Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Pattern Introduction

Strategy Pattern

Doing the Right Work & Doing the Work Right

Program Pattern
DISCOVERY SECTION

Operational Pattern

DELIVERY SECTION
TEAM 1 1

TEAM 2 1

TEAM N 1

Mission & Vision

Objectives & Goals

S TRATEG IC PRO G RAM S

Portfolio funnel of work

Strategic Initiatives

Doing the Right Work

Doing the Work Right

Pattern Introduction

The Program Pattern used to launch and execute programs

Strategy

IDEA

DISCOVER

Strategic Initiative

Problem

New Requirement

Opportunity

Understand & Strategize

DELIVER
Governance /

Iteratively build,

Funding Gates

test & deliver

Enhancement

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Pattern Introduction

Discovery Practice
Iterate until done

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Discovery brief

Problem analysis

Solution options

Program Charter (Proposal)

Right stakeholders

Stakeholder analysis

Preferred solution

& Gate Approval

Gate approval to start

Desired outcome

Estimation

Benefits

Planning

Blockers

Cost / Benefit analysis

Scope
Epics / Features / MVP
Risks & Dependencies

Collaborate to Elaborate

Pattern Introduction

Problem

UN

COLLA

BO

Desired
Outcome

NE

Cost /
Benefit

DO

RA
TE

RA
TE

TO

O
B
A

ITE

TE
A
R

TI

Discovery Practice

IDEA

Plan

Blockers

DISCOVER
Estimate

Epics
Solution
Strategy

PROPOSE

Pattern Introduction

Cone of Uncertainty

DISCOVERY

DELIVERY

+ 100

-100
D1

D2

D3

Pattern Introduction

Lifecycle of Delivery
At start of Iteration
Releases or
phases

Discovery

Discovery

Iteration Planning

Deliver

R1

Daily Standups

Optional

Work

Iteration

Iteration zero
is the setup iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Showcase
At end of Iteration
Retrospective

Pattern Introduction

Scrum
Daily Standup Meeting
15-30 Minutes

Inputs from customers,

team, managers, execs

1-4 Week Sprint

Sprint end date and
deliverable do not change

Product Owner

Scrum
Master
Product Backlog

Team

Sprint Backlog

A Prioritized List

Sprint Planning Meeting

Task Breakout

of what is required:
features, bugs to fix

The team commits to as

much high priority backlog
as can be completed by the
end of the sprint

Sprint
Retrospective

Finished Product
Product Increment
Sprint Review

Pattern Introduction
AWAITING
DISCOVERY
APPROVAL

NEW

XYZ

XYZ

MEDIUM

LARGE

XYZ

The Portfolio Wall

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
RESOURCES

IN
DISCOVERY

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
APPROVAL

XYZ

XYZ

XYZ

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
RESOURCES

XYZ

XYZ

XYZ
XYZ

IN
DELIVERY

XYZ
XYZ

XYZ

SMALL

XYZ

XYZ

DEPARTMENT 1

XYZ

DEPARTMENT 2
WAITING STAGES1

PRIORITIZED LIST

PRIORITIZED LIST

IN
FINAL
DEPLOYMENT

DONE

XYZ

XYZ

Pattern Introduction

Slow Down in Order to do More

BACKLOG

IN PROGRESS

P P
P P
P
PP
P

P
P

P
P P

P
P

P
P

PP
P

DONE

P
Minimize WIP by Managing the Funnel
and not Overburdening

Pattern Introduction

Agile Project Characteristics

Loosely coupled
tightly aligned
Small cross
functional teams
(Incl. customer)

