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Sustaining Agility after the
Coaches Leave Dan LeFebvre Agile/Scrum Coach, CSC © DCL Agility, 2010-2011
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8/10/2011 Agile2011
Dan LeFebvre Founder & Agile Coach,
DCL Agility, LLC
www.dclagility.com
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) Certified Scrum Coach (CSC)
Extensive experience in software product development as a developer, manager, director, and coach
Using agile practices since 2003
Fulltime Agile Coach since 2006
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Learning Outcomes
Understand the forces that act against a change to agile
Techniques to discuss and address them in your organization
How to install mechanisms to maintain agility
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Force Field Analysis
“ An issue is held in balance by the interaction of two opposing sets of forces – those seeking to promote change (driving forces) and those attempting to maintain the status quo (restraining forces)” – Kurt Lewin
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Status Quo
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Developed by Kurt Lewin 8/10/2011 Agile2011
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Desired State
Force Field Analysis
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Status Quo
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Developed by Kurt Lewin 8/10/2011 Agile2011
Sustainable Agility
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
Agile Transition Dynamics
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Current method is not working
Early successes process/PMO/roadblocks
Departmental Friction
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Team self-organization
Status Quo
Fear of losing position or power
Annual budgeting process
Fear of learning new skills
Initial excitement
Agile Champion
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Sustainable Agility
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
Agile Transition Dynamics
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Current method is not working
Early successes process/PMO/roadblocks
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Team self-organization
Status Quo
Fear of losing position or power
Annual budgeting process
Fear of learning new skills
Departmental Friction
Initial excitement
Agile Champion
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Sustainable Agility in
your organization
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
Your Turn
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Status Quo
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
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Exercise: Stretch break
Stand up and stretch your body
Turn to the person standing next to you and give him/her a short, two-minute, verbal summary of what you've just learned about Force Field Analysis
Next, listen to your partner’s summarization of his/her learning
Sit when finished
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Sustainable Agility
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
How to Use FFA
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Current method is not working
Early successes
Initial excitement
Agile Champion
process/PMO/roadblocks
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Team self-organization
Status Quo
Fear of losing position or power
Annual budgeting process
Fear of learning new skills
Departmental Friction
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Reinforcing the Removal of Impediments
Teams will raise impediments
They will need help to remove them
If management ignores them, team will be discouraged
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Need an organization impediments removal mechanism
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Enterprise Transition Community with
Improvement Communities
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Source: Succeeding with Agile Using Scrum- Mike Cohn
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ScrumMaster Team
ScrumMasters are expected to be the organizational change agents
ScrumMasters form a team to remove impediments
Collects and prioritized impediments
Works to fix them in priority order
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Sustainable Agility
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
Handling Fear
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Current method is not working
Early successes
Initial excitement
Agile Champion
process/PMO/roadblocks
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Team self-organization
Status Quo
Fear of losing position or power
Annual budgeting process
Fear of learning new skills
Departmental Friction
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Fear
Learning something new is scary
Will I be good enough? What is wrong with my way?
Role changes are scary
Will my job go away? Will I like the new role?
Fear can trigger the “fight or flight” instinct
Many organizations see an increase in the attrition rate
Many organizations adopt “Scrumbut” behavior because resistance is too high in some areas
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Provide Support to Manage Fear
People need help to work through their fears
Help to understand new roles of ScrumMaster and Product Owner
How to test in agile way
An Agile Champion or Agile Coach can help initially
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Need an internal support system
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User Groups and Conferences
Encourage people to continue learning
Provide budget for people to attend conferences
Require attendees to run “brown bag” learning sessions
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Communities of Practice
Groups of “like-minded” people get together to help and support each other
ScrumMasters
Product Owners
Testers
Architects
Managers
Share experiences, observe each other, provide feedback, review books, etc.
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Internal Agile Coach
Acts as the conscience of the organization
Facilitates creation of communities of practice
Help train new employees
Works with executives to help transition to lean and agile thinking
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Sustainable Agility
• Transparency • Predictability • Self-Organizing
Teams • Responsive to
customer needs • Improved
Quality • Astonishing
Results
Project Initiation
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Current method is not working
Early successes
Initial excitement
Agile Champion
process/PMO/roadblocks
Driving Forces Restraining Forces
Team self-organization
Status Quo
Fear of losing position or power
Annual budgeting process
Fear of learning new skills
Departmental Friction
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Adopt Agility in the Annual Planning
Process Organizations need to commit to projects
Many managers have pet projects or stealth projects
Many people believe in “big, upfront” planning
This limits organizational agility
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Need an agile portfolio management process
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Portfolio Management Process
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Source: Manage Your Project Portfolio - Johanna Rothman
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Exercise: One-Minute Review
Tell your group what you think is important about what you just heard and what implications it has for your company
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Summary
Use Force Field Analysis to examine forces affecting a change
Devise strategies to strengthen driving and weaken restraining
Three mechanisms to drive agility include:
An impediments handling process
An internal coaching or support process
An agile portfolio management process
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