Continuous Improvement at MYOB

Definition of Awesome(aka Understand the Direction, or ‘How do we want to work?’)

❏ Delivering high quality, valuable customer outcomes quickly is embedded in the way we work

❏ Teams are truly self-organising

❏ Teams are happy, healthy, engaged and enjoying their work

❏ Teams have a culture of experimentation, creativity and innovation

❏ Teams are aligned around a common vision and objectives, and progress towards these is visible and transparent

Definition of Now(aka Grasp the Current Condition, or ‘How do we work now?’)

❏ Refactoring❏ Pair Programming❏ Definition of Ready❏ Definition of Done❏ WIP (Work In Process)❏ Iteration length❏ Automated Acceptance Tests❏ Continuous Integration❏ Continuous Delivery❏ Continuous Deployment

❏ Cycle Time❏ Lead Time❏ Number of defects❏ Throughput❏ Unused features❏ Team happiness❏ Customer happiness

Process Metrics Output Metrics

We need this data!

Step 1: Collect Cycle Time Metrics❏ How long does it take for stories to be delivered?

❏ Many improvement opportunities can be derived from cycle time data

❏ High variability (e.g. some stories take 1 day, some take 20 days)❏ Become more consistent in the way work is defined and broken down❏ Keep WIP consistent❏ Leading to…

❏ Managers can use empirical data for more predictable delivery forecasting, rather than relying on crystal ball gazing by the team

❏ Reduced stress on the team❏ Increased transparency and trust with stakeholders

❏ High cycle time (stories typically span weeks)❏ Create clearer story definition and/or acceptance criteria (Definition of Ready)❏ Explicitly slice stories vertically and vigorously❏ Define acceptance tests up front as a team to clarify user scenarios❏ Leading to:

❏ Simpler stories, more options and lower risk❏ Shorter feedback loops for faster learning and delivery of customer value❏ Reduced delays such as hand-offs, story defects, other queues and

dependencies on people outside of the team

❏ Low cycle time is generally a good sign, but if it’s really low (e.g. < 1 day) we may be measuring task cycle times and not end-to-end user scenarios

To Do Doing Done

= 1 elapsed day

Easy to add a dot at daily standup, or just update the data daily in a spreadsheet

Story 1 Story 2 Story 3 Story 4 Story 5

Elapsed days 2 3 1 1 2

Days

Stories

Step 1: Collect Cycle Time Metrics

We need this data!