IT Agility Makes Work Fun Again

IT Agility Makes Work Fun Again [The 30-Day Blitz in Action]

Michael Hugos Center for Systems Innovation

[c4si]

© 2013, Michael Hugoswww.MichaelHugos.com 2 Center for Systems Innovation [c4si]

What is the Agile 30-Day Blitz?


The Agile 30-Day Blitz

• In every situation there are significant improvements that can be made in 30 days or less; they become your base for building further capabilities as you move towards your goal

• Quickly identify handful of most important capabilities needed; focus activity on delivering a “Robust 80% Solution”

• Continue to enhance system as world unfolds…


Blitz is Focused, Iterative Approach

• Think big, start small, deliver quickly!

• First blitz delivers working system that is “Robust 80% Solution”

• Succeeding blitzes enhance system with additional features

• System grows in response to most pressing business needs

Blitz 1

Blitz 2

Blitz 3


30-Day Blitz Timeline

DESIGN Process

DeliverablesBUILD

Process Deliverables

• Business Goal & Performance Requirements

• Conceptual System Design

• Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Initial Plan & Budget

• New Business Process Flows

• System Data Model

• Prototype of User Interface & Tech Architecture

• Actual Plan & Budget

7 Days 13 Days2 Days

• Working System that Meets Requirements

• Tech Documentation & User Manual

DEFINE Process

Deliverables

[There are 22 working days in a typical 30-day period]


Seven Core Techniques

1. Joint Application Design – ideation and brainstorming to pool a team’s collective ideas and insights

2. Process Mapping – drawing out existing work flows and designing new ones (user stories are collections of processes)

3. Data Modeling – defining types and volumes of data the app will handle

4. System Prototyping – modeling the user interface and the technical architecture

5. Object Oriented Design & Prgmg – creating systems and apps from libraries of pre-defined software components

6. System Test & Rollout (DevOps) – debugging and tweaking apps, rolling them into production and training people to use them

7. Agile Project Management – coordinating project tasks and spotting problems and dealing with issues as they arise on the project


Blitz Calendar

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Week 1DEFINE

Agility W/S

DEFINE

Agility W/S

DESIGN

Orient Team; Plan Project

DESIGN

JAD #1

DESIGN

Workflows, data model, UI

Week 2DESIGN

Workflows, data model, UI

DESIGN

JAD #2

DESIGN

Finish design and tech arch

DESIGN

Finish design and tech arch

BUILD

Object models, update proj plan

Week 3BUILD

Object models, update proj plan

BUILD

Coding, create test scripts

BUILD


BUILD


BUILD

Coding and testing

Week 4BUILD

Coding and testing

BUILD

Coding and testing

BUILD

Coding, testing, documentation

BUILD


BUILD


Week 5BUILD


BUILD


SYSTEM

DEMO

Shape the work to fit within these time boxes – weekends are for relaxing… Agility is simple things done well, not complex things done fast.


How is it Done?


DEFINE the System (2 Days)

Objective A

Objective B

Objective C

Objective D

GOAL

PEOPLE PROCESS

TECHNOLOGY

- Devise strategy that maximizes use of company’s existing strengths

- Express strategy as conceptual design for using people, process, & technology

- Define necessary & sufficient set of objectives to build conceptual system

• Business goal is target you aim for

• Conceptual system design embodies strategy to accomplish business goal

• Break conceptual design into system development objectives

• Calculate initial budget by estimating cost to achieve each development objective

* Core techniques used: joint application design; process mapping; data modeling


GOAL

Objective 1

Objective 2

Objective 3

Objective 4

The Goal is the Target – two sentences or less stating the action and desired result

Critical Objectives – the handful of measurable actions that are necessary and sufficient to accomplish the Mission

Business Functions Grade

Prospecting

Order Entry

Customer Service

Production Scheduling

C - 2

B - 3

A - 2

D - 2

Business functions impacting the most critical objectives and with the lowest grades are the bottlenecks. Improvements there deliver the greatest benefits in the shortest time.

Business Action Framework


Conceptual System Design –

the Key

• GOAL: what is the business goal of the blitz? (action leading to some desired result)

• PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS: what performance targets must the solution system achieve?

• SYSTEM COMPONENTS: what are the handful of components you will use to build the solution system?

• SYSTEM SCHEMATIC: draw a simple diagram showing these system components and how they work together to meet the necessary performance requirements


Conceptual Design Example

GOAL: Develop end-to-end quality system by integrating data across the business to enable improvement of customer satisfaction and product quality for game console.

Version 1.0 system delivered in 30 days; second blitz delivered further features and enhancements

Data

LoadCentral

Database

Web

Query

&

Report

Tools

SYSTEM COMPONENTS:

• Existing system data sources

• Batch Data Transfer • Central database3• Web pages• Data query &

reporting package• Small custom pgms

Returns Tracking

Console B.O.M.

Console Sales

Online Network


DESIGN the System (7 Days)

• Project teams assigned to each objective use core techniques* to create detailed designs and technical specifications

• Detailed specifications enable creation of detailed plan and budget for system development

Goal & Objectives

A B C D

Process Diagrams Logical Data Model

Project Plan & BudgetObjective ATask 1Task 2Task 3Objective BTask 4Task 5Objective CTask 6Task 7Total Project

Cost

$999

$99

$999___

$9999

System Prototype

* Core techniques used: joint application design; process mapping; data modeling; system prototyping; agile project management


Five Questions Every Day

Key questions for morning standup meetings:

1. Has the scope of any project task changed? (Yes/No)

2. Will any major activity or milestone date be missed? (Yes/No)

3. Does project team need any outside skills or expertise? (Yes/No)

4. Are there any unsolved technical problems? (Yes/No)

5. Any unresolved user review or approval problems? (Yes/No)

For all questions marked Yes, briefly explain the problem and recommend possible solutions

Update project plan in light of these answers; add any new tasks; adjust tasks as necessary to stay in time boxes


BUILD the System (13 Days)

• Every day re-calculate time and budget needed to complete each objective

• Manage project scope and allocate resources so as to achieve objectives on time and on budget

• Get version 1.0 of system into production ASAP – then add additional features as business needs arise

Logical Data Model

Development Environment

Object Model

Project Plan & BudgetObjective ATask 1Task 2Task 3Objective BTask 4Task 5Objective CTask 6Task 7Total Project

Cost

$999

$99

$999___

$9999

Roll Out

System Prototype

* Core techniques used: object oriented design and programming; system test and rollout; agile proj mgmt.


Lessons Learned

• Focus on “Robust 80% Solution” – let go of perfection

• Minimize custom coding by integrating existing system components

• Run work in parallel to build system components

• Assign teams of 2-7 developers to each system component

• Need project management support or else teams handle change with personal to-do lists and coordination suffers

• System builder needs strong skills in listening, consensus building and problem solving – both business and technical

• Production roll out and security audit handled between blitzes

• Focus on “HOW WE CAN” (not “Why we can’t”)


Learn More…

Strategically Focused and Tactically Agile CIO, 2013 ebook and paperback - http://www.amazon.com/Strategically-Focused-Tactically-Agile-ebook/dp/B004PLO65K/

Presentation excerpted from my book:

Briefing management in agile strategies; mentoring teams in agile development

Center for Systems Innovation [c4si] www.MichaelHugos.com

http://www.amazon.com/Strategically-Focused-Tactically-Agile-ebook/dp/B004PLO65K/

http://www.michaelhugos.com/

IT Agility Makes Work Fun Again

Technology

Transcript of IT Agility Makes Work Fun Again