Christof Ebert, Vector Consulting Services · Christof Ebert, Vector Consulting Services 9...

V1.1 | 2018-01-24

Christof Ebert, Vector Consulting Services

9 Essentials for Distributed Teams and Projects

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© 2018. Vector Consulting Services GmbH. All rights reserved. Any distribution or copying is subject to prior written approval by Vector. V1.1 | 2018-01-24

Vector Consulting ServicesWelcome

Railway

IT & Finance

Automotive

Aerospace

DigitalTransformation

Medical

Experts for product development,product strategy and IT

Interim support, such as virtual team and project management, line leadership

Global presence

Training on Agile, Requirements, Security, Safety, CMMI/SPICE etc.

Part of Vector Group with over 2000 employees

www.vector.com/consulting

www.vector.com/consulting-career

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Christof EBERTWelcome

[email protected] @ChristofEbert www.vector.com/consulting

Christof Ebert is managing director at Vector Consulting Services.

He supports clients to improve product strategy and product development and to manage organizational changes.

Prior to that, he held senior management positions for ten years at an IT world leader, most recently global responsibility for software technologies.

A trusted advisor for companies around the world, member of industry boards, and professor at the University of Stuttgart and at Sorbonne in Paris, Dr. Ebert authored several books.

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Current Challenges – Vector Client SurveyDistributed Teams

Source: Longitudinal research of all accepted contributions at ICGSE conferences 2006-2015, IEEE 2018.

With high pressure the “magic triangle” is currently growing in relevance.Distributed projects and teams are part of the solution – and of the problem.

Magic TriangleM

id-t

erm

cha

lleng

es

Short-term challenges

Vector Client Survey. Details: www.vector.com/trends. Horizontal axis shows short-term challenges; vertical axis shows mid-term challenges. Sum > 100% due to 3 answers per question. Strong validity with >4% response rate of 1500 recipients from different industries worldwide.

Innovative Products

Others

Connectivity

Distributed Development

Efficiencyand Cost

Digital Transformation

Governance and Compliance

ComplexityManagement

Securityand Safety

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

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Distributed Teams – Focus PointsDistributed Teams

Source: Longitudinal research of all accepted contributions at ICGSE conferences 2006-2015, IEEE 2016.

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Why Do We Need Distributed Teams – Despite all Challenges?Distributed Teams

2. InnovationGlobal growth strategy.Learn from different markets.

1. FlexibilityGig economy. Follow the skills. JIT networks beyond organizational boundaries. 3. Efficiency

Competitiveness. Process excellence.Speed to profit ahead of competitors.

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20-40% additional cost at begin of learning curve for 1-2 years

Over 20% of sourcing contracts are cancelled in first year

Over 50% do not deliver according to objectives or strategy and are cancelled downstream

Over 80% of companies are not satisfied with their global software activities

Increasing unexpected loss of IPR and technology know-how

Decreasing proficiency level due to inexperienced hiring

Distributed Teams: ChallengesDistributed Teams

Distance multiplies risks in an otherwise high-risk business

Sources: Christof Ebert: Global Software and IT, Wiley 2012; Vector Consulting Services’ client survey 2016; Deloitte: Is Outsourcing Losing Its Appeal? 2013, www.baselinemag.com/it-services/is-outsourcing-losing-its-appeal . Forrester's Forrsights Services Survey, Q2 2012, www.forrester.com/Forrsights+Services+Survey+Q2+2012/-/E-SUS1391 .

