Are you an Agile Project Manager or an Agile Project Leader?

BSS Nexus Global © 2016

ARE YOU AN AGILE PROJECT MANAGER OR

AN AGILE PROJECT LEADER?

And why does that question

matter?


About me Did entire B.Sc. in Computer Science on punched cards…really…now I wear Dick

Tracey’s watch

Was the Agile Mentor for PRINCE2 Agile for AXELOS in 2015

Lead author on book that was endorsed by Dr. Alistair Cockburn, co-author of the

Agile Manifesto

Wrote two White Papers for AXELOS to be published this year:

- Implications of Agile thinking on ITIL and RESILIA

- Implications of Agile thinking on the AXELOS PPM Suite of Guidance

Working on a White Paper with a major Scrum organization

Lead Author for The Agility Series”:

- Types of Agility (Strategic, Value, Delivery, Business, Cultural, Organizational, etc.)

- Agile PMO’s

- Agile Organization Metrics

- Metrics for Agile PPM

- The Agile Executive


Preparing to Learn

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull.

No more will go in!“

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"


Topics

• What is Agility?

• What is Agile Project Leadership?

• How do you become an Agile Project Leader?


WHAT IS AGILITY?


Why do Organizations Spend?

VENTURE

GROWTH

NONDISCRETIONARY

CORED

iscr

etio

nar

y P

roje

cts

No

n-D

iscr

etio

nar

y C

ost

s

Transform the Business

DISCRETIONARYENHANCEMENTS

Grow the Business

Run the Business

Degrees of freedom to

allocate funds…yet

desired business outcomes still

drive

Clarity of connection with desired business

outcomes

6


The 9 Types of AgilityLeadership

Agility

Strategic Agility

Value Agility

Delivery Agility

Business Agility

Cultural Agility

Client Agility

7

Learning Agility


Value as Perception

“Money is a perfectly legitimate measurement of goods sold or services rendered. But it is no calculation of value...

Value is a feeling, not a calculation. It is perception.”

8


The Strategic questions. Are the

initiatives: • Defined from the perspective of our vision?

• Consistent with our business principles?

• Contributing to our strategic objectives?

• Providing optimal value, at affordable cost, at an

acceptable level of risk?

The Value questions. Do we have:• A clear and shared understanding of the

expected outcomes/benefits?

• Clear accountability for realising the benefits?

• Do we have relevant metrics?

• Do we have an effective benefits realisation

process?

The Architecture questions. Is it:• In line with our business and technical

architectures?

• Consistent with our architectural principles?

• Contributing to the population of our

architecture?

• In line with other initiatives?

The Delivery questions. Do we have:• Effective and disciplined delivery processes?

• Competent and available technical and business

people to deliver:

• The required capabilities?

• The organisational changes required to leverage

the capabilities?

Shaping Perception

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing

the right

things?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

doing them

the right

way?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

them done

well?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Are we

getting

the

benefits?

Technical Domain

Business Domain

How we organize

How we prioritize

9

Are the initiatives purpose-defined?

What impact are

the initiatives having?

Are they being done in the right

order?

Are the initiatives

timely?


Value Agility

10

The Nexus Framework – Scrum.org


Value and Delivery Agility

11


Characteristics of Value Agility

• Value is understood to be more than money

• By knowing that “Value is Perception” it is considered acceptable

for Value statements to be prioritized

• Value statements are clear and unambiguous and projects and

portfolios can be defined based on them

• Expected benefits also can be stated and prioritized

• Not all planned Value has to be delivered for there to be a

perception that Value has been delivered

12


Relevancy to Project Leadership

Known Knowns

Known UnknownsUnknown Unknowns

RiskHoly Crap!

Planned

Maybe we should do that….

Or unknown aspects of the problem?

13

“The edge of Chaos and Disorder”


WHAT IS AGILE PROJECT

LEADERSHIP?


It’s different than Project

Management

Customer Collaboration

Individuals & Interactions

Working Software

Responding to Change

Customer Interaction

High Performance Teams

Working Software

Responding to Change

Contract Negotiation

Processes and Tools

Comprehensive Documentation

Following a Plan

Also know as

Also know as

Also know as

Also know as

Valued more than

Valued more than

Valued more than

Valued more than

15


It turns the Model upside down

16


Teams are constructed differently

Business Leader

DeliveryLeader

PDTProjectLeader

PDTProjectLeader

PDTProjectLeader

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam

ScrumTeam Scrum

Team

ScrumTeam

Portfolio Leadership Team

PDT = Portfolio Delivery Team

17


The Team’s Roles also Change

Agile Teams Traditional Teams

Generalizing specialists Specialists (BA, Architect, Designer, Developer, Tester, etc.)

