DESIGNELEMENTS

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Give Credit to Collaboration & Commitment

From Low Expectations to Forecast-Topping Results

A Success Story

Give Credit to Collaboration & CommitmentEngagement Type Agile launch

The Challenge Trainandlaunchagileteamsforthecreditgroupofafinancialservicescompany withnearly250,000employeesworldwide.

The Clients Goals Launch pilot program and scale so that teams can delivery more quickly and withgreaterpredictability.Increaseunderstandingofleadership/managementrole onanagileproject.

The BigVisible Approach Assessthecurrentsituation,plancustomizedtraining&coaching,startsprinting withapilotteam.Adjusttheplan,scale,andoffersuggestionstosustainresults.

What We Delivered Thesuccessfullaunchof10agileteams,someco-locatedandsomedistributed. Acultureofcontinuousimprovementandteaminputintodecision-making.

The BigVisible Difference Byworkingdirectlywithbothleadershipandteams,ourBigVisiblecoacheswere able to create an atmosphere where real change and sustained success were possible. With help from our agile coaches, the group quickly scaled to 10, coordinatingandcollaboratingagileteamsandfromcompleteskepticismtototal buy-intoanagilewayofworking.

Just the FactsIndustry: FinancialServicesNumber of Employees:250KLength of Engagement: 4 monthsNumber of BigVisible Coaches: 2Teams Launched: 10

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Give Credit to Collaboration & CommitmentHow agile coaching helped one group transition from low expectations to forecast-topping results.ByCarlosBuxtonandRebeccaTraeger

AbstractNot too long ago, a financial services company called on our agile coaches toworkwithboth leadershipanddevelopment teamsas they transitioned toanagileprocess.Throughacombinationoftrainingandcoaching,BigVisiblecoacheshelpeda120-persongroupsuccessfully launch10agileteamsandinstitutecompany-widepractices forsustainedsuccesswithScrum.By the timeourcoaches left, featuresthatusedtotakemorethanayeartobuildandreleasewerecompleteandreadyforproductioneverymonth.Teamsthatusedtoworkinsilos,unawareofhowtheirworkimpactedothers,becameacohesivegroup,workingtogethertowardacommonvisionandachievingpreviouslyunimaginableresults.

OverviewAgile is nothing but a passing fad, a lot of hype that ultimately wont make anydifference.Thatwastheopinionofmostoftheteammemberswhenwearrivedatthisfinancialservicescompanyforthefirsttime.Mostofthepeopleinthegrouphadseenseveralmanagementtheoriescomeandgoandwereunderstandablyskepticalthatthislatestinitiativewouldbeanydifferent.Tosaytheyhadlowexpectationswasanunderstatement.

Whatthisgroupdidhavewasaninnatecuriosity,awillingnesstotryanewwayofworking,andatremendousamountofmanagementandleadershipsupport.Companyleaders had called BigVisible in originally to help them understand where they fitinto a systemof self-organizing teamsandwhat appeared to be a plan-as-you-gophilosophy.After some initial training, these leaders and managers soon becamesomeofagilesbiggestadvocates.Managementswillingnesstonot just invest inanewmethodologybutalsotogiveittimetodevelop,todelayforecastinguntiltheyhadrealdata,andtoworkdirectlywithteamstotrulyunderstandthechallengesatthatlevelwereinstrumentaltothegroupsultimatesuccess.

Assess & PlanWebeganbytrainingthemanagersaboutagile,Scrum,andtheleadersroleinanagile organization. In doing so, we were able to work directly with everyone fromprojectmanagers to the executive director of the division.After this initial training,managementagreedtokickoffonepilotteamandseehowitwent.

Research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests that agile firms grow revenue 37% faster and generate 30% higher profits than non-agile companies.*

*PMI Pulse of the Profession3

Throughaseriesofinformalconversationswiththechosenpilotteammembers,wecustomizedatrainingprogramtofillinthegapsintheiragileandScrumknowledge.We thenworkedwith the pilot team for 2-3 sprints, from creating an initial projectbacklog throughworking as a team to releasingworking software.Throughout theprocess,wedocumentedoureffortssothatwecouldcreatearepeatableprocesstolaunchotheragileteams.