Highly
collaborative

Iterative

Self
Organizing

Flexible to
change

Pull work to
WIP limit
Shared and
consistent
clarity of
purpose

Authentic
transparency

Facilitated and
managed

Disciplined
approach
Focused on
feedback &
continuous
improvement

Course Topics
1

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Discovery

PM, IM, CM Involvement

Discovery

Deliver

R1

Project Manager

Iteration Manager

Change Manager

Operate

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Agile Story Hierarchy

PROGRAM

The Program

PROJECT

RELEASE

ITERATION

Project 1

Epic 1

Feature 1

Project 2

Epic 2

Epic 1

Feature 2

also called hills

and often limited to 3

Epic 2

Feature 1

Story 1

Story 2

Task

Team Roles and Responsibilities

LeSS: Large Scale Scrum

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Scaled Agile Framework

The Agile Program Pattern

can be applied to small and
large piece of work

Team Roles and Responsibilities

CORE

Cross Functional Empowered Teams

IM

PM

5-9 People

EXTENDED

GOVERNANCE

Key Stakeholders

Steering committee

Business SME (Customer)

External experts

PMO

Analysts

Enterprise Architect

Dedicated
Cross Functional
Empowered

Developers
Testers
Solution Architect

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Key Roles

TM

The Team (the doers)

PO

The Product Owner

IM

The Iteration Manager

PM

The Project Manager

CM

Change Manager
These are the committed parties, the people responsible for the success of the project
and product. There will be other involved parties, but they wont be responsible for the
success of the project or product

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Core

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Extended

Steering

IM

SME

TM

PO

PGM

PM

SH

SC

Iteration
Manager

Subject
Mater
Expert

Team

Product
Owner

Program
Manager

Project
Manager

Stake
Holder

CM

EXP

SP

Change
Manager

Experts

Sponsor

Steering
Committee

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Scaled Agile Framework

The key roles and responsibilities

in an Agile Project Team?

PO

PO

IM

IM

EXP

SH

EXP
SME

TM

SH

SME

TM

core

core

extended

extended

Team 1

Sometimes called
PODS

Team 2

Agile Program

PGM

SC

Agile Project 1

PM

SP

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Shared Ownership

Product Management

Operations

Inside Sales

Support

Marketing

Code
Test

And shared ownership of client / user outcomes by teams

Design

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Team Responsibilities

Self organization
Making commitments
Meeting commitments
Management of the team every team member is responsible for this
Respecting other members of the team

Team Roles and Responsibilities

PO
Product Owner

IM

PM

Product Owner Responsibilities

CM

Voice of the customer/project sponsor

Defines features of the product
Responsible for the profitability of the product (ROI)
Manages stakeholders and their interests
Accepts/rejects work results
Maintains just-enough, just-in-time feature detail
Shares success with the team

Team Roles and Responsibilities

PO

IM

Iteration Manager

PM

Iteration Manager Responsibilities

CM

Servant leadership/facilitation of the Core team POD during delivery and deployment
Helps remove impediments

PM
IM

Acts as guardian of the iteration process/framework

Improves lives of team members by facilitating empowerment and creativity
Helps team improve productivity in any way possible
Works with team and PO to ensure each iteration of the product is potentially shippable

core
extended

Works with team and PO to ensure quality is never compromised

Coaches and helps team members in the Agile way of working
Energize and inspire the team

Team Roles and Responsibilities

PM

PO

IM

Project Manager Responsibilities

CM

Facilitates and manages the Discovery phases and cycles

Serve as leadership/facilitation of the Project ( multiple Pods)

Project Manager

Facilitates dependency management using the Team of Teams model across Projects and Pods and
Helps remove impediments
Acts as guardian of the overall project process/framework
Improves lives of team members by facilitating empowerment and creativity
Helps team improve productivity in any way possible
Helps the PO with multi-stakeholder management
Manages and communicates with non PO stakeholders
Works with team and PO to ensure quality is never compromised
Coaches and mentors the Agile way of working
Energizes and inspires the team to greater heights

Team Roles and Responsibilities

PO

CM

IM

Change Manager Responsibilities

PM

Change Manager
Facilitates and manages the roll out and implementation of the project outcomes.

IM

IM

CM

Leads the Change Management Pod (sometimes called Coms and Change
Looks after end user comms, training, process changes and overall adoption
Closely involved in end user testing and acceptance

POD1

POD 2
PM

CM POD

Works closely with all the other IMs

Works Agile

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Line Management

What are the roles of

SP

SC

Line Management
and how do they
interact with the

Agile Program

PGM

Agile Project 1

PM

Executive

team?

