8en$Always$

How good are we at predicting what customers need?

�8

From: A Standish Group 2002 study

Feature/func<on usage in the so>ware industry

alwayso>en

some<mes

rarely

never

Release Burnup

20

40

60

80

2 4 6 8 10 12

Weeks

Poi

nts

Scope

Work Complete

204

BuildLearn

Minimize time thru the loop

Eric Ries: The Lean Startup

Validated Learning: the Build-‐Measure-‐Learn cycle

Measure

�10

BuildLearn

Minimize time thru the loop

Eric Ries: The Lean Startup

1) What do we need to

learn?

2) How can we measure it?

3) What is the simplest thing

to build to measure it?

(MVP)

Measure

�11

Validated Learning: the Build-‐Measure-‐Learn cycle

Solution Prioritize Outcome over Output

Theoretical Capacity

Technical Debt

Productivity

Time

Problem #2 Growing Technical Debt

In order to go fast we need a focus on Craftsmanship

Theoretical Capacity

Technical Debt

Productivity

Time

Solution Allocate Time to Incremental Improvements

Problem #3 Drowning in a Sea of Opportunity

Project 1

Lots of Simultaneous Projects

Project 2

Project 3

Project 4

Project 5

All Making Progress

But How Much Value is Being Delivered?

Project 1

Focus on Finishing not Starting

Project 2

Project 3

Project 4

Project 5

Now Value is Being Delivered Early and Often

Project 1Project 2Project 3Project 4Project 5

ProjeProje

ProjeProje

Proje

What is the Impact of Change?

Limit WIP

Lower Cycle Time

Enables Focus

Get Things Done

Deliver Value Sooner

Solution Stop Starting, Start Finishing

Build the Right Thing

Build it Right

Build it Fast

In your groups, discuss the

biggest challenges you’ve

encountered in building great

agile teams

Put your top items on 3 Post-It

Notes5

Minutes

FROM GOOD TO GREAT TEAMS PECHA KUCHA

Brad%Swanson%Senior%Agile%Coach%@%agile42%[email protected]%

@bradswanson%Agile42%

The%Agile%Coaching%Company%

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

4 THINGS

Values

Discipline

Focus

Learning



FOUNDATION OF A GREAT TEAM

�28

Trust

Constructive conflict

Commitment

Accountability

attention to

Results

Patrick Lencioni: Overcoming the The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Use Lencioni’s Team Assessment periodically.

Discuss. Reflect. Act.



VULNERABILITY BASED TRUST

Try: Lencioni’s Personal History Exercise. Share with the team the most difficult or important challenge of your

childhood.



CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICTTeam Working Agreement

1) How we address conflict: Tackle it directly with respect. Don’t let it fester. Apply our team values.

Sample scenario: two team members can’t get along. 1. One party initiates a reconciliation. Courage & respect. 2. A neutral party facilitates a reconciliation 3. The team raises it as an impediment, requesting action. 4. Last resort: bring in a manager or HR.



CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT

John Gottman: http://www.beyondtheleadingedge.com/news/teams/the-four-team-toxins/

Team Toxin Antidotes

Blaming Address the behavior, not the person. Non-violent communication (NVC). Find the request. Vent to 3rd party.

Defensiveness Active listening. Look for the 2% truth.

Contempt Respect. Tact. NVC. “I” statements. Cool-off period.

Stonewalling Cool-off period. Create safety. Remove fear.


http://www.beyondtheleadingedge.com/news/teams/the-four-team-toxins/


TEAM VALUES Pick the team’s top 6-8 values. !

Write an example of what each one looks like in action.



TEAM HEALTH CHECK

0"

1"

2"

3"Value"

Quality"

Speed"

Agility"/"adapability"

Sustainable/predictable"

Fun"Empowerment"

Learning"opportuni@es"

Purpose"/"mission"

Internal"code"quality"

Process"

Nov"

Dec"



http://trustartist.com/2014/02/19/beyond-roles-in-scrum/


http://trustartist.com/2014/02/19/beyond-roles-in-scrum/


FOCUS

“What is the RIGHT thing to do today?”

“What will I do today?”



FOCUS

Lead time: from idea to delivered

MVP

Executive dashboard

0"

2"

4"

6"

8"

Jan" Apr" Jul" Oct"

project/product+lead+.me+



VALUE STREAM MAPPINGRequest 5 days 0.2 FTE

Analysis 10 days 0.5 FTE

Design 10 days 0.5 FTE

Review 1 day 0.5 FTE

Approval 1 day 1 FTE

Approval 1 day 1 FTE

Reqts 8 days 0.5 FTE

Deploy 2 days 1 FTE

Test 10 days 0.5 FTE

Code 15 days 1.5 FTE

20d

5d

10d15d

5d5d

5d

Q 10 Q 5 Q 20

Q 20 Q 20

Q 20

Q 20 Q 20

Q 20

2d

10d

2X

2X

Where is the biggest

waste or delay in

your system?



VISUALIZE FLOWbacklog analyze code deploytest

DG

H

F

1 2 2

B

AE

C

validateWIP limit



EXPLICIT POLICIESbacklog analyze code deploytest

DG

H

F

1 2 2

B

AE

C

validate

Policy/DoR 1)… 2)

WIP limit

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)



WORKING AGREEMENTSbacklog analyze code deploytest

DG

H

F

1 2 2

B

AE

C

validate

Policy/DoR 1)… 2)

WIP limit

Working agreement 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)



LIMIT WIPbacklog analyze code deploytest

DG

H

F

1 2 2

B

AE

C

validate

Policy/DoR 1)… 2)

WIP limit

Working agreement 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

WA 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)

Policy DoD 1)… 2)



MEASURE FLOW

To#do

time

cumulativequantity

WIP

cycle time

Done





T-SHAPED PEOPLE

Trange of knowledge

depth of knowledge

Diploma

Major: Testing

Minor: Database programming


http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

California Bakery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/61678515@N02/

Hav

e fu

n to

geth

er!


http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/61678515@N02/

Self-organize into Scrum-sized teams !

Each team will tackle a specific challenge and identify solutions Summarize on a flip chart.

15

Minutes

Gallery walk: each group presents their solutions to the larger audience. (10 min)

Software

KAA How to get your Good agile teams to Great