Agile(mal)PracticesConsideredHarmfulVuTungLam(@vutunglam)AgileCoachWhyInnovation!

Thejourney……andreflection

2Slide deckcourtesy ofStephenChin

Onceuponatime…Iwasahappyhacker

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Workinginteamswithfriendlycoworkers…

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Butascaryboss,whosoldproductsweneverbuilt

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AndIwasleftholdingthebanana…

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SowedecidedtogoExtremeScrum!

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Westarted“pairprogramming”…

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Implementedunittesting…

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Andbeganworkingatasustainablepace.

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Itwasalotoffun,andwewereveryproductive

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ThenIsetouttojointheempire!...

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Onedaythebosscalled…andwantedmyhelptoimplementAgile

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Itwasalittledauntingatfirst…

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Butwehadgoodteams

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Sowestartedamissiontoconverttheorganization

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Rolledoutnewdevelopmentpractices

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Andletthetroopsgetcreative

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Wecreatedhyperperformingteams

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Thereweresomedissenters…

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Butafewheadsrollingdidn'tslowusdown…

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AndtheAgilerolloutwasahugesuccess!

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Astheorganizationgrew,wepreparedalargeAgileforce

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Anddeployedthebigships…continuously

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ButdoingAgileatlargescalewasalotdifferent

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Wespentmostofourtimeinmeetings…

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Institutedlotsof"processes"

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Didcompany-wideinvasion releaseplanning

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Andhadtoresolveinternalconflict

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ConqueringtheUniversewithAgileisverysatisfying!

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So,ImademyescapefromtheEmpire

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AndbecameanormalAgile(coach)guy…

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…anAgilecoach

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Ò VuTungLamÒ AgileCoach&Trainer,WhyInnovation!

Ò ExpertinAgileTraining&Coaching,AgileTransformation&Scaling,Leadership, ITOrganization&Management.

Ò Havesuccessfullyguidedcompaniesofvariedsize(fromasingleteamtomultiple teamsgeographicallydistributed)through theirtransformationtohigherAgilefluency.

Ò ExperiencesscalingAgiletransformation tomultiple teams,multipledepartmentsbeyond IT.

Ò PracticalapproachforAgileimplementationwithacombinationScrum,XP,Kanban,Lean,DevOps,LeSS andSAFe.

Ò Decadeofexperiencemanaging,building engineeringteamandimplementing besttechnicalpracticessuchaspair-programming, unittesting, testdriven,automation,CI/CD.

SomethingsIlearned…

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Whereareyou?

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StoryPoints-basedEstimation

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• Relativeestimationtechnique:bycomparisonorbygroupingofitemsofequivalentdifficulty,insteadofestimationinabsoluteunitsoftime

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Before

After

• Itofferssomeusefulinformation• Notmoreaccurate• Inflatable• Languagebarrier

• …couldhavebeenmorecosteffective

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Costeffectivetool… but

Perhapsjustcounttheitems…• Whatifastoryistoobig?– Doesthisstoryfitintoasprint?– Ifnotsplititupintotwo…• Iftheystilldon’tfit,splitthemfurther…

• Focusattentiontodeliverycustomervalueinsteadofdelieveryingtasks

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Scaffolding

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• “Scaffolding,alsocalled scaffold orstaging,isatemporarystructureusedtosupportaworkcrewandmaterialstoaidintheconstruction,maintenanceandrepairofbuildings,bridgesandallothermanmadestructures.“

• Storypointsareusefultoteachteamadifferentmentalitywhenitcomestoestimation• Toberemovedoncetheteamhasmasteredtheideaandbecomemature

EstimationinIdealHours/Days

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Howitworks

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Isitnecessary?• Verywaterfall-ish• Moretimeconsumingthannecessary• Mainlyusedtoconstructburndown chart– “Let’shaveaprettychart”syndrome

• Estimationbecomesthegoalofthetechnicalplanningexercise– Insteadofhavingameaningfuldiscussionabouttechnicalsolution

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TeamA

• Estimatestoriesinpoints• Estimatetasksinhours• Sprintburndown chartcreatedandupdatedondailybasis

• Fasterceremonies,nicegraphs• Moresurprises

TeamB

• Splitstoriesuntiltheyfitinsprint• Focusonthetechnicaldiscussion,captureoutputsintasks• Butmakesuretasksare<2days

• Longerbutdeeperdiscussion• Morecreativity

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Ataleoftwoteams…

Theessence• Focusontheconversation,don’tletestimationgetsintheway• Thetechnicalsolutionmattersmore• Itdoesn’tmatterhowlongittakes– Aslongaseachtaskcanbereasonablyachievedbyteaminlessthen1-2days

• Burndown chart?– Removeit–Orjustcountthenumberoftasks–Orjusttrackpoints/storiesburndowninstead

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HappierTeam

Pickyour tools appropriatelyTasksFeatures

1. Don’t estimate features. Just count them.

2. Estimate features in t-shirt size

1. Skip tasks

2. Don’t estimate tasks. Just count them.

3. Estimate tasks in days1d2d0.5d

4. Estimate tasks in hours12h8h4h

S M LHours?Days?

Weeks?

S ML

3. Estimate features in story points

1sp 2sp5sp

4. Estimate features in ideal man-days

1d 3d 6d

HenrikKniberg

ReleasePlanning

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Predictingthefuture…• Whencanweshipthisfeature?• Whatcanweshipinthenextreleasecycle?• Whatourroadmapisgoingtolooklike?

• Howdowecoordinateinter-teamsefforts?

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Howitisdone

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Observations• Usefulforcommunication,buildingconsensus…• Usefulforinter-teamsdependencies• Addingalotofassumptionsasrequirements• Usuallyleadtothediscussionofscope,commitmentanddeadlines• Fairlyinaccurate

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From

• Howtoestimateaccurately• Howtoanticipatechanges• Deliveringsoftware• Meetdeadlines• Resolvingdependencies

To

• Howtomakeestimationinsignificant• Howtofacilitatechanges• Deliveringcustomervalue• Meetbusinessobjectives• Abilitytodeliveryfast,frequentlywithhighvalue

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Ashiftofmindset…

Ananalogyofsportcoaching

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doagilevs.beagile

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Thankyou!

doagiletobeagile