EXP

Manager

MGR

SH
TM

SME

IM

First Line
Manager

First Line
Manager

First Line
Manager

core
3

PO

Team 1

extended

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Steering Committee

Agile Program

PGM

SP

SC

Steering Committee
PO

Agile Project 1

IM

Chaired by Sponsor
Senior Execs from the BU executing the project/program

EXP

SH

PM

TM

SME

Senior impacted BU executives (Customers)

Senior execs of partners or key suppliers

core

extended

Risk and Compliance (optional)

ENVISION
INSPIRE

Team 1

CHALLENGE
SERVE

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Decision Work Groups

SP

SC

Decision Work Groups

PO
IM

Agile Program

PGM

Agile Project 1

PM

Senior decision makers from the

business / customer groups

also called
EXP

SH

TM

SME

core

extended

Team 1

Product Owner Forum

To quickly make decision when there are
multiple customers with conflicting of large
bureaucratic processes to cut through.

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Who is Responsible for Benefits?

Benefits identification?

Product Owner

Benefits estimation?
Benefits scoping?
Ensuring the solution can deliver the benefits expected?

Product Owner Sponsor

Benefits tracking?
Benefits harvesting?

Team Roles and Responsibilities

Leadership Style

Situational Leadership Model

High

s3 Low Directive and High

s2 High Directive and High

Supportive Behavior

Supportive Behavior

Supportive Behavior

Followers generally lack the skills required for the task but are
eager to learn and willing to take direction

Supporting

Coaching

s1

Delegating

Directing

s2

Followers have some of the skills needed, but lack any real understanding of
how to complete the task. These people cant succeed without some help

s3

Followers are capable, but lack the confidence or

motivation to complete the task on their own

s4

Followers are skilled and even experienced at a task,

and they are confident and motivated.

s4 Low Directive and Low

s1

High Directive and Low

Supportive Behavior

Low

The Situational Leadership Model is a technique used

to align leadership styles with individual differences.

Directive Behavior

Supportive Behavior

High

Team Roles and Responsibilities

What are the Characteristics on an

Agile Project Team?

Agile Project Team Characteristics

Small

Cross
functional

Core &
cross-tended

Single outcome that is shared

and clearly understood by all
team members

Very supportive and do

whatever is needed to help
reach the outcomes

Clear decision making

responsibilities

All team members

collaborate and contribute
continuously and effectively

Dedicated &
committed team members

7
Structured with a PM, IM,
SME and Product Owner.

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Discovery 1

The Program Pattern used to launch and execute programs

Strategy

IDEA

DISCOVER

Strategic Initiative

Problem

New Requirement

Opportunity

Understand & Strategize

DELIVER
Governance /

Iteratively build,

Funding Gates

test & deliver

Enhancement

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Discovery 1

Discovery Practice
Iterate until done

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Discovery brief

Problem analysis

Solution options

Program Charter (Proposal)

Right stakeholders

Stakeholder analysis

Preferred solution

& Gate Approval

Gate approval to start

Desired outcome

Estimation

Benefits

Planning

Blockers

Cost / Benefit analysis

Scope
Epics / Features / MVP
Risks & Dependencies

Collaborate to Elaborate

Discovery 1

M2.2 - Purpose and Benefits Why should we do the discovery practice?

Objectives

Benefits

Improved
ROI

Shared and
deeper
understanding

Faster
Time to
Market

Assign scarce
resource to the
right initiative
Better
Designs
Better
Products

Business Case
Cost/ Benefit?
Prioritise &
Manage the
funnel
Explore
Options

Happier
People

Highly
Productive
Teams

Discovery 1

M2.3 - Input to Discovery

What is the Minimum Input needed for the Discovery Practice?

1-2 Hours Max!

