Agile Inception Strategies : Presented by Khaarthigha Subramanian
Agile project inception workshop
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Transcript of Agile project inception workshop
Agile Project Inception
Workshop
Getting Aligned and Making Commitments
1
Bill Bourne & Caroline Sauvé
Gatineau-Ottawa Agile Tour 2014 #GOAT14
November 24th, 2014
This chart package will be available on-line, along with reference
resources.
Caroline Sauvé
Lean and Agile Coach
@caro_sauve
https://agilemeditation.wordpress.com/
http://boldradius.com/blog
Who Are We?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 2
Bill Bourne
Development Leader
@abbourne
ca.linkedin.com/in/williambourne/
www.sourceform.ca
Why go through project inception?
What problems are we solving?
3Agile Project Inception #GOAT14
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4
door car for my family. It should be economical and
reliable.”
Framed as a software project, before I “buy”, I need
to know:
What I will get?
How long it will take?
What it will cost?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 4
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4
door car for my family. It should be economical and
reliable.”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 5
“No problem! We should be able to get started in two
months and we’ll probably take about 3 months to build and
test it. Assuming (of course) that the team doesn’t get
pulled on to building or repairing another car. We’ll plan out
the build together and give you regular “show and tells” to
review progress every couple of weeks.”
In House Agile Development Point of View…
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4 door car
for my family. It should be economical and reliable.”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 6
“No problem! It will cost about $20K to $30K.
We’ll assign 1 junior engineer to build it.
We’ll deliver it in 2 to 3 months, and we’ll
give you demos of progress every 2 weeks.
We’ll work out the detailed features as we go.
Please sign here!!!”
Consultant Point of View…
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4 door car
for my family. It should be economical and reliable.”
Four Doors
Economical?
Reliable?
Family Car????
Framed as a software project, what do each of the
stakeholders believe will fulfill the vision or need expressed
by the driver?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 7
Four door, Economical, Reliable
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 8
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4 door
car for my family. It should be economical and reliable.”
Does the driver have a place to park the car?
Does the driver have license to drive? How long will it
take for him to get a license?
Does the driver have “family activities” that we should be
aware of?
Does the driver live in chilly Ottawa or warm San
Francisco?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 9
Project Family Car
Project Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4 door
car for my family. It should be economical and reliable.”
“The car needs to have a top speed that beats a Bugatti
Veyron… that’s never been done before.”
“The paint color has been changed 5 times because it’s not
quite right… the team is getting frustrated because they
aren’t done building the engine.”
“Driver wants the car to also be able to tow his new boat.”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 10
10 Questions You’d be Crazy not to ask Before
you Start Your Next Project
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 11
rAsk tough questions early, when its cheap to change
Take a few days or so for every couple of months of project duration
Project Bounds Shrink as Time goes by
Neighbors can be a big help
Too late! Find risks early
The Source
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 12
Project chartering is a gap in
Agile methods.
There’s value in identifying major
gaps early.
The Inception Deck is a
lightweight Agile project
chartering technique…
https://pragprog.com/book/jtrap/the-agile-samurai
Project Inception Outcomes
1. Creating a Shared Understanding
2. Understanding and Managing Risk
3. Product Context and Estimation
4. Putting it All Together – Go Forward!
Workshop Rules:
A. Ask questions - we’re here to help!
B. Smart phones welcomed to support your
work.
C. Work as a team.
D. Have fun!
13
Settle In With Your Team
Introduce yourself
Where you are from
What role you play on a project
What you are hoping to learn from this session
Bonus points (purely optional)
A past or current stressor on a project
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 14
Inception DeckA. Creating a Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here
2. Create an elevator pitch
3. Design a product box
4. Create a NOT list
B. Understanding and Managing Risk
5. Meet your neighbors
6. Show the solution
7. What keeps us up at night
C. Product Context and Estimation
8. Size it up
9. What’s going to give
D. Putting it All Together
10. What’s it going to take
Create the Project Bounds
Customize the Inception Deck
Keep it Agile and Fun!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 15
Inception Deck Purpose
Eliminate confusion and misuderstanding
Set Expectations
Highlight Challenges
Get Alignment
Build the sense of Team
Do this before you write a single line of code!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 16
Inception Deck Principles
It’s a “deck” not a document
Don’t get attached to the deck itself.
