27/03/2017

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@ConsultStorm

Pedictable Agile DeliveryRole of the Manager

Good Management, Good Agile

@ConsultStorm

Hello!I’m Russ Lewis

Coach, cage-rattler and learner My job is helping people succeed – I love my job!

@ConsultStormruss.lewis@storm-consulting.com

+44 7971 559 182

27/03/2017

2

@ConsultStorm

Session Objectives

Context: “Predictable Agile Delivery”

Propose Role of the Manager in 3 strategies

Get you thinking and talking about your role

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Information workers

Managers

Execs

(Middle) Managers, What’s the Point of You?

Managers are accountable externally (via KPIs)

Responsible internally for performance

(improvement)

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@ConsultStorm

Research Results

We need managers to- Take responsibility- Resolve conflict - Prioritise- Provide resources

We are not empowered

Workers are responsible

Our job is to- Make difficult decisions - Negotiate- Prioritise & share vision- Mentor & coach

Workers said… Managers said…

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My Best Manager …Has unclear objectives and imposes solutions

Cascades his/her stress

Delegates to the wrong person, then takes tasks back to give to another

Says great things, does the opposite

Unable to balance demands of administration and leadership

Is bad at listening, is self-centred

Gives no feedback

Has no idea what people are doing

Makes people multi-task too much

Gives inconsistent priorities

Is human, has emotional intelligence

Trusts me

Helps develops my learning and my career

Challenges and motivates me

Is my coach

Listens to me, actively

27/03/2017

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Meet the New Boss (same as the old boss)

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The Chasm Between business & IT

Business & IT are disconnected in large organisations

Delivery is slow

Results aren’t always great

Not enough collaboration

Consequence

Outsource / cut IT costs

Buy ‘agile’ as a solution

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(Sausage) Machine Model Organisations

PREDICTABLE, yes that’s what I said, “Agile”!

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The Journey - In-Transition

Adopting Agile –Learning stage

Leading Agile -Understanding

Purpose-driven organisation

increases learning within the

organisation from the bottom-up

Improvement from the top updates

culture & removesblockers

core services get unfair advantage and

customer-first priority

Predictable Agile Delivery remains the goal

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the Purpose-Driven Organisation

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Amazon is Principle-Driven

We obsess over our customers

We own the company – and don’t sacrifice

long-term value

Leaders work hard to disconfirm their beliefs

Hire and develop the best

Dive deep

Have backbone: disagree and commit

Our Leadership Principles work as hard as we do…

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@ConsultStorm

Meanwhile, Where are the Sausage Machine Organisations?

Poor quality requirements

o No stakeholder engagement

o No acceptance criteria

Fuzzy development processes

o End-to-end development process is a mystery

o Unpredictable lead times

Lack of prioritisation

o Work left at 90% complete

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3 Agile Delivery Strategies for Managers

Develop COMPETENCE

Lead COLLABORATION

#roleofthemanager

Effect PRIORITISATION

Learn the skills to do the work

Agree work in progress and

deliver it

Engage with theright people

27/03/2017

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Introducing Predictable Agile Delivery

Good looks like

Delivering on your commitment

Predictably

Reliably

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Competence

Share the goodness #RoleOfTheManager

27/03/2017

9

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As a Competency Manager

You set the standard of craftsmanship

o Requirements, architecture, test & QA skills

o Conduct improvement activities

o Be ‘present’ and listen ‘actively’

o Ensure everyone understands ‘the process’

o Take personal responsibility for success

Defend the org against incompetence

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Atelier Agile – 1/2 day every Wednesday

Teams choose topic & date

o Self-serve

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Team-Driven Improvement – Not Individual Responsibility

Plan: 100% “on the board”

Record: empirical data

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How About Pair PO / Pair Managing?

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Team-led Process Improvement

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Competency tactics

For team members:

Learn your subject, in your own time

½ day workshops (Atelier)

Adopt pair working

Lunch ‘n’ learns

Craftsmanship activities

For managers:

Pair managing / Pair PO

Manager as coach

Competency manager

Meeting hygiene & prep

If it’s below standard, stop now & call it out!

Exploit Strength, Support Weakness

27/03/2017

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Prioritisation

Have your say #RoleOfTheManager

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As a Prioritising Manager

Manager defends the team’s flexibility

o Visualise and socialise process (eg Kanban)

o Ensure work items are prioritised (globally)

o Maintain WIP limits & help team focus

Provides management as a service

o Unblocking and enabling

o Engages and develops the team

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The Story map for Prioritisation and Communication

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Link to “the Business”

of industry

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But Which is the Most Valuable

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Team / Department / Unit Values

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Openness & Data-Gazing

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Prioritisation tactics

Agree statement of Values

Use it for decision-making

Improve your toolset

Adopt Lean practices

Give better estimates

Do motivation / cognitive / personal maps

Invest in prioritisation

Learn to delegate

Help the team say ‘no’

Promote openness

Hold manager surveys

Shared goals (for teams)

Expect self-organisation

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Collaboration

Got a great story? #RoleOfTheManager

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As a Manager who Leads Collaboration

Lead team’s stakeholder engagement

o Structure interactions -> shared outcomes

o Create ‘worm-holes’ through the hierarchy

o Become a champion of delivery, celebrate

Consciously invest in trust relationships

o Peers, teams, reports, your superiors

o Develop your influence and C-IQ

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Recognise Boundaries & Plan accordingly

Handle internal and external boundaries differently

External dependencies areexplicit interfaces that require time for collaboration and neotiation

Include integration, test & deployment people from the start

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Improve your Dev->Ops Automation

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Team’s Effectiveness is Limited by Weakness

Improve your weakness

Exploit your strengths

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Celebrate and Communicate

Bugs out, customers first

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Collaboration tactics

Learn to manage external dependencies predictably

Implement Dev-Ops

Improve architecture / or re-build from ground-up

Pass admin tasks to admin people (not techies)

Lead from the top:- Bug-bashing day- Reasons to celebrate- MBWA

Work with micro-entities

Provide community value

Dedicate space to collaboration

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Agility Mapper

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#Role of the Manager in Transition

Support baby-steps improvement rather than changing people

Aim to remove blockers or develop enablers

Celebrate your org’s culture and develop it positively - yourself

Be as transparent and open as you can

Think: Competence – Prioritisation - Collaboration

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Q&A

Share the goodness #RoleOfTheManager