Launching Agile Projects - cdn-10ca2.kxcdn.com · the Launching Agile Projects Workshop is an...

Launching Agile ProjectsWith Simon Girvan

AndChris Knowles

Crew Training ExerciseWhat Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?

2Shave his belly with a rusty razor Put him in the hold with the Captain’s daughter

Put him in the scuppers with a hosepipe on him

What Shall We Do With an Agile Sailor?

Give him a sharpie and stacks of Post-its Tell her to limit the work in process

10 Syllable Phrases

Send all the team for a stand-up meeting

Exercise Music: ‘Drunken Sailor’ – Carl Peterson

Prepared exclusively for Richard Freeman

Download from Wow! eBook <www.wowebook.com>

Download the workshop materials - slides, examples and templates

Preparing for the Voyage

The Inception Deck

• The Bigger Picture

• What are we doing?

• What can we expect?

What’s in The Inception Deck

• The Bigger Picture?• Vision, Context

• What Are We Being Asked To Do?• Our current thinking on solution

• What Should We Expect?• What do we think will happen?

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Awake ListThese are the things we are are worried may

keep us awake at night

What are the things that you personally are worrying about? This is more than

just project risks. Include non-technical factors like people, facilities, processes,

skills, other demands on your time, office politics, etc. Discuss amongst the

team what you can do about them.

@simongirvan

Based on ideas from “The Agile Samurai”, by Jonathan Rasmussan

Assumption Map

Have Evidence

Brainstorm all your assumptions and map onto the horizontal axis first. Then, map onto vertical axis ands decide what to do!

@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important

Based on ideas from by @davidjbland, @danto_ma and @AlexOsterwalder.

The Bigger Picture?

• Who is this for?• Why Are We Here statement.• Elevator Pitch• Product Box

Why Are We Here?

•What do we know about the project and its history?•Who are the primary stakeholders?•What is the business driver?•What’s the relevant history?•Who are the board level sponsors, etc•Where is this work in corporate priorities• (How will we know if things change?)

Elevator Pitch

For [users]who [statement of need or opportunity]the [thing we are creating]is a [product category]that [key benefit, compelling reason to buy].

Unlike [current solution or a competitor]

Our Product [statement of primary differentiation].

Elevator Pitch Example

For Pirateswho Need a new or additional parrot

the ‘Parrots Arrr Us’ Website

is a Pirate and Parrot matching service

that finds a parrot to perfectly match your needs

Unlike stealing one from another pirate

Our Product removes the risk of revenge attacks or a bad bird

Product Box

• Benefits not features• Emotions and feelings

Crew Training Exercise

• For your project, either

Write The Elevator Pitch, orDesign a Product Box

5

Elevator Pitch Template

Target customer

For

WhoOur Product Is

Customer need, opportunity or current dissatisfaction That

Key benefit for this customer

Unlike

Alternative solution or competition

Our Product

Product category - what your product will actually do

Why it meets the need better than the alternative @simongirvan

Based on a format from “Crossing The Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore

Time Remaining…

Exercise Music: ‘Turkish Revelry’ – Loudon Wainwright III

Feedback

Exercise Music: ‘Turkish Revelry’ – Loudon Wainwright III

Our ‘Why Are We Here’

• On a personal level, we want to develop ourselves• We want to reach Certified Team Coach® level with Scrum Alliance• Running workshops and facilitating large groups is good evidence• This is a good professional challenge for us both

• We are passionate about sharing our experiences and want others to get good results from these approaches too• The submission has been accepted, so it will definitely go ahead (low

risk of being cancelled)

Our ‘Elevator Pitch’ 1

For people at this Agile conferencewho want to learn new techniques and how to apply them

the Launching Agile Projects Workshop

is an interactive and informative workshopthat is hands-on, fun and useful

Unlike other ways to learn Our Product allows participants to immerse themselves in the material, embedding the learning more effectively

Our ‘Elevator Pitch’ 2

For people at this Agile conferencewho want to learn new techniques and how to apply them

the Launching Agile Projects Approach

is a way of preparing for the start of a project

that helps teams get sufficient knowledge to start a project

Unlike other project start-up techniques

Our Product is a lightweight approach that uses a just enough, just in time philosophy

Our ‘Product Box’

What are we doing?

• The NOT List• Meet The Neighbours• Assumption Map• Candidate Solution• Awake List• Agile Wheel of Pain

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.







