A practical guide to governance of enterprise-scale Agile projects 4 October 2011
What are we talking about! Governance of enterprise-scale Agile projects What is Governance? What is enterprise-scale Agile? Setting up enterprise-scale Agile projects Tracking and reporting on enterprise-scale Agile projects
Governance? What does Governance mean to you?
Doing the right work The right direction The right resource The right feedback The right projects The right benefits Strategy Resource Projects Optimisation When to start? When to stop? Benefits
Doing the work right The right process The right tools The right techniques The right monitoring The right feedback Review Decide Prepare Audit Compliance Evidence Test Do
Enterprise-scale Agile? What does enterprise-scale Agile mean to you?
Team in a Room Agile Protected for the outside Clear goals Known resource and budget Business representation User representation Backlog is the plan Skilled team Decision made within the team Deployment control Act on feedback
Enterprise-scale Agile? Project dependencies Programme dependencies Functional teams Multiple locations Centralised resource planning Third party suppliers Integration technologies Multiple stakeholders Deployment management Operational support Programme Project Project Portfolio Project Programme Project Project
Governance on enterprise-scale Agile projects Why do we need Governance?
Governance to support effective decision making What decisions need to be made? What information is needed? Managing scope Delivering value External dependencies Backlog Priorities Risk Project Programme Managing scope Resource usage Integration & delivery Benefits gained Risk Business Strategy Technology Partners Return on Investment Operational results Portfolio
Governance to check adherence to the process Start-up Scope and Budget Initiation Baseline, Planning, Development Setup Build and Test Prioritise, Plan, Build, Test, Review 1. Project Selection 2. Business Case Planning Review, Sprint 1 Sprint 2 End of Sprint Reporting Product Documentation 3. Baseline Plan 4. Sprint Feedback Sprint 3 Implementation Regression Test UAT, Deployment 5. Deployment Readiness Sprint n Implementation Regression Test UAT, Deployment
What might Governance look like? Regular review of each project Change reports (stories, progress, milestones) Sustainability and Uncertainty blockages, risks? Regular review of each programme and its projects Cross-project alignment and dependencies Project RAG reports Financial analysis, resource management Regular review of strategy against the portfolio Facts, Insight, Behaviour Programme changes Project Programme Portfolio
Team in a room Governance Do the best you can with the money and resource available? Start-up business mentality Create the backlog Prioritise the stories Estimate the stories Agree the stories to play Record the velocity Get the feedback Update the backlog Keep working until you are done or the money runs out!
Setting up enterprise-scale Agile projects The time for long feasibility studies has gone! Pressure to get new ideas to market Pressure to stay competitive Pressure to adapt to current trends Prepare Do Minimise the start-up time But, we require a baseline to: Track against Report changes to Prepare Do
Setting up enterprise-scale Agile projects: The Baseline Start-up Scope and Budget Initiation Baseline, Planning, Development Setup Build and Test Prioritise, Plan, Build, Test, Review Planning and Prioritisation Sprint Review, Customer Demonstration Sprint 1 Sprint 2 End of Sprint Reporting Product Documentation What do you think needs to be in the baseline for an Agile project before development can begin? Sprint 3 Sprint n Implementation Regression Test UAT, Deployment Implementation Regression Test UAT, Deployment
The Baseline Clear project context how does this project fit? Defined objectives Incremental delivery strategy linked to objectives functional milestones Deployment strategy and controls Understanding of constraints and risks Stakeholders identified and engaged Decision making plan The plan (the backlog, the design plan, the overarching plan) Change control process Resource model
The Agile Plan Agile Plan Backlog Milestones Resource Projected Progress Design Plan Up-front Milestone Sprint Story Overarching Plan Dependencies Third party Training Deployment
The Product Backlog ID Title Effort 1 A sales manager can add new products to the catalogue to extend the sales portfolio 10 2 A member can view the products in the catalogue so he can select what he wishes to purchase 8 3 A member can add goods to his/her shopping cart so he can purchase them 15 4 A member can pay for his purchases using a credit card to enable dispatch 20 5 An account manager can suspend a member account to stop future purchases to limit account liability 6 A member may select the type of shipping he wishes for his goods to enable calculation of shipping costs 7 A sales manager can suspend an item in the catalogue to prevent any future purchases by members.. 5 10 10 n The account manager can upload a picture to be included on the sales invoice to personalise the relationship with the member Total 1265 12
Tracking Progress Velocity How fast are we working? How many points did we do? Used to refine project delivery speed Not statistically accurate over the first few sprints Able to identify performance problems Optimistic to actual velocity indicates gaps in completion
The Agile Plan The Basics The stories are estimated in the backlog The number of sprints is defined (time is fixed) Resource is allocated (budget is fixed) The velocity is known or at least initially calibrated So we have a basic idea of how things will go
The Agile Plan The Basics 600 500 400 Points 300 200 100 Sprints 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The Agile Plan Adding Reality Early sprints have ramp up activities We haven't worked out how to work efficiently yet Teams change dynamics (People join and leave) Velocity will not be uniform
The Agile Plan Adding Reality Sprint 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Start Getting better Up to Speed New staff + training Getting better Up to speed Up to speed Up to speed Efficiency 30% 40% 50% 70% 80% 100% 100% 100% 570% Points 32 42 52 73 83 106 106 106 600 Sum 32 74 126 199 282 388 494 600
The Agile Plan Adding Reality 600 Milestone: All functionality Complete 500 Milestone: Minimum Successful delivery 400 Points 300 200 100 Sprints 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The Agile Plan Adding Reality 600 500 400 Stories Completed Milestone: All functionality Complete Milestone: Minimum Successful delivery Points 300 200 100 Sprints 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The Agile Plan Optimistic Velocity 600 500 400 Stories Completed Optimistic Velocity Milestone: All functionality Complete Milestone: Minimum Successful delivery Points 300 200 100 Sprints 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
At the end of each sprint Report progress against plan Change report Impact on milestones Risks, Issues, Actions, Decisions Quality Debt known re-work Financials Sustainability Full report for project board Summary RAG report for the programme board
Change Control There is a need for change control When scope changes we need to be able to deal with this Keep the point total the same Swap stories Can have a contingency story Increase the points total Use functional contingency It will require more effort Additional iterations More resources
Other aspects of Governance... Do you need to ensure: The process is auditable? The process is being followed? There is a defined document trail? Decisions are documented and recorded? There is an agreed testing strategy? Has the product documentation been created? Is the product ready to handover to operations?
In Summary Governance is needed to: Make effective decisions at project, programme and portfolio level Ensure auditable adherence to a process Enterprise-scale Agile projects need: More of a plan than JUST the backlog To be able to demonstrate the rate progress Forecast delivery for related projects Be aware of external dependencies and impact on other projects
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