StartTheteamsbeganbyusingScrum.Theywereable to identifyseveral improvementopportunitiesduring thefirstsprintand,with thehelp fromouragilecoaches,weresoon able to tweak theScrumprocess to one thatworkedwell for their particularproductandenvironment.

Astheybeganproducingandshowingoffnewfeatures,theirexcitementlevelsgrew.They had never before developed anything tangible so quickly. A buzz began todevelop throughout theother teamssoonall the teamswanted tobe launchedatoncesothattheycouldenjoythesamesuccess.

Our agile coaches cautioned against scaling too quickly. They knew that some of the otherteamswould facedifferentchallenges: theywerenot co-located and had widely varying levels ofagile expertise. The coaches suggested that thenext launch be a distributed team, so that thoselearningcouldbeappliedtofutureteamlaunches.Theclientagreed.

ScaleOur agile coaches wanted to create the same sense of camaraderie on a distributed agileteamastheco-locatedteam.Theyknewtheywouldneednewtoolsandtacticstobringteammembers in far-offcountries togetherwith those in theUS.Ouragilecoachesstartedwitharemotekickoffviavideoconferencing.Withapanoramicscreenand a 24-hour-a-day dedicated connection, the tool made the participants feel asthoughtheywereall inthesameroom,eventhoughtheywereseparatedbymanymilesandtimezones.Thecoachesusedthevideoconferencing tool todeliver theinitial trainingandleft theconnectionopencontinuouslyforthefirst3-4daysofthesprintsothattheyteamwentthroughreleaseplanning,creatingteamrules,andtheirfirstsprintplanningmeeting inanroomsurroundedbytheir teammates,evenoneswhowerefaraway.

Teams and leaders... made the mindset switch from throwing problems over the wall to deep conversations and collaboration

95% of BigVisible clients extend their initial engagements based on the strength of our results.

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Theeffectofthepanoramicvideoconferencingsurpassedourcoachesexpectations.Iwasexpectingthatface-to-facereleaseplanningwouldbesignificantly,measurablybetterthanremoteplanning,saidoneoftheagilecoaches.Iwassurprisedwithhownaturalitbecametospendthedayinfrontofacamera.Imnotsureifitwasthefactthatthescreenwassolargethateveryonefeltlife-sizedorwhat,butwefeltasthoughwewereallinthesameroom.Andourresults,atleastforthisfirstteam,wereshockinglysimilartotheco-locatedteam.

After4months,theclienthadsuccessfullylaunched10agileteams,someco-locatedandsomedistributed.Thoughtheydidnotallmatchthesuccessofthefirsttwoteams,theydidallproduceandreleasefeaturesataratethattheycouldneverhaveimaginedwhentheprojectbegan.

SustainWith 10 agile teams working on new features and products, the client began tolookforwaystocoordinatetheeffortsoftheteamsandalsosharepracticesacrossteams.Oneinnovativesolutiontheclientinstitutedwasthecocktailhour,aseriesofmeetingswhereteammembers,functionalgroups,andmanagementcouldallgathertosharewhattheyhadlearned.Thesehappeneddailyatfirst,andthenbecamemoreofaweeklyoccurrenceastheteamsbecamemoreusedtoanagilewayofworking.

Onekeyfactorforthisgroupssuccesswastheagileemphasisonreleasingworkingsoftware.Beingabletoseeandtouchwhattheteamswerecreatinggavemanagementearlyconfirmationthattheagileteamswerebuildingtherightthings,withbetterqualitythaneverbefore.Astheteamsreceivedmoreandmorepositivefeedback,theygainedconfidenceintheirnewdeliverymethod.Theteammembersexpressedthattheyfeltmoremotivatedandhadanewsenseofcamaraderie.

Before Agile After Agile

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Time to Release, in Months

Agile Principle #6: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.

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Game Changer: Cocktail HourOne of the most impactful practices this groupadoptedastheybegantoscalewasthe cocktail hour.This end-of-daymeetingwas broken up into a series of 15-minuteincrements,with5-minutebreaksbetween.The first 15 minutes were reserved foreach teams daily Scrum, an opportunityfor team members to discuss their progress andobstaclesthatday.Thenext15-minuteincrementwasafunctionalmeeting,wherealltheproductownersorbusinessanalystsor testers from different Scrum teams came together to share ideas and learnings as a functional group. The last fifteen minuteswas set aside for the leaders and managers toworkthroughorganization-levelproblems,such as hardware that was held up in red tapeorissuesthathadcomeupinthedailyScrumsorfunctionalmeetings.

