The Faster Road to Innovation Why Workopolis Went Agile

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Brianna Shepherd
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1 The Faster Road to Innovation Why Workopolis Went Agile

2 What I m Covering Today Why did we transition to Agile? What we wanted to Achieve Highlights of How We Did It What we Achieved What we Learned

3 Technology Landscape in 2010

4 The technology landscape in 2010 Average Time to Market: 175 Days 3-4 critical post-release defects per release. Team of 48 people -15 Contractors No clear ownership of product Minimal measures of success

5 The technology landscape in 2010 Significant technical debt and unstable platform Wasteful and ineffective processes No innovation Poor engineering practices Difficulty retaining top talent

6 The landscape Where we needed to be (competition) Cross-over = ROI Start We Needed: 1) Faster Time-to-Market (Agile) 2) Better Foundation (SOA Platform) 3) Innovation

7 The mission

What we wanted to achieve 1. Significantly reduce Time to Market 2. Improve overall quality of our product 3. Become more efficient and nimble 4. Provide the right level of product governance 5.

8 What we wanted to achieve 1. Significantly reduce Time to Market 2. Improve overall quality of our product 3. Become more efficient and nimble 4. Provide the right level of product governance 5. Communicate measurable success 6. Drive innovation 7. Implement lean processes 8. Reduce our technical debt 9. Improve overall communication 10. Support professional development and cross-training

9 Selecting our Approach OpenAgile Scrum: an iterative and incremental agile software development framework for managing software projects and product or application development. Its focus is on "a flexible, holistic product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal" as opposed to a "traditional, sequential approach". Scrum enables the creation of self-organizing teams by encouraging co-location of all team members, and verbal communication between all team members and disciplines in the project. OpenAgile Allows interruptions during the Cycle. Flexibility in the length of a Cycle. OpenAgile is meant to constantly evolve and grow.

The Plan All PODs Trained External to Internal Consultant Internal Coaches Agile Onboarding Agile Coaching Agile Teams 3 PODs Created Temporary POD Rooms

Product Steering Committee Product Demos Product Governance Team Agile Scorecards T2M Meetings Trend Reports Team MBOs Kanban Boards Agile KPIs Process &

10 The Plan All PODs Trained External to Internal Consultant Internal Coaches Agile Onboarding Agile Coaching Agile Teams 3 PODs Created Temporary POD Rooms Fully Staffed Legacy Support Offshore Agile POD Rooms 4 th POD Created 4 th POD Operational New Team Structure Agile Environment Agile Governance ALTT Team Product Steering Committee Product Demos Product Governance Team Agile Scorecards T2M Meetings Trend Reports Team MBOs Kanban Boards Agile KPIs Process & Engineering Practices Product Backlog for All PODs Agile Deployment Plan Consistent Processes Consolidated Backlog Q Q Q Q Q Q Q3 2012

11 Agile Lean Transformation Team (ALTT) Agile Lean Transformation Team Product Engineering Architecture Usability QA IT Operations Operations Customer Support A cross-functional team championing the adoption of "Agile" throughout the organization. Responsible for the long-term business success of Agile and Lean methods. Driving consistent process and cross-team communication. High-level responsibilities include: Provide a guiding vision of why change is urgently needed Provide leadership-by-example by functioning as an agile-lean team Organization level change implementation including removal of obstacles Over-arching vision, strategy, processes and procedures

Output Output No clear ownership of the product Silo Teams Many hand-off Big bang delivery of all

12 Development Team Structure POD POD POD POD Product Features: F1,F2,F3,F4 Requirements F1 F2 F3 Requirements F4 Design Design Development Development Testing Testing Time Output Output Output Time Output Output No clear ownership of the product Silo Teams Many hand-off Big bang delivery of all features Clear ownership Cross-functional Teams (PODS) Focus on product features Frequent, value-add improvements