Filled in by the initiator

Discovery 1

Contents of the Discovery Brief

Summary

Sponsor

Initiator

Problem Statement

Pain Impact

Benefit Estimate

Strategic Alignment

Solution Options

Constraints

Wish Date

Urgency

Criticality

Cost Appetite

Initiative Size

Key Stakeholders

Discovery 1

Who, When and for How Long

Who should be there, when shuold it be run, and how long should it take?

Who

When

How Long

Initiator

As soon as all the key

Run in a facilitated workshop

Key Stakeholders

people are available

setting

As soon as Discovery is

Can be multiple workshops

approved if there is a gate

with breaks in between

Key Experts
Sponsor ( Part time)

check before discovery

Not spread over more than

3-4 weeks
Workshop time should be in
the region of 1-5 days or as
necessary

Discovery 1

Not Paint By Numbers - Think!

Discovery 1

Analyzing the Problem

Root Cause Analysis

Problem Grouping

( How Come?)

Impact Analysis
( So What?)

Stakeholder Analysis

Who is the customer?

High level Value Stream

( Internal + External)

Map

IMPACT

Discovery 1

Stakeholder mapping

INFLUENCE

Discovery 1

Other Examples of Stakeholder Analysis

HIGH

It is critical that you

B
KEEP

MANAGE

SATISFIED

CLOSELY

understand the positioning of

your stakeholders.
H

POWER
G

Other positioning techniques:

MONITOR

KEEP

( MINIMUM EFFORT)

INFORMED

Power/ Influence
Influence/ Impact

E
D
LOW

HIGH

LOW

INTEREST

EXAMPLE OF A POWER/INTEREST GRID

Source: Pmbok, Fourth Edition

Time is a precious commodity,

manage it wisely.

Discovery 1

Value Proposition Canvas

TOM
S
U
C

VALUE PROPOSITION

Gain
Creators

ER SEGME
NT

Gains

Customer
Job(s)

Products &
Services
DISCOVER
Pain
Relievers

DR. ALEX OSTERWALDER & DR. YES PIGNEUR

Created by 470 practitioners from 45 countries

Pains

Discovery 1

Defining the Desired Outcome & Benefits

Business Outcomes

Estimated Benefits
Each business outcome must have one or more
estimated $$ value benefits

SMART Requirements

S pecific

A requirement must say exactly what is required. There is no

ambiguity; consistent terminology; simple - avoid double
requirements i.e. X and Y; appropriate level of detail

M easurable

Measureable when at all possible. Once the system/process has

been constructed, it can be verified that this requirement has been
met.

A ttainable

R ealisable

T raceable

Physically possible for the system/process to exhibit that

requirement under the given conditions. The consequence of
unattainable requirements is that the system will never be accepted
or prohibitively expensive or both
Possible to achieve this requirement given what is known about the
constraints under which the project must be developed.
Traceabiilty is the ability to trace ( forwards and backwards) a
requirement from its conception through its completion/deployment

SMART Goals

Each objective should have one or more SMART goals

(Specific: Measureable, Actionable, Realistic, Time bound)

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Discovery 2

Discovery Practice
Iterate until done

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Discovery brief

Problem analysis

Solution options

Program Charter (Proposal)

Right stakeholders

Stakeholder analysis

Preferred solution

& Gate Approval

Gate approval to start

Desired outcome

Estimation

Benefits

Planning

Blockers

Cost / Benefit analysis

Scope
Epics / Features / MVP
Risks & Dependencies

Collaborate to Elaborate

Discovery 2

Identifying the Blockers

01
How should we identify the blockers to success?

02

You are Here

Discovery 2

Agreeing Scope How should we surface the work that needs to be done?

In

Out

???

Discovery 2

Surfacing the Epics How should we surface the work that needs to be done?

Those big pieces of work that need to be done to achieve

the desired outcome!
EPIC 1

Normally somewhere between 2-7 epics!