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Risks1. Project delivery failures2. Insufficient quality3. Distance and culture

clashes4. Staff turnover5. Poor supplier services6. Instability with overly high

change rate7. Insufficient competences8. Wage and cost inflation9. Lock-in10. Inadequate IPR

management

Top-Ten Risks and MitigationDistributed Teams

Source: Source: Ebert, Global Software and IT, Wiley 2012; ICGSE 2016

Risk Mitigation

9 Essentials for Distributed Teams and Projects

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9 Success Factors to Achieve Sustainable BenefitsNine Key Success Factors

Best PracticeBenefits

Success Factors

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9 Success Factors for Distributed TeamsNine Key Success Factors

Value and Customer

Orientation

Results-driven Agile

Leadership

Transparent Work/Product Organization

FlexiblePartner

Networks

SuitableSoft Skills

Collaborative IT

Infrastructure

Continuous Knowledge

Management

Strong Teams

Good-Enough Process

Capabilities

Flexibility

Innovation

Efficiency

Benefits

SuccessFactors Competences Communication Collaboration

Coming together is a beginning

Keeping together is a progress

Working together is a success.

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1. Strong TeamNine Key Success Factors

Marketing manager

Productmanager

Projectmanager

Customer, marketCompany,

steering board

Development, IT

Servicemanager

Operations

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Implementation Team building

Core team is as a team together responsible for results

Integration of all relevant functions –across sites and across silos

Focus on systematic processes

Connected beyond the immediate project needs, e.g. technologies, services, roadmaps, DevOps

Vector Project Experiences Commitments are kept due to trust

and shared responsibility

Schedule adherence has improved due to less fragmentation

Industry Case Study: Optimized CollaborationNine Key Success Factors

Practical hints:

Empower a dedicated small core team with clear responsibilities at project start

Build competences in due time

Have agile team meetings every day

Document agreements and status in a single source accessible for all project members

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2. Results-driven Agile LeadershipNine Key Success Factors

100%

One team, one site, <15mdistance

Ad-hoc working won’t scale

Same floor

Same building

Same process, time zone

Different time zones, cultures

Processes, tools are adjusted

Interface overheads, time zone frictions

Performance

Distribution

Product Ownership

Competences

Incentive on value

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Leadership and Management Depend on CultureNine Key Success Factors

Countries Leadership and Culture

Germany, USA

Northern Europe, UK

• Lead through joint decision preparation

• High level of formal standards, such as legal acts, that make leadership and governance rather difficult

• Authority is continuously challenged

Australia, Japan

France

Spain, Italy, Greece

• Leadership mainly oriented to the board level and the opinions of the employees

• Delegation of actions and concrete tasks

• Employees do not expect a high degree of autonomy of decision

South America

Arabic and Muslim countries

India, Pakistan

• Authority is accepted and not questioned

• Very low degree of delegation, centralized decisions

• Status symbols and privileges for managers visible and legitimate

• Low information exchange between hierarchic levels and functions

Participative Leadership

Authoritarian Leadership

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3. Suitable Soft SkillsNine Key Success Factors

Forming

Storming

Time

Communication standards

Clear goals and expectations

Initial Team building

Community building

Revise roles, responsibilities

Negotiate to win-win

Enhance team scope

Better pro-cesses, tools

Knowledge transfer

Norming

Performing

Subsequent failures

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4. Continuous Knowledge ManagementNine Key Success Factors

Sam

e

Direct team building

Collaborative workshops, interviews

Scenarios, use cases, case studies

Check lists

Same Different

Diff

eren

t

Culture

Location, time zone

Virtual team building

Formalized specifications

Check lists


Virtual team building

Virtual knowledge workshops

Remote trainings

Project reviews


Local activities and gathering, e.g. town hall, coffee corner, lunch

Project reviews

Knowledge workshops

Trainings

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Implementation Systematic approach for

requirements elicitation and specification and status tracking

Same standard environment for requirements access, templates across all sites

Coaching and Moderation for distributed requirements workshops

Vector Project Experiences Misunderstandings and defects are

detected earlier

Better agreements and commitments of different stakeholders

Late requirements changes had been reduced to one third

Industry Case Study: Distributed Requirements EngineeringNine Key Success Factors

Hints:

Enforce disciplined and systematic requirements engineering in all sites and across all functions

Use the same tool for requirements across all sites

Connect requirements to test and project management

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5. Value and Customer OrientationNine Key Success Factors

