The ups and down of agile in an agency

Ups and downs of agency agileLily Dart Head of Service Design dxw

dxw is a small agile agency specialising in public sector digital

Ups and downs of agency agile

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We began with agilefall


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Agile is better for clients


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Agile is better for clients for


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less risk



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less riskfaster



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less riskfastercheaper

When we struggled, I looked to the community for help


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I was told


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I was told

“We have to compromise”


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I was told

“It can’t work with offsite clients”



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I was told

“Clients don’t care how it gets delivered”




“Clients don’t care how it gets delivered”

“Agencies never do ‘proper’ agile”

I was told


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Agile is different for agencies


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pressures



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pressuresrelationships



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pressuresrelationshipsrelationshipsexpectations

The agency norms don’t work


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fixed time, scope, cost



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fixed time, scope, costup-front spec work



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fixed time, scope, costup-front spec workdeferred risk


Our problems:

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Our problems:

Mismatched expectations

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Our problems:

Misunderstandings about agile process


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Our problems:


Adversarial relationships with clients


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Our problems:


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Conflicts over product design

With these things in mind, we iterated.


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Agile works. For us, and our clients.

With these things in mind, we iterated.

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Set expectations early


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Set expectations earlyUps and downs of agency agile

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A satisfying project experience is one that lives up to the clients expectations.


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How do the touch points in the client journey set expectation?


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Calls, emails, briefs, proposals, pitches, contracts, meetings…


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The first interaction is often being handed a project brief.


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It’s OK to challenge a client brief before you win the work.


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Challenge briefs


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Many clients are willing to listen to feedback

Challenge briefs


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Some will even change their brief


Challenge briefs


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Some will even change their brief

If they aren’t willing, end the conversation


Challenge briefs


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Proposals are how we set expectations about what we’ll deliver


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Proposals


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Proposals

Where does your process add value?


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At the end of each sprint, you should have usable software that you can launch. In the latter stages of a project, each sprint usually ends with a release, where the work completed goes live and becomes available to your users.”

“dxw proposal extract


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Proposals



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Proposals

How do your principles add value?



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Engaging with users throughout the life of the service

In order to succeed, most digital services need to engage with users throughout the service’s life.”

dxw proposal extract

“


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Proposals




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Don’t accidentally make commitments


Proposals


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Minimum project cost* Two development sprints and two days of usability testing with delivery management

Maximum project cost* Three development sprints and three days of usability testing with delivery management

100 Space Bucks

200 Space Bucks

*assuming our stated assumptions are correct


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Contracts are a tool for creating mutual understanding


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Contracts


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Explain the language you use day-to-day

Contracts


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Definitions

Sprint A Sprint is our basic unit of development. A sprint consists of the services of a given number of developers for a given period of time, and any Surrounding Activities you require.

Acceptance Criteria Acceptance Criteria are attributes of the Product, embodied in a document, that a Story must provide in order for the Story to be considered Finished.”

dxw contract extract https://github.com/dxw/contracts

“

https://github.com/dxw/contracts


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Contracts


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Explain how the process will work


Contracts


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A Story cannot be Started unless:

• It is ready (see clause 2.12); • It has agreed Acceptance Criteria; • All Required Materials for the Story’s

implementation have been provided to us.”

dxw contract extract https://github.com/dxw/contracts

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https://github.com/dxw/contracts


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Contracts


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Contracts

Avoid legalese

Clients as team members


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Clients as team membersUps and downs of agency agile

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The client relationship must be collaborative to succeed.


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Consider the sales process a two-way interview.


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Pick the right client to get the right outcomes.


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Right client


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How do they measure outcomes?

Right client


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What are their organisations priorities?


Right client


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What are their organisations priorities?

What is the motivator for the project?


Right client


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Your client is more than the person who pays the bills.


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They are creative, expert and invested in the project.


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Be empathetic to your clients needs and experiences.


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Needs and experiences


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Who do they report to?


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What do they want out of the project?



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What do they want out of the project?

Are they under pressure?



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Treat them with respect.


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Respect


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Respect

They know their organisation


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Respect

They may be taking a risk with you



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Respect



They will be your ally if you are theirs


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Respect



They will be your ally if you are theirs

Be honest with them

Invest time to educate


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Invest time to educateUps and downs of agency agile

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Even clients who want agile often don’t understand what it really means.


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Clients have stakeholders they are accountable to. They’ll need to justify your approach and decisions.


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What you’re committing to, and why

What you’re not committing to, and why

Why agile is better for their project

What the language means

Clients need to understand:


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Teach them to teach their stakeholders and colleagues.


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Teach stakeholders


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Are their stakeholders on-board?

Teach stakeholders


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What are their concerns?


Teach stakeholders


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Can we speak to them together?

Teach stakeholders


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Can we speak to them together?

Teach stakeholders

What message should we communicate?


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Dedicate time to them.


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Dedicate time


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Sprint plan meetings

Dedicate time


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Co-design and workshops for solution design


Dedicate time


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Co-design and workshops for solution design

Every day during a sprint


Dedicate time

Strategy, not solutions


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Strategy, not solutionsUps and downs of agency agile

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It’s difficult to make sure you’re both reaching for the same goals.


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Clients lacking strategy will always focus on features over goals.


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Establish what the clients strategy is, or work with them to create one.


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Strategy


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What are they trying to achieve?

Strategy


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What does a good outcome look like?


Strategy


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What does a good outcome look like?

Ask: “how do these features further our goals?”


Strategy


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Use research and data to make informed decisions.


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Informed decisions


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What do you know about the users?

Informed decisions


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Embed research into the process


Informed decisions


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Embed research into the process

How will you measure the success of features?


Informed decisions


Our problems:

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Our problems:


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Our problems:



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Our problems:




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Our problems:


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Conflicts over product design


What works for us:

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What works for us:

We select clients who we can align goals with

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What works for us:

We set expectations early and reinforce regularly


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What works for us:


We invest time to educate and understand clients


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We invest time to educate and understand clients


We agree focus on strategic priorities over features

What works for us:

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Any questions?


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The ups and down of agile in an agency

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Transcript of The ups and down of agile in an agency