EPIC 2

EPIC 3

EPIC 5

EPIC 4

Discovery 2

Features and MVP

Generating Features

Solution Aspects
Technology

EPIC 1

Epics and Features

Feature

Org. Process

MVP 1
Feature

Feature
Feature
EPIC 2

Feature

EPIC 3

Feature

Feature
Feature

Feature

Feature

Capability build

Feature

Feature
Feature

Use:
Design thinking
Process maps
Brainstorming

Discovery 2

Risks
HIGH

HIGH IMPACT
HIGH PROBABILITY

HIGH IMPACT
HIGH PROBABILITY

IMPACT

LOW
LOW

HIGH
PROBABILITY

Discovery 2

Dependencies

Program
Internal
Technology

People

Process

External

Discovery 2

Solution Options How to craft a solution strategy?

CREATIVE THINKING

Design Thinking:

enhance

Determine the real problem...

Converge on a proposal.

Explore

Imagine
Enlarge roles &
perspectives

DIVERGE

CREATE CHOICES

CONVERGE

MAKE CHOICES

fantasize

build on others:
yes-and

defer judgment

Consider a wide range of potential solutions...

generate

increase

go big and wide

engage
possiblities

DIVERGE

combine
integrate

play with
visualize

Expanding the playing field

seek out the

unusual

CONVERGE

clarify

Narrowing the playing field

make sense of

decrease
categorize

rate by criteria

affirmative judgement:
discernment

select

hone in/focus

decisions

guidelines
reduce

THE CENTER FOR CREATIVE EMERGENCE

www.creativeemergence.com

connect
connect
cluster

Discovery 2

Preferred Solution How to select a solution strategy?

Analyze all aspects.
Tech

People

Process

Option 1

++

Option 2

++

++

Option 3

++

++

Solution

Discovery 2

Preferred Solution How to select a solution strategy?

Intel consensus model

YES

YES but...

Dont Know

NO

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Discovery 3

Discovery Practice
Iterate until done

MOBILIZE

UNDERSTAND

EXPLORE /

BUILD / TEST /

MANAGE /

STRATEGIZE

IMPLEMENT

EVOLVE

Discovery brief

Problem analysis

Solution options

Program Charter (Proposal)

Right stakeholders

Stakeholder analysis

Preferred solution

& Gate Approval

Gate approval to start

Desired outcome

Estimation

Benefits

Planning

Blockers

Cost / Benefit analysis

Scope
Epics / Features / MVP
Risks & Dependencies

Collaborate to Elaborate

Discovery 3

Estimating and costing the work How should we estimate the work and costs?

XS

XL

XXL

Discovery 3

M1.1.1 - Planning: Work and team breakdown

Scope
Breakdown
Epic Feature
Story

ITERATIVE DESIGN

Team Breakdown
Program
Project
Stream
Team

Scope
Breakdown
Epic Feature
Story

Discovery 3

The Lifecycle of Delivery

At start of Iteration
Releases or
phases

Discovery

Discovery

READY

Iteration Planning

Deliver

R1

Daily Standups

Optional
RUN
Work

Iteration

Iteration zero
is the setup iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Showcase
WRAP

At end of Iteration
Retrospective

Discovery 3

M3.3 - Planning the work How should we plan the work?

MVP 1
M0

Team 1

Team 2

Team 3

M1

setup

M2

M3

Release 1

setup

M4

MVP 2
M5
Release 2

Release 1

setup

Release 1

M6

Q+1

Q+2

Q+3

Q+4

Discovery 3

Cost Benefit Analysis Should we do this piece of work? Is it feasible?

BENEFITS

COSTS

Best Case

Base Case

Worst Case

Best Case
Base Case
Worst Case

If Red Beware!

Discovery 3

M3.5 Making the Proposal

How to document the Discovery practice and make a business proposal?

Keep it simple!
Use pictures and powerpoint to
document the outputs.

