improving quality by changing culture

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jovriens/4956376253/

Improving Quality by Changing Culture John ClaphamThere are often two approaches to quality - get better at finding defects, and get better at reducing the number of escaped defects. This talk focuses firmly on the second option, how to set up teams and organisations that produce high quality products at source.

Surprisingly much of this isn’t about technology, it’s about the mindset of the team, their levels of responsibility and clarity of their goals. These concepts are often wrapped up in the catch all term ‘Employee Engagement’. It is no coincidence that, as many surveys have demonstrated, high performing organisations are also those with the highest engagement levels.

In this talk we’ll gain a better understanding of engagement, how it affects quality (positively or negatively!), and share practical ideas on how to create teams that consistently generate high quality code.

John Clapham@JohnC_Bristol

Cotelic

www.cotelic.co.uk

Improving Quality by Changing Culture

- Independent Agile Coach

- 1:1 Coach

- Trainer, Consultant

- Agile Polygot

- DevOps Pundit

- UX Enthusiast

- Reformed Conference Addict

- Lego Fanatic

- Bristol Dweller

Look for the root cause…

“Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.  ”

https://www.deming.org/theman/theories/fourteenpoints

“Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place. ”

https://www.deming.org/theman/theories/fourteenpoints

Deming’s Fourteen Points:No 11. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.  

https://www.deming.org/theman/theories/fourteenpoints

Seven Deadly Diseases of management:No 3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance 

https://www.deming.org/theman/theories/fourteenpoints

Engagement

Left shiftingXP

Continuous Delivery

Clear goals

SimplificationContinuous Integration

Consumer Understanding

Kaizen

Organisationalstructure

Quality at source

Build it right

CultureEducation

Build the right thing

Engagement

Left shiftingXP

Continuous Delivery

Clear goals

SimplificationContinuous Integration

Consumer Understanding

Kaizen

Organisationalstructure

Quality at source

Build it right

CultureEducation

Build the right thing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/toofarnorth/1399982211/

Why?

“Companies with highly engaged workers grew revenues two and a half times as much as those with low engagement levels.”

“Higher workplace engagement also leads to other positive outcomes: - lower absenteeism (37%), - fewer safety incidents (41%) - fewer quality defects (41%).”

Gallup Q12® Meta-Analysis Report

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/5412730623908442/

Who would you like to work with?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/5412730623908442/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/4108691705

Who would you like to work with?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/5412730623908442/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/4108691705

Who would you like to work with?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredphotostream/6302995233

http://www.ratemyrosetta.com/latteart/476/The Goal

“Engagement is the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organisation...”

- Corporate Leadership Council

“Engagement is the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organisation and how hard they work and how long they stay as a result of that commitment.”

- Corporate Leadership Council

Burnout antithesis - Maslach, C. & Leiter, M.P. The truth about burnout. New York. Jossey-Bass, 1997

ExhaustionCynicism Inefficacy

‘The Burnout antithesis’

Burnout antithesis - Maslach, C. & Leiter, M.P. The truth about burnout. New York. Jossey-Bass, 1997

Energy, Involvement, Efficacy

ExhaustionCynicism Inefficacy !=

‘The Burnout antithesis’

What engagement is not:-Showing up-Working Long hours-Using 20% time for work-Being busy

What engagement is not:-Showing up-Working Long hours-Using 20% time for work-Being busy

What engagement looks like:- Commitment, contribution- Actively helping others- Improving- Working smart

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ollesvensson/3575087969/

http://aubreydaniels.com/discretionary-effort

http://aubreydaniels.com/discretionary-effort

Engaged Employees

Disengaged Employees

Actively Disengaged Employees

https://www.usc.edu/programs/cwfl/assets/pdf/Employee%20engagement.pdf

? Who is most engaged

A.

A.

B.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/4108691705

A.

B.

C.

Happiness != Engagement

Happiness != Engagement Surveys

“On a scale of zero to ten, how likely is it you would recommend this company as a place to work?”

https://qeryz.com/blog/net-promoter-score-tool/

“How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?”

https://qeryz.com/blog/net-promoter-score-tool/

Niko Niko Calendar

http://desmart.com/blog/how-measuring-happiness-helped-us-build-a-better-team

The Ingredients

Project Aristotle

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 1943

Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tristankenney/4892580728/The Making

TP 14575 - Fatigue Risk Management System for the Canadian Aviation Industry

https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/publications/page-6108.htm

Confirmation Bias“is the tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses…”

Sort your incentives.https://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/14669824798/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rimuhosting/7689904958/

Improve Communications…

Stomp on under performance

Shift left

Seek diversity, be inclusive

https://www.flickr.com/photos/archeon/7753527262

Engage early…

Challenge your perceptions…

Goofing, dossing, slacking, bunking, skiving, shirking, hooky,

compiling, procrastinating, swinging the lead, goldbricking, cyber-slacking, buying

more post-its.

Challenge your perceptions…

Spiralling out of control?

Things to do, tomorrow…

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praise

“Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.” 

- Sam Walton

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)Pair Up (or mob)

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)Pair Up (or mob)Stop seeking permission

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)Pair Up (or mob)Stop seeking permissionCelebrate (the right)

successes

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)Pair Up (or mob)Stop seeking permissionCelebrate (the right)

successesOffer to help

Things to do, tomorrow…Say thanks, give praiseAsk for feedback (and

actually listen)Pair Up (or mob)Stop seeking permissionCelebrate (the right)

successesOffer to help Ignore your job title

Reflections

https://www.flickr.com/photos/halyousif/32280826/

“The total energy of an isolated system remains constant. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another.”

The law of conservation of energy:

https://puppet.com/blog/2016-state-of-devops-survey-here

People already show up – discretionary effort is what makes a difference.

“When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” 

- Simon Sinek

High engagement correlates with high performance.

- Data geeks

Engagement levels impact the bottom line, hiring, retention, safety at work, customer satisfaction and quality.

- Even more data geeks

“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel.”

– Sybil F. Stershic

Engagement is a method of building in quality, everyone has a part to

play.

Engagement is a method of building in quality, everyone has a part to

play.

What will you do?

John Clapham@JohnC_Bristol

Cotelic

www.cotelic.co.uk

Thanks!