AstimewentonandthecompanybecamemoreusedtoScrum,thefull-scalecocktailhourwasheldweeklyinsteadofdaily.Butit remains an important communication and collaborationtoolforthisorganization.

With 10agile teamsworkingonnewfeatures and products, the clientbegan to look forways to coordinatethe efforts of the teams and also share practices across teams. Oneinnovativesolutiontheclientinstitutedwas the cocktail hour, a series ofmeetings where team members,functional groups, and managementcouldallgathertosharewhattheyhadlearned.Thesehappeneddailyatfirst,and then became more of a weeklyoccurrence as the teams became moreusedtoanagilewayofworking.

One key factor for this groupssuccess was the agile emphasis on releasing working software. Beingable to see and touch what the teams were creating gave management

earlyconfirmationthattheagileteamswerebuildingtherightthings,withbetterqualitythaneverbefore.Astheteamsreceivedmoreandmorepositivefeedback,theygainedconfidenceintheirnewdeliverymethod.Theteammembersexpressedthattheyfeltmoremotivatedandhadanewsenseofcamaraderie.

Anotherkeyfactorwastheleveltowhichmanagersandleadersinvolvedthemselvesinlearningagileandworkingdirectlywithteams.Thechiefproductowner,forexample,whowasbytitleadirectorandwhowouldultimatelyberesponsibleformultipleteamreleases,beganbyworkingastheproductownerforasingleagileteam.Sheexplainedthatshefelt thebestwaytounderstandthechallengesof the individual teamsandproductownersthatwouldreporttoherwastolivelifeasaproductownerherself,atleastforafewsprints.

This hands-on attitude extended to decision making. The leaders and managerswerentcontenttomakeplansanddecisionsfortheteams.Instead,throughactivitieslikethecocktailhourandattendingteamreviewsandretrospectives,theyencouragedeveryonetocontributetoplanninganddecisionstounderstandnotjustwhattodo,butwhytodoit.

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Contactusnowto learn more about partnering with us tosuccessfullymeet yourbusinessgoals!

Email: Info@bigvisible.com

Phone: 1-800-675-1757

Want to be the next success story?

BIG Wins:Successfullaunchof10agileteams,bothdistributedandco-located

Commitmenttoleadership,management,andteam-levelagiletraining

Collaborativeenvironmentwithregularcross-teamsharing

Improveddeliverytime,featuresthathadpreviouslytakenayearormoreandstillwerentquiteright,arenowdeliveredeachmonth.

The results didnt stop when our coaches left. The client continues to scale using the lessons learned from the pilot teams and still consistently delivers the right features with the right quality at a predictable monthly rate.

You Can Replicate This Success with BigVisible Solutions!

Managementalsoworkedtoclearobstaclesthatstoodinthewayofimprovements.For example,whenmultiple teams reported being blocked by a dependency on aseparatedatabaseanalystgroup,managementtookstepstoincorporateDBAsintoagile teams to theextentpossiblewithin the larger constraintsof theorganization.Workingwithouragilecoaches,theycreatedatemporary,improvisedinterfacethatallowedtheDBAstobepartoftheextendedagileteamsbyattendingsprintplanninganddailymeetings.TheyalsoworkedthroughcapacityproblemstohelpreducetimeteamsspentwaitingforaDBAtobefreetoworkwiththem.Asalong-termproject,theybegantoworkoutsidethegrouptowardthegoalofremovingtheDBAsiloandcreatingembeddedDBAs.

Whenourcoachesleft,theyfeltconfidenttheclienthadnotjusttherightskillsandtools,butalsotherightattitudeforsustainedsuccesswithagile.Theteamsandleadershadmadethemindsetswitchfromthrowingproblemsoverthewalltodeepconversationsandcollaboration.Theywerecontinuingtoscaleusingthelessonslearnedfromthepilot teamsandwereconsistentlydelivering the right featureswith the rightqualityat a predictablemonthly rate.Thecoaches give all the credit to theclientscommitmenttocollaborativedecision making and willingnessto take the leapof faith towardanagilewayofworking.

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