@simongirvan


Assumption Map

Have Evidence


@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important


In Scope

Not In Scope

Unsure

The NOT List

These are the things that you are certain are in scope for the project

These are the things that you are certain are NOT in scope for the project

These are the things that you aren’t sure whether they are in scope or not in scope.


@simongirvan

In Scope Not In Scope

Unsure

The NOT List

These are the things that you are certain are in scope for the project These are the things that you are certain are NOT in scope for the project



@simongirvan

Meet The Neighbours

Assumption Map

Have Evidence


@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important


Candidate Solution

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Awake List

These are the things we are are worried may keep us awake at night

What are the things that you personally are worrying about? This is more than just project risks. Include non-technical factors like people, facilities, processes, skills, other demands on your time, office politics, etc. Discuss amongst the team what you can do about them.

@simongirvan


Wheel of Pain

For each factor on the wheel, ask:

How does this factor help you work with an agile mindset?

0 - It’s a perfect fit!1 - It really helps us2 - It’s OK3 - It makes it difficult4 - It makes it really hard5 - It makes it almost impossible


• For your project (or ours), pick one of these

•NOT List•Awake List•Wheel of Pain In Scope Not In Scope

Unsure

The NOT List




@simongirvan

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Awake List

These are the things we are are worried may





team what you can do about them. @simongirvan


5Time Remaining…

Exercise Music: ‘Rolling Sea’ – Eliza Carthy

Feedback

Exercise Music: ‘Rolling Sea’ – Eliza Carthy


Unsure

The NOT List




@simongirvan

• Full Coverage of both Inception Deck

• Limited coverage of LiftOff and Chartering

• Exercises and Practical content• Templates and Hand Outs• Meaningful Examples• Rehearse with at least one group• Materials can be reused for other

events

• Exercises for all elements• Feedback from every group• Detailed discussion of each

element

• How to deal with detailed questions during the main sections • Downloadable Resources?• How far to go down the pirate route wrt costume, etc

Our ‘Meet The Neighbours’

Our Assumption MapAssumption Map

Have Evidence


@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important

Based on ideas from @davidjbland, @danto_ma and @AlexOsterwalder.

There is demand for this workshop

Technique has merit

Technique is portable

Workshop format is good enough for learning

Room layout is suitable

Exercise choices are suitable

People haven’t heard much of this before

Weighting between ID and LO is OK

Weighting between content and exercises is OK

Two presenters are better than one

Timeslot allocated is conducive to the workshop format

Pirate theme is appropriate

Our ‘Candidate Solution’

1. Fitting in everything we want in the

time that we have

2. Having enough time to prepare

3. Will the exercises be useful?

4. Will people actually take part in the

exercises

5. Is the split right between the Inception

Deck and Liftoff?

Awake List

These are the things we are are worried may keep us awake at night

What are the things that you personally are worrying about? This is more than just project risks. Include non-technical factors like people, facilities, processes, skills, other demands on your time, office politics, etc. Discuss amongst the team what you can do about them.

@simongirvan

Our ‘Wheel of Pain’

We are not based in same location so plan at least 2 workshops where we can work together. Use online collaboration tools.

There is a lot of information to try to get across. Use pilot groups to test format. Create templates and handouts to help attendees remember the content.

What Should We Expect?

• Choose Your Approach• How Big Is This Ship?• What’s Gonna Give?• The Final Test

What’s Gonna Give? Decide the extent to which you expect each factor to

be flexible or fixed.If too many are too fixed, consider forcing a minimum

number of points (say 10 if scoring 4 factors)

@simongirvan

Deliver All The Features

Based on an idea from “The Agile Samurai” by Jonathan Rasmusson

01

23

45

01

23

45

01

23

45

01

23

45

01

23

45

01

23

45

01

23

45

Stay On BudgetCan be flexible on this

Must do this

Deliver on TimeDeliver High Quality

Others may include Useability, Security, Supportability, Accessibility, etc. If they matter to you or your stakeholders include them!

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Choose Your Approach

How will we manage and govern the project?

How will we communicate with

stakeholders?