The 5 Cs:
Stimulate Conversations
Encourage Collaborations
Develop shared understanding – Consensus
Allow for Creativity
Its about Communication
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 17
Create a Shared UnderstandingA. Creating a Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here
2. Create an elevator pitch
3. Design a product box
4. Create a NOT list
B. Understanding and Managing Risk
5. Meet your neighbors
6. Show the solution
7. What keeps us up at night
C. Product Context and Estimation
8. Size it up
9. What’s going to give
D. Putting it All Together
10. What’s it going to take
Create the Project Bounds
Customize the Inception Deck
Keep it Agile and Fun!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 18
Create Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here (Really)
Teams make 1000s of decisions and tradeoffs
Goal + Decisions = Impact
Team needs to know why…
Motivate the team!
Empower self-organization
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 19
What is the #1 reason for doing this project?
Create Shared Understanding
2. Create an Elevator Pitch – 30 seconds
Forces hard conversations happen:
Who is it for?
How is it different?
Why will people buy it?
What’s its value?
What’s the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 20
Brings Clarity and Focus to Project
Create Shared Understanding
2. Create an Elevator Pitch – 30 seconds
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 21
Create Shared Understanding
2. Create an Elevator Pitch – 30 secondsProject Description: “As a driver I want to buy a 4 door car for my
family. It should be economical and reliable.”
For “drivers”
Who “want an economical and reliable car”
The “CarolineAndBillMobile”
Is a “Family Car”
That “hummm….”
Unlike “derp derp…”
Our product “meep meep meeps…”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 22
Create Shared Understanding
3. What if your product was a box
What would it look like?
Would you buy?
Features -> Benefits
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 23
Create Shared Understanding
3. What if your product was a box
What would it look like?
Would you buy?
Features -> Benefits
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 24
• 555 HP engine
• 0-100 km/h in 4.7 sec
• Brake energy regeneration
• All wheel drive
Features
Create Shared Understanding
3. What if your product was a box
What would it look like?
Would you buy?
Features -> Benefits
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 25
• 555 HP engine
• 0-100 km/h in 4.7 sec
• Brake energy regeneration
• All wheel drive
Features
• Pass easy on highway
• Impress your friends
• Save money
• Never get stuck
Benefits
Create Shared Understanding
3. What if your product was a box – What’s on the box
List the benefits (at least 3 compelling reasons why someone would buy)
Create a slogan – something catchy
(go ahead and be cheesy!)
Draw your creation
Why would we buy?
Clarity
Focus
Alignment
Intent
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 26
Create Shared Understanding
4. Create a “Not” List (Scope)
How do you tell someone what’s IN scope for their project?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 27
Create Shared Understanding
4. Create a “Not” List (Scope)
How do you tell someone what’s IN scope for their project?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 28
Exercise
Lego Desk Accessory Builder Kit
Answer “why are we
here?”
Create the elevator
pitch
Design a product box
Create a “not” list
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 29
Understanding and Manage RiskA. Creating a Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here
2. Create an elevator pitch
3. Design a product box
4. Create a NOT list
B. Understanding and Managing Risk
5. Meet your neighbors
6. Show the solution
7. What keeps us up at night
C. Product Context and Estimation
8. Size it up
9. What’s going to give
D. Putting it All Together
10. What’s it going to take
Create the Project Bounds
Customize the Inception Deck
Keep it Agile and Fun!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 30
Understanding & Managing Risk
5. Meet Your Neighbours
Your project community is always bigger than you think
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 31
Understanding & Managing Risk5. Meet Your Neighbours
Your project community is always bigger than you think
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 32
Technical WritersTraining
Product Support
Help Desk
Professional Services
Security
Trials Team
Sales
Account Teams
Production
Support
Database
AdministratorsInstallation TeamsEveryone Else!
Understanding & Managing Risk5. Meet Your Neighbours
The Greater Community:
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 33
Understanding & Managing Risk6. Show the Solution
You pick your architecture … when you pick your team!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 34
Understanding & Managing Risk6. Show the Solution
Your pick your architecture … when you pick your team!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 35
Understanding & Managing Risk7. What keeps us up at night?