Governance and over-arching vision provided by

Product Managers Senior UX Architect UX Designer

sub-teams Team A Team A Team A Product Manager

Facilitator) UX Designer Engineering Lead

Development Engineering Leads Manager, QA Testers

13 Governance and over-arching vision provided by ALTT Functional Management Team Manager, Product Product Managers Senior UX Architect UX Designer and UI Developers Enterprise Architect 3 Teams, 6 sub-teams Team A Team A Team A Product Manager (Growth Facilitator) Scrum Master (Process Facilitator) UX Designer Engineering Lead Manager, Agile Process Scrum Masters Manager, Development Engineering Leads Manager, QA Testers Sub-Team A1 2 x DEV 1 x UI 1 x Test Sub-Team A2 2 x DEV 1 x UI 1 x Test

Development Team Structure Development Manager Product Development Team UX Manager QA Manager Scrum Master Manager Manager of Product POD 1 3 x Developers 1 x UI Developer 1 x QA Analyst 1 x Scrum

14 Development Team Structure Development Manager Product Development Team UX Manager QA Manager Scrum Master Manager Manager of Product POD 1 3 x Developers 1 x UI Developer 1 x QA Analyst 1 x Scrum Master 1 x Product Manager 7 POD 2 3 x Developers 1 x UI Developer 2 x QA Analysts 1 x Scrum Master 1 x Product Manager 8 POD 3 3 x Developers 1 x UI Developer 2 x QA Analysts 1 x Scrum Master 1 x Product Manager 8 POD Total Totals Agile Benchmark Ideal team size is 5-9 Typically, 2 developers for every 1 QA and 1 UI 1 Scrum Master and 1 Product Manager per team

Environment Each Main Team Has Own Dedicated and Segregated Physical Location Benefits Bi-Weekly Product Demos Daily Scrums Weekly Scrum of Scrums Direct Business

15 Environment Each Main Team Has Own Dedicated and Segregated Physical Location Benefits Bi-Weekly Product Demos Daily Scrums Weekly Scrum of Scrums Direct Business Leader Involvement in Product Retrospectives with individual appreciation and how to continuously improve Whiteboards! Promoting collaboration and idea sharing

Wave Product Plan 2 Month Wave Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle

16 Product Planning and Execution Product Strategy Session Product Steering Committee Meeting 12 Month Product Roadmap Product Plan 2 Month Wave Product Plan 2 Month Wave Product Plan 2 Month Wave Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Cycle Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Cycle Retrospectives

17 Agile Process Agile Events/Ceremonies Name Purpose Frequency Attendees T2M Stay Review and discuss progress of development initiatives Weekly Key Stakeholders Connected (every Wednesday) Product Demos Demo the work the PODs are currently working on Bi-Weekly Key Stakeholders (every other Friday) Product Showcase Showcase the functionality that is at or near completion Monthly Open to everyone Backlog / Story Grooming Clarify business requirements and assign effort estimate to User Stories Ad-Hoc / As Needed POD Members and Key Stakeholders (as needed) Cycle Planning Plan and commit to the work for the upcoming cycle Bi-Weekly (every other Tuesday) POD Members and Key Stakeholders (as needed) Daily Stand-Ups Daily checkpoint to discuss what the team is working on and identify any issues or impediments Daily POD Members and Key Stakeholders (as needed) Retrospectives Review and discuss the previous cycle, identifying things Bi-Weekly POD Members that went well and areas for improvement (every other Monday) Lab@Workopolis Innovation Forum Bi-Weekly (every other Thursday) Product Development Team Steering Committee Review and agree on priorities and commitments Quarterly Product Steering Committee

18 Weekly cross-department meeting to discuss take to market execution

19 Changing the way we define requirements EPIC What is it?: Group of related features. Top level objectives. Considerations: Dependencies, Business Value, Impact, High level effort and owner Artifact: 4 pager requirements document(business Case, Goals, KPI, CTA) FEATURE What is is?: Group of user stories. Considerations: Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Releasable. Type (Core, Enhancer, Exciter), Business Value, Effort, Cost, Dependencies Artifact: 1 pager requirements document (KPIs, CTAs, Goals) USER STORY What is it?: sentence that explains in business terms what a user needs as part of their role. Considerations: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimatable, Small and Testable Type (Story, Defect, etc.) Business Value, Story Points, Acceptance Criteria Artifact: Backlog TASK Volunteered very small piece of work to implement a specific story. Effort in hours