Discovery 3

Cone of Uncertainty

DISCOVERY

DELIVERY

+ 100

-100
D1

D2

D3

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Delivery and Iteration Basics

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
APPROVAL

NEW

XYZ

XYZ

MEDIUM

LARGE

XYZ

The Portfolio Wall

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
RESOURCES

IN
DISCOVERY

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
APPROVAL

XYZ

XYZ

XYZ

AWAITING
DISCOVERY
RESOURCES

XYZ

XYZ

XYZ
XYZ

IN
DELIVERY

XYZ
XYZ

XYZ

SMALL

XYZ

XYZ

DEPARTMENT 1

XYZ

DEPARTMENT 2
WAITING STAGES1

PRIORITIZED LIST

PRIORITIZED LIST

IN
FINAL
DEPLOYMENT

DONE

XYZ

XYZ

Delivery and Iteration Basics

THE WORK
Approved project scope

Setting up for Success

RESOURCING
The team
The PM & IM
The Customer Product
Owner
$$ - Budgets
Facility space

Delivery and Iteration Basics

The Lifecycle of Delivery

At start of Iteration
Releases or
phases

Discovery

Discovery

READY

Iteration Planning

Deliver

R1

Daily Standups

Optional
RUN
Work

Iteration

Iteration zero
is the setup iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Showcase
WRAP

At end of Iteration
Retrospective

Delivery and Iteration Basics

Scrum
Daily Standup Meeting
15-30 Minutes

Inputs from customers,

team, managers, execs

1-4 Week Sprint

Sprint end date and
deliverable do not change

Product Owner

Scrum
Master
Product Backlog

Team

Sprint Backlog

A Prioritized List

Sprint Planning Meeting

Task Breakout

of what is required:
features, bugs to fix

The team commits to as

much high priority backlog
as can be completed by the
end of the sprint

Sprint
Retrospective

Finished Product
Product Increment
Sprint Review

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Stories

Agile Story Hierarchy

PROGRAM

The Program

PROJECT

RELEASE

ITERATION

Project 1

Epic 1

Feature 1

Project 2

Epic 2

Epic 1

Feature 2

also called hills

and often limited to 3

Epic 2

Feature 1

Story 1

Story 2

Task

Stories

The Story starts with a card, then a conversation...

Stories

The Life of a Story

ELABORATION

Identification

Acceptance Criteria

Story Writing

Test cases

Build
Test
Deploy

ELICITATION

Prioritization

Estimation

EXECUTION

Planning

Stories

Story Identification

Feature breakdown
Design Thinking Practices
Business Canvas

Personas

Value Stream Mapping (as-is and to-be)

Process

Brainstorming

Outcomes

User/customer interviews

Stories

The Life of a Story

ELABORATION

Identification

Acceptance Criteria

Story Writing

Test cases

Build
Test
Deploy

ELICITATION

Prioritization

Estimation

EXECUTION

Planning

Stories

Story Elaboration

ALWAYS

SOMETIMES

LESS OFTEN

ID

Narrative

Technical Design

Title

Lo-fi Prototype

Data Model

Acceptance Criteria

Assumptions

Link to High Level Scenarios

Relative Size Estimate

Constraints

GUI Design

Collaborate to Elaborate

Stories

ATDD - TDD

Acceptance Test

Test Case

Collaborate to Elaborate

Stories

The Life of a Story

ELABORATION

Identification

Acceptance Criteria

Story Writing

Test cases

Build
Test
Deploy

ELICITATION

Prioritization

Estimation

EXECUTION

Planning

Stories

Story Writing

Who

Personas

What

Process

Why

Outcomes

As a _______________________
I want ______________________
So that _____________________

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Delivery Setupand Iteration

Iteration
Basics
Zero

Iteration Zero

Shared understanding of Agile- Team Training

Shared understanding of the project
Social contract
How long should it take?
Story Elaboration - Max 2 iterations ahead
Architecture and Design
Standards & guidelines
Tools and environment provisioning
Detailed Release Planning

Just enough to start.