Surface risky assumptions
New requirements and stakeholders
What you know you don’t know
What you don’t know, you don’t know
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 36
Understanding & Managing Risk7. What keeps us up at night?
Talk to your neighbours! Hear from the “other side” as well
as team members
If you hear something crazy… get it out there!
Better now than leaving it to later
But don’t create a:
“Whine chart”
“Cover Your Ass chart”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 37
Understanding & Managing Risk7. What keeps us up at night?
Avoid whining and CYA
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 38
Understanding & Managing Risk7. What keeps us up at night?
Conduct a project “Pre-Mortem”
A. Get the team together … plan for an hour or so
B. Imagine a fiasco … the project totally failing…. so bad its
embarrassing
C. Ask “What could have caused this?” Each person (on their
own) generates possible reasons for the fiasco
D. Consolidate the Lists
E. Prioritize the items, and pick a few “hot topics”
F. Re-visit the plan
G. Rinse and Repeat – review the list every so often.
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 39
Exercise
Lego Desk Accessory Builder Kit
Meet the Neighbours
Conduct a mini Pre-
Mortem. Role play
some of the
neighbours.
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 40
Product Context and EstimationA. Creating a Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here
2. Create an elevator pitch
3. Design a product box
4. Create a NOT list
B. Understanding and Managing Risk
5. Meet your neighbors
6. Show the solution
7. What keeps us up at night
C. Product Context and Estimation
8. Size it up
9. What’s going to give
D. Putting it All Together
10. What’s it going to take
Create the Project Bounds
Customize the Inception Deck
Keep it Agile and Fun!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 41
1 ? 3 ? 6 mont hs?
Monday, 13 August, 12
Product Context and Estimation8. Size It Up
Recognize you are guessing!
You do need a good, reviewed, Product Backlog to estimate
from.
If the Product Backlog is unstable, its too early to estimate
Use the “law of large numbers” to your advantage
The estimate for each User Story does not need to be
accurate, just unbiased.
Some will be high, some will be low… so the overall estimate
will come out “about” right
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 42
Product Context and Estimation8. Size It Up
Make sure your sponsors/stakeholders see this!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 43
Guestimation
Add user
Print itinerary
Cancel trip
Book permit
Update permit
Search
Create device
Add swap trade
Add option
Cancel plan
Master story list
Make sure your sponsors see this!
Monday, 13 August, 12
Product Context and Estimation8. Size It Up
Think Small – Break up a large project if necessary
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 44
Think small
1 2 3 6 9 12 months
Risk
Project length(Randy Mott)
Monday, 13 August, 12
Product Context and Estimation9. Be Clear on What’s Going to Give
Need to deal with “too much to do and not enough time”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 45
Product Context and Estimation9. Be Clear on What’s Going to Give
Need to deal with “too much to do and not enough time”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 46
Time Budget Quality Scope
Monday, 13 August, 12
Product Context and Estimation9. Be Clear on What’s Going to Give
Use Trade-off Sliders
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 47
• They can’t all be ‘ON’
• No two can occupy the same level
• Quality should probably be excluded, or always be ‘ON’
• Low quality is ultimately expensive, slows the project, and increases costs.
But these are not enough…..
Product Context and Estimation9. Be Clear on What’s Going to Give
Use Trade-off Sliders
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 48
Include other important stuff……
Exercise
Lego Desk Accessory Builder Kit
Create Project Sliders
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 49
Putting It All TogetherA. Creating a Shared Understanding
1. Ask why we are here
2. Create an elevator pitch
3. Design a product box
4. Create a NOT list
B. Understanding and Managing Risk
5. Meet your neighbors
6. Show the solution
7. What keeps us up at night
C. Product Context and Estimation
8. Size it up
9. What’s going to give
D. Putting it All Together
10. What’s it going to take
Create the Project Bounds
Customize the Inception Deck
Keep it Agile and Fun!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 50
Time Budget Quality Scope
Monday, 13 August, 12
1. How much?
Monday, 13 August, 12
2. When?
Monday, 13 August, 12
Monday, 13 August, 12
How Much? When? What Will it Take?
