Agile: It Kan Be Done Highly Agile Software Development in a Government Setting Brian Bouck, Carl Fennen May 22, 2018
The Story of the Presentation The problem of legacy development behaviors & processes A brief introduction to Agile and Kanban Finding a coach and developing principles and methods People over Process over Tools How we implemented, and the outcomes we have observed What we learned and where we are going
You Do Great Work, and Everyone Comes to You
But... Everything is the Highest Priority, and Due Yesterday
Time for Change People Process Tools
What is Agile? Agile Software Development is a lightweight software engineering framework that promotes iterative development throughout the lifecycle of the project, close collaboration between the development team and business side, constant communication, and tightly-knit teams. Also known as agile development. - Techopedia
What is Kanban? Kanban is a method for managing the creation of products with an emphasis on continual delivery while not overburdening the development team. Like Scrum, Kanban is a process designed to help teams work together more effectively. - VersionOne
Not a Manifesto - Principles and Preferences People over process over tools Simplicity Deliver value Preference to top right Decide as late as possible Deliver as fast as possible Eliminate waste Obey work in process limits (WIP) Swarm blockers
What We Changed PEOPLE - LEADERSHIP Know the way, Lead the change Use Kanban behaviors, habits and processes Encourage adoption through action Align incentives (like personal evaluations) to lean-agile principles and values Decentralize Decision Making Set the mission, communicate strategy, decentralize all other decisions Develop problem solvers Tie Teams to Success, not individuals Develop People Emphasize Learning Encourage Communication Allow people to solve the problems Develop skills and career paths Create Knowledge workers do not be the Knowledge worker
What We Changed PEOPLE - TEAM Deliver Value to the Customer Teamwork Simplicity Communication Principles Visualize Work Decide as Late as Possible Deliver as Fast as Possible Empower the Team Amplify All Learning Build Integrity Into Everything Eliminate Waste Obey the WIP Limits Swarm bottlenecks Prefer cards on the right (work closest to delivering value)
What We Changed PEOPLE - EVERYONE Change is our business - Continuous Everything Learning is a culture value and is continuous - Permission to Fail Trust starts at the top, and works its way through Continuous Improvement Action Bias Transparency Empathy for the participants Value Focus Self Directed Self Aligned Personal Responsibility Humility
What We Changed PROCESS a Complete Rethinking
What We Changed PROCESS Managing expectations and increasing velocity Product Owners
What We Changed PROCESS Managing expectations and increasing velocity Software Developers
What We Changed PROCESS Work and Priorities Convert Customers to Product Owners Product Owners manage the priorities and work definition Issues with priorities settled at the business level No going directly to the developers Work not performed until ready Once work begins, it continues through completion, not moved back
What We Changed TOOLS
Outcomes Metrics initially went down But they are coming back Why did this occur? Transparency - all work is now visible in process, and one tool
Outcomes The business function leads meet regularly and set priorities across the systems Including managing conflict in regards to all priorities
Outcomes Leads and developers are less overwhelmed, and able to work on one (or a few) tasks at a time
What We are Learning Engage and fully commit Focus on people, enable them and remove roadblocks quickly Involve everyone in the process including customers Get the roles right, and reinforce accountability Keep it simple, and don t customize the tool Make it safe; it is OK to learn, fail, adapt
Next Steps Continued reinforcement User experience framework Embedded quality program Automated testing scripts Tool improvements
Resources General Overview of Agile Methodologies Books Kanban in Action Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban Lean UX Lynda.com Agile at Work: Driving Productive Agile Meetings Agile at Work: Building Your Agile Team Agile at Work: Planning with User Stories Agile at Work: Building Your Agile Team Retrospectives Reference Glossary of Terms: Terse Definitions Verbose Definitions