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Agile Program
Fundamentals
Course IAA2

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Release & Iteration Planning

The Life of a Story

ELABORATION

Identification

Acceptance Criteria

Story Writing

Test cases

Build
Test
Deploy

ELICITATION

Prioritization

Estimation

EXECUTION

Planning

Release & Iteration Planning

Planning

Prioritise features and stories

Estimate features and stories
As the team we need a release plan so
that we can set ourselves targets &
milestones and socialise delivery
projections with our stakeholders

Estimate velocity
Fill the iteration buckets
Cater for contingency
Set up the release wall

Release & Iteration Planning

Iteration 1
5th
November

Ready

Iteration 2
16th

19th
November

Iteration 3
30th

3rd
December

Prioritise features and stories

Prioritise features and stories

Prioritise features and stories

Estimate features and stories

Estimate features and stories

Estimate features and stories

Estimate velocity

Estimate velocity

Estimate velocity

Fill the iteration buckets

Fill the iteration buckets

Fill the iteration buckets

Cater for contingency

Cater for contingency

Cater for contingency

Set up the release wall

Set up the release wall

Set up the release wall

Total = x

Total = x

Total = x

14th

Release & Iteration Planning

Ready

Re-estimate hangover stories for left over

As the team we need an

Estimate velocity

Iteration plan so that we can

be clear on what to deliver in

Fill the iteration first with hangover stories

the next iteration and

prepare for delivery

Pull from next iteration backlog till bucket is full

Update the Release plan based on changes
Update walls and burn-up charts. Assign work

Release & Iteration Planning

Product Backlog
On the wall and in a tool

Prioritized Backlog

Release & Iteration Planning

Story Estimation

Relative estimation using poker play and points

Lets go a little deeper.

Release & Iteration Planning

The Fibonacci Sequence

0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144.

The first two Fibonacci numbers are 0

and 1; each subsequent number is
the sum of the previous two

Release & Iteration Planning

Our Pseudo Fibonacci Sequence

In Agile/Scrum,
many use a pseudo

1/2

13

20

40

100

Fibonacci sequence
to assign story
points to stories
Large estimates are less
accurate; larger gaps between
larger estimates help us avoid
splitting hairs unnecessarily

AGILE PLANNING POKER

Release & Iteration Planning

Velocity

A useful long-term measure

of the amount of work
completed per iteration.
40

Most useful over at least a

handful of iterations.

Velocity

30

20

Velocity is measured in the units

10

you use to estimate product

backlog items.

Release & Iteration Planning

Estimate Size; Derive Duration

size

calculation

duration

300
kilograms

Velocity:
20

300/20= 15
iterations

Release & Iteration Planning

Story Splitting

EPIC

Release & Iteration Planning

Release Planning

Prioritized and estimated Story List

A
B
C
D
E
F

i1

Iteration Buckets
Velocity = bucket size

i2

i3

i4

Release & Iteration Planning

Release Plan

Release Wall

i1

i2

planned

i3

in progress

Iteration Wall

i4

testing

i5

done

i6

i7

i8

Release & Iteration Planning

The Product Backlog Iceberg

Sized for a Sprint

Release

Theme

Priority
Continuous Refinement
Epic

Future Release

Theme: a theme is a collection

of related backlog items
Epic: an Epic is a large backlog item

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Agile Program
Fundamentals

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

Course IAA2

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Iteration Execution

The Lifecycle of Delivery

At start of Iteration
Releases or
phases

Discovery

Discovery

READY

Iteration Planning

Deliver

R1

Daily Standups

Optional
RUN
Work

Iteration

Iteration zero
is the setup iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Iteration

Showcase
WRAP

At end of Iteration
Retrospective

Iteration Execution

Run

JULY
SUNDAY
10

MONDAY
11

TUESDAY
12

WEDNESDAY
13
Iteration Planning =
3.5 hrs (5%)

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

14

15

Work = 7 hrs
(10%

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

SATURDAY
16

Work = 3.5 hrs (5%)

17

24

18

19

20

21

22

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

Pre- planning =
7 hrs (10%)

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

25

26

27

28

29

Work = 7 hrs
(10%)

Work = 3.5 hrs (5%)

Showcase +
Retrospective = 3.5
hrs ( 5%)