• Agile using Scrum• 2 week Sprints• Visible Backlog• MMP as first release as early as

possible• All stakeholders invited to

Review/Demo• Real users from version 1 onwards

• Monthly update to Board

How Big Is This Ship? (Size It Up)

• Best guess rough estimate of size and duration• Initial estimate of the team required to do this

Sprint 0

2 Senior Engineers0.5 Infrastructure

MMP Development

Standard Agile team including BA, UX and Architecture experience

Releases 2-n

Standard Agile team, including higher level devops and test experience

2 Weeks 4 – 6 weeks 8 – 12 weeks

Start Develo

ping in 2 we

eks

MMP 4 – 6 week

s later

4-6 further

versions

Team size 2-

7

ROM Cost £18

0-£270k

ROM Duration

3 – 5 months

What’s Gonna Give?Fixed Flexible

Feature Completeness

UsabilitySecurity

Support

Accessibility

1 2 3 4 5

Stay on Budget

Deliver on Time

Deliver High Quality

Others?

The Final Test

Do we know enough about the project to be sure that we know:

• What we are being asked to do;• Why it is needed; and • How we are going to start?

Do We Know Enough To Start Work?


• For your project,

Decide What’s Gonna Give

What’s Gonna Give? Decide the extent to which you expect each factor to be flexible or fixed.If too many are too fixed, consider forcing a minimum number of points (say 10 if scoring 4 factors)

@simongirvan



0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

Stay On Budget

Can be flexible on this

Must do this

Deliver on Time



Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

3Time Remaining…

Exercise Music: ‘Lighthouse’ – The Waifs

Feedback

Exercise Music: ‘Lighthouse’ – The Waifs

Our ‘Choose Your Approach’

• Adhoc planning approach• Collaborative online and in person• Iterative – low detail to start• Keep actions in Teams• Content on Sharepoint• No formal reporting

Our ‘How Big Is This Ship?’

Inception DeckGood Enough for

Rehearsal

Include reviewers and pilot workshop attendees

By end Jan 2019 By end Feb 2019 By end March

4 months duration17 days effort (8.5 each)

Less than £100

First Rehearsal

Revise and more rehearsal

Prep & Deliver

Preferably at least one more

runthrough

Order print materials

During April 10 May 2019

What’s Gonna Give? Decide the extent to which you expect each factor to be flexible or fixed.If too many are too fixed, consider forcing a minimum number of points (say 10 if scoring 4 factors)

@simongirvan



0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

0 1 2 3 4 5

Stay On Budget

Can be flexible on this

Must do this

Deliver on Time



Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Clarity of Message

Portable

Ongoing Support

Our ‘Final Test’

We do know enough about this project:

• We know what’s required to have enough material available to present;• We know how we intend to test it;• We know what the first steps are.

We are ready to start!

Summary of the Inception Deck• Why Are We Here:

• Why are we here?• Elevator Pitch• Product Box

What Can You Expect?• Choose Your Approach• Size it Up• What’s Gonna Give?• The Final Test

What Are We Being Asked To Do?• The NOT List• Meet The Neighbours• Assumption Map• Candidate Solution• Awake List• Wheel of Pain


Unsure

The NOT List




@simongirvan

1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.







@simongirvan


What’s Gonna Give? Decide the extent to which you expect each factor to

be flexible or fixed.

If too many are too fixed, consider forcing a minimum

number of points (say 10 if scoring 4 factors)

@simongirvan

Deliver All

The Features


0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

Stay On

Budget

Can be flexible

on this

Must do

this

Deliver on

Time

Deliver High

Quality

Others may include Useability, Security, S

upportability, Accessibility, e

tc. If they matter to you or your stakeholders include them!

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Must

Assumption Map

Have Evidence

Brainstorm all your assumptions and map onto the

horizontal axis first. Then, map onto vertical axis ands decide what to do!

@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important


Let’s Set Sail

Prepared exclusively for Richard Freeman

The Journey

Purpose

Elevator Pitch Template

Target customer

For

Who

Our Product IsCustomer need, opportunity or current dissatisfaction

That

Key benefit for this customer

Unlike

Alternative solution or competition

Our

Product

Product category - what your product will actually do

Why it meets the need better than the alternative

@simongi

rvan

Based on a format from “Crossing The Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore Exercises and Artefacts that help the team understand why their work matters, and connects them to the strategy and vision

The first choice website for pirates across the seven seas

• We will understand what our customers need and develop our services to meet a growing range of pirate needs, starting with parrots.