Task Business model Supplier model Learning curve

Breakeven period

Number of sites

New business models and processes

Preferably onshore; should be co‐located

External consulting with own

management team Long Long Few

Performance improvement

Onshore, close collaboration

External consulting with own

management team Middle Middle Few

Development of internal applications

Rightshore (distance won’t matter) Typically outsourcing Short Middle Few‐many

Product development (generic)

Rightshore (time‐zone matters)

Outsourcing or captive Middle Middle ‐long Few

Product development (embedded; complex)

Nearshore; preferably co‐located

Captive with dedicated support Middle Middle ‐long Few

Validation of software Rightshore (distance won’t matter); test and development

should be co‐located

Outsourcing or own test center Middle Middle Few

Maintenance of internal applications

Rightshore (distance won’t matter)

Outsourcing or captive Middle Middle ‐long Many

Maintenance of products


Outsourcing or captive Middle Long Few

Selection of software and infrastructure

Nearshore, close collaboration

Consulting; with own organization Short Short‐middle Few

Operation of infrastructure, SaaS


Outsourcing or own IT center Short Short‐middle Few

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6. Flexible Partner NetworksNine Key Success Factors

Are there sudden behavioral changes?

Are contractual agreements not being kept?

Are there difficulties and issues which are not communicated

Have inputs, specifications, etc. been frequently rejected?

Is turn-over rate of engineers on your projects above average?

Is there reduced contact with supplier senior management?

Does the supplier demand to re-prioritize requirements?

Does the supplier interpret the SLA overly exact and restrictive?

Is there an increasing amount of escalation?

Does the financial situation of the supplier worsen?

Did the supplier recently gain new and more relevant clients?

Do other clients leave the supplier?

0,1

1

10

100 Person years

10 100 1000

Project size (FPs)

Project effort

0,1

1

10

100 Person years

10 100 1000

Project size (FPs)

Project effort

Is progress according to agreed milestones and deliverables?

Are right skills and engineers available as agreed?

Is technical expertise on right level? Are agreed quality levels of

deliverables proven? Are the budgeted cost and schedule

kept? Is quality, cost and content of work

products adequate? Which risks materialize? Which risks

are mitigated? Are agreed standards and processes

implemented? Is security and intellectual property

sufficiently protected? Are governance mechanisms installed

and followed? Which improvements are proposed by

supplier? Is there any way to improve

relationship management?

Project Controller 1527 WX StatusProject Manager John Doe ContentStart ScheduleEnd CostSupervision XT-11 Steering Board

# Risk Probability Impact Score Org Prob. Org. Imp. Org. Score Action Resp1.2.3.4.5.

Open Issues1.2.3.4.5.

2006-01-012006-08-31

Jan 06

Feb 06

Mrz 06

Mai 06

Jun 06

Jul 06

Aug 06

Jan 06 Feb 06 Mrz 06 Apr 06 Mai 06 Jun 06 Jul 06 Aug 06 Sep 06 Okt 06

end value

project start

analysis

increment 1

increment 2

increment 3

system test

release

Milestones

-30

20

70

120

170

220

Jan 06 Feb 06 Mrz 06 Apr 06 Mai 06 Jun 06 Jul 06 Aug 06

Budget, latestExp. plan, originalExp. plan, latestExpenses, actual

Expense Control

eASEE-PrjMDashboard: Small Projects

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

0% 13% 24% 37% 50% 62% 75% 88% 100%

Planned ValueActual CostEarned Value

Earned Value

0200400600800

100012001400160018002000

01.01

.2006

01.02

.2006

01.03

.2006

01.04

.2006

01.05

.2006

01.06

.2006

01.07

.2006

01.08

.2006

01.09

.2006

detectedclosedopen, criticalclosed, est.