Competency as a personal contribution Competency as a role

Team contribution to value delivery Personal contribution to deliverable creation

Everyone's a leader PM manages team

Team owns estimates and commitments PM drives estimates and teams to deliver to those estimates

18


Your role is not the same

• Manage “the system” not the people – push responsibility down

• Clear the path (removes impediments) and enable the teams and

the organization

• Facilitate a shared understanding of “the product” that is value-

based over deliverables-based

• Ask, but don't tell

• Utilize systems thinking – i.e. look out for the whole

• Understand the concept of emergence in problem understanding,

architecture and design

• Rely on transparent and visual tracking over status meetings and

reports

19


Project Leadership Focus

Agile Project Leadership Focus Traditional PM Focus

Value delivery Plans and artifacts

Adaptive action Change control

Rolling release planning (Scope) that reflects current understanding

Entire scope up-front

Facilitative leadership Top-down Control

Minimally viable (product, documentation, processes, etc.)

Prescriptive, heavyweight processes

Essential, value-delivery focused metrics Non-value added controls and reporting

Team estimating PM estimating

Constant planning with entire team Mostly one-time planning with just a few people

20


Agile relies on creating a Shared

Vision

• A shared vision means having a shared understanding for why the

project is being done

• A shared understanding allows us to create a cogent approach to

what has to be done, how it will be done, when it will be done,

and who needs to do what where

21


HOW DO YOU BECOME AN AGILE

PROJECT LEADER?


Navigate through Uncertainty –Emergence and Choice

23


Plan Driven vs. Value Driven

24

Defined Discovery

• Scope• Budget• Schedule

• Highest Value• Allocate Budget

Requirements Capabilities• Defined without priority

• Prioritized based on business value

• Sequenced based on ROV

Limited Evolution Constant Evolution

• Scope• Budget and Schedule

fixed

• Based on emergent problem understanding - Budget follows

“Big bang” DeploymentIncremental

Deployments

• Build all and deploy all features at end

• Build & deploy features in increments based on Priority & Value


Focus on Agile Value Delivery

25


Collaborate to Co-Create

26


Recognize Estimates are not Facts• The estimated cost of the project is $1,342,339.67?

• The estimated duration of the project is 6 months 4 days 3 hours

10 minutes and 22 seconds?

• The estimated number of people required is 6.732367?

• The estimated number of story points is 10?

27


Use Simple Rules

• Create definitions for Done, Ready for Work, etc. that are

unambiguous and doable

• Focus only on that which is Minimally Viable

Product

Processes

Documentation

Etc.

• Before adding to a process, ask what value does it bring, and is it

worth the additional steps

• Establish Release Goals and Sprint Goals – every time

28


Use a Light Touch

• Lead over managing

• Recognize and cultivate the autonomy of teams

• Maintain a focus on value and on the customer

• Means:

Decision-making is shared

Leading the flow of value delivery

Recognizing people as whole-persons and treating them accordingly

Focusing on strengths over weaknesses to leverage individual and

team uniqueness

29


Practice Adaptive Leadership

• Adjust to what we now know that we did not know previously -

emergence

• Track and monitor value delivery

• Help teams apply Agile practices (coach/mentor)

• Learn and adapt continuously

• Embody leadership that inspires and energizes the team

30


Get Team Feedback Daily

31


Use Appropriate Metrics

• Measure value-delivery not deliverables or time spent

• Don’t compare velocity across teams

• Track escaped Defects, assess reasons, make improvements, and

measure improvements. Rinse and Repeat

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Stay on Track or Adjust the Track

33


Contact Info

@cooperlk99

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/lawrencekcooper

[email protected]; www.BSSNexus.com

(613) 868-0982

https://www.brighttalk.com/channel/13643/the-agility-series

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/lawrencekcooper

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bssnexus.com/

https://www.brighttalk.com/channel/13643/the-agility-series

Are you an Agile Project Manager or an Agile Project Leader?

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