2013 key takeaways from 8 years scrum coaching and consulting

Objectbay Software & Consulting GmbHDr. Andreas Wintersteiger

[email protected]

Agile TransformationKey Takeaways from 8 years of Scrum

Coaching

Dr. Andreas WintersteigerObjectbay Software & Consulting [email protected]

© 2012 Objectbay Software & Consulting GmbH

I could see

SOME CHANGESin companies going on...

WORKPLACE

PEOPLE• Motivation

• Energy

• Relaxation

• Appraisals

PROCESSES

PHENOMENA• Open Source

• Crowd sourcing

• Startups as game changers

• War for Talents

OTHER


This is not going to work for us!


RESISTANCE


But why?Let’s have a look at

where we’ve come from ...


Industrial Age

•Humans - manual labour

•Muscle Power

•Minor parts of brain wanted

•No creativity desired

•Management control


Scientific Management (1911)

• Separation of Planning and Execution

•Norming of Work

• Selection and Instruction

• Targets & Incentivation

•Multiple Levels of ManagementFrederick Winslow Taylor


The Age of Information

•Humans produce Information

•Humans consume Information

•We are Knowledge Workers

•Work: Leverage the Brain


Leveraging brains?

No Download! Communication


100 %

Economies of Scale

5x = 500 %

5x = ?


Last Century’s Management Principles ...

NOT APPLICABLE

TO KNOWLEDGE

WORK!

SELF ORGANIZING TEAMS

LESS MANAGEMENT REQUIRED

Knowledge Work is different

• Economies of Scale: only with Teamwork

• Working together

• Communication is KEY

• Demand controlled management of workload (PULL)

• Process Ownership, Instant ProcessesFrom Management to

Facilitation

Motivation• Autonomy

• Mastery

• Purpose

Dan Pink - The surprising truth about what motivates us

You think Agile is just another PROCESS?

WRONG!

It a visible Sign of a

much bigger

phenomenon!


The WORKPLACERevolution

Biggest Blockages in Agile Transformations

seen so far ...• Self Organization not allowed

• Organizational & Management Structures can’t be changed

• Communication Structures

• Transparency not wanted

• Certified Processes established & must-been-followed

• Low Standards Attitude

Is Agile the root cause?

No!

OUR SOCIETY TRANSFORMS

INTO INFORMATION AGE!

Agile TransformationEstablishing a Vision

Dr. Andreas WintersteigerObjectbay Software & Consulting [email protected]

Starting at the Team Level

• Self-organizing Scrum Teams

• cross-functional

• Scrum Master as Team Coach

• Transparency

• Inspection & Adaption

• Process Ownership

• Quality Attitude

• Empowerment

• Trust

• Learning

• Reliable Deliveries

• Less Defects

• Better Architecture

Team Coaching intensity

get the team ready to start

get the team trainedand started

get the team confident let the team do itlet the team do it alone.

return visit

1 2 3 4 5 6

Start with pioneer teams

• Trailblazers showcase, win & create more demand

• Do not go halfway, keep improving

• Keep touch base

• Do not create heavyweight processes & structure

• Trust the team and show you do!

Scale one level at a time

Product Owners define success

• Feature Backlog

• P.O.s form a Scrum Team

• and need a Scrum Master, too!

• P.O.’s have their Meetings

• ... and they ship the product

Each P.O. is in two “teams”

Feature Backlog• Bad: Layer Teams

• Better: Component Teams

• Tricky: Platform Teams

• Best: Feature Teams

Dependency Management

Communities of Practice

Scrum Of Scrums

The Big Picture

Agile Transition Team

• Organizational Impediments become highly visible

• “Scrum Master Force” - Agents for the change

• Organizational Change controlled by Management

• Strategy

• Transition Backlog to drive change

Transition Team• Setup and made up of Senior Management

• Define Vision and Strategy

• Drive the Change

• Act on organizational Problems surfacing through Scrum

• HACK THE CORPORATE CULTURE

• Fearless Change (John Kotter)

Impressions seen• Lack of Stakeholder Involvement

• Technical Skills & Expertise at Team Level

• Continuous Integration

• Test Automation

• Quality Attitude

• Teamwork, Lonely Warriors and Communication issues

• “Disturbance from Production”

• No Collective Ownership, Responsibility

• Bollywood Scrum

• Waterfall Sprints

• Late Acceptance

• No Release Cadence

Quick Fixes• Ensure Stakeholder/Management Involvement

• Team Level Intensive Care, Principles over Practices

• Empowerment on Team Level, Coaching, Transparency

• Agile Transition and Rollout Team

• Company Heartbeat: Synchronized Sprints

• Surface and manage Dependencies: Scrum Of Scrums

• Release Cadence: Agile Release Train

• Technical Excellence: Agile Developer Skills / Agile Engineering Practices

• Manage Culture Hacking

2013 key takeaways from 8 years scrum coaching and consulting

Software

team level

team ready

team confident

team coaching intensity

information humans

centurys management

agile transformations

age of information