1-Mar-13 15-Mar-13 28-Mar-13 12-Apr-13 26-Apr-13 10-May-13 24-May-13 7-Jun-13 21-Jun-13 5-Jul-13 What We Measure Story Completion % Interruptions Team Velocity Burndown Time to Market Time to

Totals (All PODs) 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Cycle 5 Cycle 6 Cycle 7 Cycle 8 Cycle 9 Cycle 10 Cycle 11 Cycle 12 Cycle 13 Projects 94% 85% 92% 89% 79% 70% 67% 65% 68% Planned Interruptions 2% 10%

20 1-Mar Mar Mar Apr Apr May May-13 7-Jun Jun-13 5-Jul-13 What We Measure Story Completion % Interruptions Team Velocity Burndown Time to Market Time to Production Post-Release Defects # of Releases Business Value Unit Test Coverage 100% 90% 80% 70% Overall User Story Completion % 89% 79% 79% POD 1 POD 2 POD 3 Interruption Trend - Cumullative Totals (All PODs) 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Cycle 5 Cycle 6 Cycle 7 Cycle 8 Cycle 9 Cycle 10 Cycle 11 Cycle 12 Cycle 13 Projects 94% 85% 92% 89% 79% 70% 67% 65% 68% Planned Interruptions 2% 10% 3% 9% 14% 22% 23% 25% 25% Unplanned Interruptions 4% 5% 5% 1% 7% 7% 10% 10% 6% 300% 250% 200% 150% 100% 50% 0% User Story Completion Ratio Per Cycle POD 1 POD 2 POD 3 20

21 Sometimes, implementing Agile in a business that is accustomed to a Waterfall environment feels like this

23 What we achieved Improved Execution Delivered More Products Drove Significant Business Results Maintained Market Leadership Improved Employee Engagement Introduced IT Innovation

Driving innovation through bi-weekly full-day LABS Every second Thursday Everyone is invited to participate Fully dedicated to learning and innovating

24 Driving innovation through bi-weekly full-day LABS Every second Thursday Everyone is invited to participate Fully dedicated to learning and innovating Used to test ideas and new technologies End-of-day demo of everything that was accomplished Many labs initiatives made it to the roadmap and were released

67% Migrated 100% of the application to a new SOA platform.

25 The Results - Execution Number of Releases Faster Time To Market: (175 days to 45 days) Doubled the number of releases YTD Decrease in Post-Release Defects by 90% Quarterly commitment achievement increased to 100% YTD Quarterly Delivery Commitments Reduction of overall defects by 67% Migrated 100% of the application to a new SOA platform. 150% 100% 50% 0% Q1 Q2 Q3 Q Post-Release Defects Release 1 Release 2 Release 3 Release 4 Release 5 Release 6 Release 7 Release 8 Release 9 Release 10 Release 11 Release 12 Release 13 Release 14 Release 15 Release Release

The Results Product Delivery B2B Job Performance Reporting SMB Business Products New Resume Database (with Semantic Technology) New CMS Social Job Share

26 The Results Product Delivery B2B Job Performance Reporting SMB Business Products New Resume Database (with Semantic Technology) New CMS Social Job Share Retail Portal B2C Registration w/ Facebook Visitor Career Alerts Student Career Portal New Resume Posting Flow LinkedIn Profile Import Mobile Recommended Jobs

number of Retail jobs in the country - our Retail Career Center receives over 25K visitors a month that view over 100K jobs 4 #1 customer

27 The Results Business Value Lead Generation Tool on ecom provided an 24 Customer Pain Points Fixed resulted 1 2 additional 60 leads per month in resulting in 25K$ sales increase per month 14% less support calls 3 Retail - Workopolis leads the Retail market with the largest number of Retail jobs in the country - our Retail Career Center receives over 25K visitors a month that view over 100K jobs 4 #1 customer requested feature Express Apply increased daily logins by 25% Increased ITAs by 40% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 47% 50% Retail Market Share Q1 FY13

The Results Business Value New registration

Student Page and City pages 30% lift in SEO.