Defects

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Jan 06 Feb 06 Mrz 06 Apr 06 Mai 06 Jun 06 Jul 06 Aug 06 Sep 06

DescopedClosedTestedDesignedCommitted

Requirements

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

01.01

.2006

01.02

.2006

01.03

.2006

01.04

.2006

01.05

.2006

01.06

.2006

01.07

.2006

01.08

.2006

01.09

.2006

open

successful

plan, successful

Test Progress

Was the supplier sufficiently qualified? Have objectives and constraints been

met? Have all deliverables been according

to SLA and quality levels? Has effort been in line with estimates?

How to improve? Which risks materialized? Which risks

have been mitigated? Which improvements are suggested

by your own team? Has the work split and task allocation

been adequate? Are there possibilities to improve

relationship management? Are there possibilities to improve

communication? Which – own or mutual – processes

need to be improved? Is this the supplier to continue working

with?

General project informationName of project: XXXXXProjectmanager(s):

YYYYY

Purchasemanager:

ZZZZZZ

Supplier: AAAAAAADate: Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Project tracking characteristicsInitial baseline plan Final actuals

Peak staff: 8 8Product size in esloc’s 37900 37750Product size in functionpoints

842 838

Total effort (PM) 114,25 118,4Total duration (mos) 18,3 18,2Start date 06-04-1998 06-04-1998End date 31-08-1999 27-08-1999

Project tracking review data (initial baseline versus reportedactuals)

Scheduleoverrun

(percentage)

Effort overrun(percentage)

Size overrun(percentage)

InitialPI

ActualPI

InitialMBI

ActualMBI

0% -2% 0% 11,5 11,5 1,9 1,9

Errors SIT to FOC Errors after FOC Total errorsreported

MTTD at projectend

208 37 245 5

Status Report Overall history:

April '99 May '99 June '99 July '99 Aug.'99 Sept.'99

General project informationName of project: XXXXXProjectmanager(s):

YYYYY

Purchasemanager:

ZZZZZZ

Supplier: AAAAAAADate: Wednesday, September 29, 1999

Project tracking characteristicsInitial baseline plan Final actuals

Peak staff: 8 8Product size in esloc’s 37900 37750Product size in functionpoints

842 838

Total effort (PM) 114,25 118,4Total duration (mos) 18,3 18,2

Initial baseline plan Final actualsPeak staff: 8 8Product size in esloc’s 37900 37750Product size in functionpoints

842 838

Total effort (PM) 114,25 118,4Total duration (mos) 18,3 18,2Start date 06-04-1998 06-04-1998End date 31-08-1999 27-08-1999


Scheduleoverrun

(percentage)



InitialPI

ActualPI

InitialMBI

ActualMBI

Start date 06-04-1998 06-04-1998End date 31-08-1999 27-08-1999


Scheduleoverrun

(percentage)



InitialPI

ActualPI

InitialMBI

ActualMBI

0% -2% 0% 11,5 11,5 1,9 1,90% -2% 0% 11,5 11,5 1,9 1,9


MTTD at projectend

208 37 245 5



MTTD at projectend

208 37 245 5


April '99 May '99 June '99 July '99 Aug.'99 Sept.'99

Did you ever work with this supplier and would you do it again?

What expertise and references does the supplier bring?

How are skills managed in light of turnovers?

How stable is the supplier and its shareholders?

Do processes and process maturity fit your needs?

Can the supplier handle global development teams?

Can he manage teams with members from different companies?

Does the supplier have the necessary formal qualifications?

Are the legal constraints acceptable for you and your company?

Are tools, interfaces, IT infrastructure and security sufficient?

Are prices demanded for services competitive?

How will you avoid a lock-in position?