23

30

Iteration Execution

Standups

ITERATION WALL

Planned

In Progress

Testing

Done

Be punctual
Talk to the card
What did they do yesterday
Whats planned and left to-do
Blockers in reaching deadline
Make notes to discuss offline
Keep it short and to the point
Take longer discussions offline
Make a note of who does not have work
Move the card only after talking to it
Pull a new card if needed
Never embarrass anyone up in public
Have the hard conversation in private
Update the virtual wall later

Iteration Execution

Hangouts

1:1
Deep dives
Take time to understand the real issues
Listen
Socialise
Praise
Talk to stakeholders
Get more than one opinion
Move boulders
Carry water
Work closely with the PM and PO

Iteration Execution

Technical Practices- Dev-Ops

Emergent
Design

Continuous
Monitoring

Buddy
Builds

Continuous
Deployment

Continuous
Integration
Automated
Testing

Configuration Management

Data Management

Iteration Execution

Showcases

Iteration Execution

RETROSPECTIVE

Retrospective

Working / not working / puzzles

Group and summarise
Vote for top 3
Root cause analysis
5 whys
Pick top 2 3 actions for next iteration
Write up cards for it and add to Release wall

Iteration Execution

The Retrospective

A retrospective is a gathering of a community at

regular intervals throughout a delivery to review
the events and learn from the experience.
Esther Derby, Agile Retrospectives

Iteration Execution

When the speed of failure slows,

so does the speed of invention.
Mike Steep,
SVP of global business operations at PARC

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Agile Program
Fundamentals

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

Course IAA2

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Big Visual Charts

Walls

Release Wall

i1

i2

planned

Iteration Wall

i3

in progress

i4

testing

i5
Burn Up

Struggle
Street
(issues)

Risks

Architecture
Wall

done

Big Visual Charts

backlog

Kanban

selected 2

develop 3
ongoing
done

No iterations.... no velocity. Just continuous

FLOW

deploy 1

live

Big Visual Charts

Burnup Charts

Original Planned Completion Date:

March 15th 2011
Revised Prognosis Completion Date:
April 15th 2011

Original scope in story points

s
e
r
g

ro
P
d

scope cut needed to

meet original targets

Story points

e
n
n

la
P
d

is
ev

ss

d
e
n

re
g
o
Pr

Current estimates is that we need two

Iterations more and this will delay
delivery by a month.

n
a
l
P

And cost $200,000 more.

Actual Progress
i1

i2

i3

i4

i5

i6

i7

i8

i9

i10 i11

i12

Or scope needs to be cut

Big Visual Charts

Stakeholder Map

Satisfy

Involved

Monitor

Keep
Informed

Influence

Impact

Big Visual Charts

Risk Wall

Plan
Work-arounds

Action
Immediately

Monitor

Watch
Closely

Probability

Impact

Big Visual Charts

Issues

High Severity
Low Severity

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Agile Program
Fundamentals

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

Course IAA2

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Distributed Team

7 Rules .. of successfully distributed teams

1. Dont
2. Dont treat remotes as if they were locals
3. Dont treat locals as if they were remote
4. Latitude hurts, longitude kills
5. Dont always be remote
6. Invest in the appropriate tools and environments
7. Establish standards and agreements

Course Topics

ACADEMY

Pattern introduction

Team Roles & Responsibilities

Discovery 1

Discovery 2

Discovery 3

Delivery & Iteration Basics

Stories

Delivery Setup - Iteration Zero

Agile Program
Fundamentals

Release & Iteration Planning

10

Iteration Execution

Course IAA2

11

BVCs

12

Distributed Teams

13

Tips & Tricks

Tips and Tricks

Story Issues

Scope creep
identify

Hangover stories
Changes during the iteration
Bugs found

done

elaborate

Change in requirement
Wrong estimates
Epics not stories
Unavailable SME

test

build

BAU

Tips and Tricks

Iteration Smells

Missing team members

Repeating tasks
No impediments raised/same impediments raised
day after day
Directive IM or PM
Specialized job roles/not acting like a team and
doing whatever it takes