“The Furious Four”
“What Every Executive Wants to Know”
Putting it All Together10.What’s it Going to Take?
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 51
Putting it All Together10.What’s it Going to Take?
Be Clear on Your Team
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 52
Put anyone (or skill) you feel is necessary for the success of the project on this list
Putting it All Together10.What’s it Going to Take?
Be Clear on the Resources You Need
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 53
Put the resources you need to be effective and complete the project
# Item Description Why
6 PC Desktops For developers
2 Windows Surface RT For testing with
3 Linux Servers For back end development & testing
Access to current
production system
Need logs and performance data
Dedicated LAN and
WiFi system & test
equipment
Network performance impairment test
equipment. Load balancer
To to test system
performance when
network is impaired.
Putting it All Together10.What’s it Going to Take?
Clarify Who’s Calling the Shots
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 54
Create Your “Project Bounds”
Describes when an Agile Team needs to escalate
change decisions to stakeholders.
The Agile team must be allowed to be self-organizing and
make their own decisions on the day-to-day execution of
the project.
However at some point, when changes exceed a certain
agreed point, then the decisions on how to handle the
change must be brought to the “stakeholders”
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 55
Time Budget Quality Scope
Monday, 13 August, 12
Sample Project Bounds
Describe when an Agile Team need to escalate change decisions to stakeholders, and when stakeholders need to escalate to Agile Team
“Out of Bounds” is not always negative!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 56
Criteria Value Range Notes
Date: May 15th, 2015 +/- 4 Weeks
Scope: All product backlog epic stories
listed as “anchor”
30%-60% of the
epics listed as
“important”
Budget: $300,000 +/- 20%
Staffing 7 person scrum team assuming
regular vacation schedules
+/- 3 person
months
Loss of staff, extended illness,
new SME staff need to be
added, etc
Quality Whether this should be on the
project bounds is debatable
Other
Customize the Inception Deck
Be flexible … you don’t always need every slide
Add or adapt slides if it will help with understanding
Keep the deck visible at all times
Update certain activities as it makes sense (e.g. elevator
pitch; what keeps you up at night?)
Several adaptations out there... Check ‘em out!
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 57
Summary
The inception deck outcomes…
1. Creating a Shared Understanding
2. Understanding and Managing Risk
3. Product Context and Estimation
4. Putting it All Together – Go Forward!
Hard questions, hard conversations…
It’s about establishing safety.
Cost of delay: client, team, business.
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 58
Parting Thoughts
Keep it Agile and Fun
Focus on the conversations, collaboration and shared understanding
Don’t be afraid to have the difficult conversations
You can use the Inception Deck at “Concept” and “Commit” Gates when using Agile under a Phase Gate Process Agile software development under a Phase Gate “top level”
product development process
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 59
References “The Agile Samurai”, Jonathan Rasmusson, https://pragprog.com/book/jtrap/the-agile-samurai
“Agile Project Initiation Techniques – The Inception Deck and Boot Camp”, Jonathan Rasmusson, http://rasmusson.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/rasmusson-agileinceptiondeckbootcamp.pdf
The Agile Warrior Blog – The Agile Inception Deck https://agilewarrior.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/the-agile-inception-deck/
The Agile Warrior Blog – Blank Agile Inception Deck Template https://agilewarrior.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/blank-agile-inception-deck-template/ and http://anoriginalidea.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/powerpoint-inception-deck-template-for-the-agile-samurai/
Nine Agile Steps that Injected magic into our project http://nomad8.com/9-agile-steps-that-injected-magic-into-our-project/
“Introducing Agility into a Phase Gate Process”, Construx, V1.1, 2011 http://www.construx.com/Resources/White_Papers/Introducing_Agility_into_a_Phase_Gate_Process/
An excellent paper on how Agile processes can fit effectively “under” a traditional end-to-end phase gate process.
Project Pre-Mortems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortem https://hbr.org/2007/09/performing-a-project-premortem http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov/courses/risk-comms/module_2/documents/pre-mortem.pdf
“Project Success Sliders”, Mountain Goat Software http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/tools/project-success Also check out the other tools on Mike Cohn’s site
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 60
Thank you
Agile Project Inception #GOAT14 61