CompetitionSmall High

Competitors

1 2 3 4 5

Substitution riskSmall High

New solutions

1 2 3 4 5

ImpactsSmall High

External factors

1 2 3 4 5

Negotiation powerSmall High

Suppliers

1 2 3 4 5


Customers

1 2 3 4 5

Market entry riskSmall High

New entries

1 2 3 4 5


Competitors

1 2 3 4 5


Competitors

1 2 3 4 5


New solutions

1 2 3 4 5


New solutions

1 2 3 4 5

ImpactsSmall High

External factors

1 2 3 4 5

ImpactsSmall High

External factors

1 2 3 4 5


Suppliers

1 2 3 4 5


Suppliers

1 2 3 4 5


Customers

1 2 3 4 5


Customers

1 2 3 4 5


New entries

1 2 3 4 5


New entries

1 2 3 4 5

time

Sourcingstrategy

Initiationand ramp-up

Projectexecution

Evaluation andrelationshipmanagement

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7. Good-Enough Process CapabilitiesNine Key Success Factors

Process maturity sourcing client

Proc

ess

mat

urity

sou

rcin

g su

pplie

r

Low High

Low

High

Replacement

(insufficient supplier

performance, selection of better

supplier)

Overheads

(lack of downstream integration,

rework cycles)

Win-Win

(process integration,

shared objectives, mutual

optimization)

Failure

(dysfunctional interfaces, frictions, overruns)

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8. Transparent Work and Product OrganizationNine Key Success Factors

Establish coherent vision for globalization Safe-guard core competences and products Align global product and supplier portfolio Establish frame contracts with key suppliers Set up and maintain governance and IT structure

Set up a transparent work and process organization Align planning (skills, resources, sites, work split) Establish and monitor key performance indicators Institutionalize governance, process, tools, IT

Establish a transparent product organization Set up the distributed teams, products and projects Manage suppliers, sites and distributed teams

Set up strong teams with clear responsibilities Manage project-specific risks Set up, measure and reach agreed objectives

Enter-prise

BusinessDivision

Product line /departments

Projects

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9. Collaborative IT InfrastructureNine Key Success Factors

Collaboration

Processes

Roles

Governance

Content

PLM / ALM

data management

Technology

Groupware, Bots

Security

Bandwidth

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Implementation Standardized tools are stepwise

introduced in a heterogeneous organically grown environment

Push on consistent data management

Coaching for good tools usage

Vector Project Experiences Improved collaboration because

teams know who is currently on board

Standardized tools provide scale effects in license cost

Quality and schedule adherence for changes and new deliveries has been doubled

Industry Case Study: Facilitating CollaborationNine Key Success Factors

Hints:

Start with screen sharing, team collaboration tools and document management

Negotiate global license models adjusted to sour organization layout

Consider sufficient bandwidth

Stimulate engineers towards IPR protection and risk management

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The Way Ahead

Communication Collaboration

Competences

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Implement Necessary ImprovementsThe Way Ahead

Top 10 Risks…

1. Project delivery failures2. Insufficient quality3. Distance and culture clashes4. Staff turnover5. Poor supplier services6. Instability with overly high

change rate7. Insufficient competences8. Wage and cost inflation9. Lock-in10. Inadequate IPR

management

… What it means for YOU

Innovate competences Implement value-driven

technology decisions Innovate solutions with

products and services

Improve communication Make partners part of value

creation Drive Lean principles to

manage complexity and uncertainty

Grow collaboration Foster collaborative virtual

teams Stimulate people to work

together26/29


International Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE)Annual IEEE flagship conference

ICGSE is listed by: DBLP, IEEE, INSPEC, Microsoft Academic Search, Compendex, Library of Congress, AllConferences.com, WikiCFP

www.icgse.org

White paper with Siemens, Bosch etc.Directly and free from Vector Media Center:

www.vector.com/gse

Stay TunedThe Way Ahead

Gothenburg, Sweden 27.-29. May 2018

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Case Studies and Best PracticesThe Way Ahead

Global Software and IT

Christof EbertSecond Edition, Wiley, 2012 www.vector.com/books

“This book stands out as the best source of information on distributed software development. Seldom do we see a book with the concepts completely backed by industry experiences and views. Software developers and managers benefit from the broad case studies.”

S.M. Balasubramaniyan, Vice President, Wipro Technologies

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Thank you for your attention.Please contact us for support.

Passion. Partner. Value.

Vector Consulting Serviceswww.vector.com/[email protected]: +49 711 80670-0

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