28 The Results Business Value New registration form w/ Facebook New Visitor Career Alerts demonstrated 5 showed an average 10% increase in 6 a staggering 300% increase registrations 7 Student Page and City pages 30% lift in SEO. 8 Mobile Job Search generated a 45% increase in mobile traffic

The Results Industry leader in Unique Visitors, New Resumes

which (54%) are currently-employed candidates, window-shopping

Nearly 1,000 new resumes being added to our Resume Database

35,000 jobs on our site: Workopolis ranks first for paid

29 The Results Industry leader in Unique Visitors, New Resumes and Jobs 1,500,000 unique visitors a month, more than half of which (54%) are currently-employed candidates, window-shopping for new opportunities. Nearly 1,000 new resumes being added to our Resume Database every day. 35,000 jobs on our site: Workopolis ranks first for paid posting market share across the major industry sectors. Leading candidate job searches: Over 1.1 million candidates participate in job search activity each month.

30 The Results Employee Engagement

Not all is perfect just yet Remaining Gaps Inconsistent processes across PODs Definition of Done Capacity planning / interruptions Risk analysis and planning Requirements definition and gathering

31 Not all is perfect just yet Remaining Gaps Inconsistent processes across PODs Definition of Done Capacity planning / interruptions Risk analysis and planning Requirements definition and gathering Communication breakdowns: Between the PODs Between PODs and the rest of the business Key Stakeholders not involved in important decisions Too many initiatives at once (too much Work in Progress) Neglecting simple tasks

What We Learned To get to an environment of rapid, continuous delivery, Agile depends on three critical technical processes: Engineering Practices, QA Automation and Deployment Automation.

Deployment Automation Agile Engineering Practices You need to adjust the way you code for Agile - Continuous Integration, Test Driven Development, Refactoring and Code Reviews all enable

32 What We Learned To get to an environment of rapid, continuous delivery, Agile depends on three critical technical processes: Engineering Practices, QA Automation and Deployment Automation. If deployments take too long, they can't be done frequently and you can't have short iterations, you can't ship the code at anytime and you can't demo progress at the end of an iteration. Deployment Automation Agile Engineering Practices You need to adjust the way you code for Agile - Continuous Integration, Test Driven Development, Refactoring and Code Reviews all enable rapid development that easily adapts to change. QA Automation Agile practices rely on fast feedback, achieved by testing each incremental change - something you just can't do manually. 32

33 Incremental Value Delivered What We Learned Waterfall has a high level of process waste, results in a single delivery and includes all the activities and processes that are not directly creating value for the end users/customers. Time

34 Incremental Value Delivered What We Learned Using basic lean waste-removal techniques reduces process waste 10-20% and results in faster Time-to-Market. Eliminate Waste Approvals, Handoffs, Reviews Amplify Learning Developers are people too! Decide as Late as Possible Don t Assume! Deliver as Fast as Possible Focus on Business Value Empower the Team Trust Your People See the Whole - "Think big, act small, fail fast; learn rapidly" Time

35 Incremental Value Delivered What We Learned Using value prioritization and iterative processes results in reduction of scope waste and further TTM improvement Scope waste includes all the features and functions that individually do not provide positive ROI Ask yourself Can we cut it for now? Time

36 Incremental Value Delivered Preparation What We Learned Using full Agile-Lean approach results in an optimized value delivery curve $ $ $ $ $ $ Time (1 Tick Mark = 1 Cycle)

37 Incremental Value Delivered Preparation What We Learned Using full Agile-Lean approach and iterative cycles also allows for options analysis for productivity maximization $ $ $ $ $ Stop Here! Minimum Return Cost of Team $ Time (1 Tick Mark = 1 Cycle)

38 The takeaways Get buy-in (Top-Down and Bottom-Up). You need coaches Create the right teams. Get the right people on (and off) the teams Transformation Team, PODs, Product Steering Dispense with departments kindof. Change the physical environment. Dispense with predictability and Unlearn What You Have Learned. Design driven development drives better conversations and product

39 The takeaways Track and manage interruptions they happen. Transformation up and down stream takes time. Allow teams to self-organize but give guidelines. UI Design two cycles ahead. Deployment Automation, QA Automation and Engineering Practices are critical. Invest time in technical debt. Encourage senior leaders and stakeholders to interact and engage.

40 Thank you.

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