• We will make the “Parrots Arrrr Us” website the first port of call for pirates everywhere.

• We will make the “Parrots Arrrr Us” website accessible for pirates with disabilities.

• We will be easy for our suppliers to do business with

Vision and Team Mission Examples


5Time Remaining…

• In groups of 2/3, Identify Mission Tests

• We will understand what our customers need and develop our services to meet a growing range of pirate needs, starting with parrots.

• We will make the “Parrots Arrrr Us” website the first port of call for pirates everywhere.

• We will make the “Parrots Arrrr Us” website accessible for pirates with disabilities.

• We will be easy for our suppliers to do business with

Exercise Music: ‘Fisherman’s Daughter’ – The Waifs

Feedback

Exercise Music: ‘Fisherman’s Daughter’ – The Waifs

Mission Tests Example• The first version of the Parrots Arrrr Us website is

accessible from each of the seven seas.• By 6 months parrots can be delivered to each of the 7

seas.• The first version of the website is usable by Pirates with

one hook arm and one eye patch.• By 6 months, the website is fully accessible to

international standards (WCAG 2.0)• By 9 months, at least one additional product or service has

been launched.

Alignment

Exercises and Artefacts that help the team understand each other, and how they can each make their maximum contribution to the project

Simple Rules Example

Integrity - We do what we say we will doIngenuity – We collaborate to help us come up with the best ideasImpact – Everything we do results in value for the customerTeamwork – We look out for each other and always offer to help

Working Agreement Example

• We don’t work on anything that isn’t on the Sprint Backlog

• Our calendars are always be up to date with our location and attendance

• All our meetings are meaningful – No meeting purpose, No Meeting

• We have fun and don’t take ourselves too seriously• We respect each other’s quiet time – headphones on

means no interruptions.

As a team, we work together best when…


5Time Remaining…Exercise Music: ‘Thousands are Sailing’ – The Pogues

• In groups of 2/3,

Create a Working Agreement

•Brainstorm how your worst team imaginable behaves• Identify one or two things that actually might happen•Write one up as a Team Agreement•We work best together when…

Feedback

Exercise Music: ‘Thousands are Sailing’ – The Pogues

Context

Assumption Map

Have Evidence

Brainstorm all your assumptions and map onto the

horizontal axis first. Then, map onto vertical axis ands decide what to do!

@simongirvan

No Evidence

Important

Not Important


Exercises and Artefacts that help the team understand the external environment and what they require of others in order to succeed.

Context Diagram

Committed Resources

These are the resources that the team need or want to help them deliver the product

Consider anything that makes a difference to the team’s ability to deliver. Eg IT resources, licences, training, accommodation, budgets, tools, time, availability to stakeholders, hardware, etc

@simongirvan

Based on ideas from “Liftoff”, by Diana Larson and Ainsley Nies

Committed Resource Priority (M/S/C)

✔ AWS Hosting and storage M✔ Travel Budget M

✔ Stationary Budget M

Training S

✔ Software Licence Upgrades C

Conference Attendance C

4k Monitors C

✔ Access to end users S

All Stakeholders at Sprint Reviews S

Office Coffee Machine C

Electronic Whiteboard C

Prospective Analysis Imagine all the possible events that could happen over the next few months, both positive and negative. Assess their impact (positive and negative) on the project and the likelihood of them happening. Be bold.

@simongirvanProbability

Won’t Happen

Based on ideas from “Liftoff”, by Diana Larson and Ainsley Nies

Unlikely 50/50 Chance Likely Will HappenImpa

ct

-3

-2

-1

0

3

2

1 Website V1 live on June 1

Livestock license rejected

First Successful Order Completed by 15 June

Process orders from Region 1

Delivery to all 7 seas available

Approval for next project idea

Problems delivering to certain areas

Full seven seas service available in version 1

Competitor will launch before we do

Idea is copied by competitor

Summary

• Inception Deck and Liftoff are similar but complementary• Use Inception Deck to clarify a

project scope and manage expectations from the outset• Use Liftoff and Agile Chartering to

align the team with the project vision and set them up to succeed

Retrospective

• One thing we should change• One thing you got value from• Put on the board by the door!

Questions

Launching Agile Projects

With Simon Girvan

AndChris Knowles

Launching Agile Projects - cdn-10ca2.kxcdn.com · the Launching Agile Projects Workshop is an...

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