lazarev- alfa-bank eng

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Управление проектами №2 (37) 2016Управление проектами №2 (37) 2016 DebriefingDebriefing

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Lock, Stock and two platformsCross-functional retrospective: what we have learned in four years

Dmitry Lazarev, Consultant on organizational development, facilitato.ru

Maria Garanina, Head of the Center of Expertise in Operating Processes, Alfa-Bank

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The status of the project and goals of the retrospective

In 2012, Alfa-Bank launched the project FLECS (Fast Loan Easy Cloud System). The goal was to change the IT platform in how they execute and finalize all loan agreements with

individuals with regards to consumer loans, credit cards and cash loans.

With the retail credit boom in 2012-13 the old application could not keep up to current spending trends. In this regard, there was very little progress in introducing new credit products. The bank decided to introduce a new automated platform called BPM Pega, which would improve their customer experience.

Project Settings

1. Budget: $ 12 000 000.

2. Duration: 4 years (2012-2016).

3. The project involved about 100 people at different times and with varying degrees from nearly 20 bank offices.

4. Development conducted by two external companies.

FLECS system Introduction – is a unique project for us. First, it is associated with piloting of BPM Pega platforms in the bank, and the adoption of strategic decision of transferring banking processes to the new platform depended on the correct analysis

of the results. Secondly, this is an example of a serious cross-functional cooperation. The integration of new software into the existing IT infrastructure and working with

multiple vendors at the same time. Which is especially important at a time when we are starting a large-scale restructuring of IT systems in line with the bank’s new strategy.These factors led us to the idea to hold not just the standard debriefing but try new, modern methods and to perform cross-functional retrospective of the project with the involvement of all entities participated in.In May 2015, when the project came to the finish line, we decided it was the very moment when it is time to stop and analyze the way passed, again before the final segment to check whether we can do something to improve the work.

In the IT project portfolio for re-tail lending FLECS project has al-ways occupied a special place.

During this project’s «journey», we have accumulated many as-

sets: experience, knowledge and a rich list of life-hacks, as well as, operational issues and problems remaining unresolved. When you do something for four years and spend 12 million dollars, in the third year it will always raise the eternal question: why so long and expen-sive, and when will it all end?We wanted to gather the whole team together to evaluate achievements and victories. To formalize an experience, understand what we have learned to do well, and how it can help us in dealing with obstacles that still prevented us from moving forward.We wanted to avoid the classic mistakes – when dur-ing a meeting of all remember insults, swearing, list very trivial problems, and then, as an optimization, someone proposes to cancel debriefing themselves. That is why we decided to hold a meeting in a new way.Now, after going through this exercise, I can say that a retrospective preparation and its implementation – is serious work. It’s not just one or two days of team-build-ing retreat, during which all participants listen to five fas-cinating presentations on the theme «How we did it», and then – sack races and dinner. Retrospective – a com-pletely different format, with a qualitatively different level of involvement of each individual. Next, we have consist-ently describe the whole process of prepar-ing a project’s cross-functional retrospective.

On one of the first meet-ings with Maria Garanina and the project sponsor,

we determined the list of the participants for the

Retrospective session. We invited employees of the 18 bank units (those who have worked hard and long on the project), as well as employees of two external vendors – suppliers: “IT” and “BTC” companies. For maximum effi-ciency, and to disconnect from the current af-fairs, we decided to hold a retrospective offsite and out of the city. We made a preparation plan: a) Launch meeting for all those who will partic-ipate in retrospective; b) individual interviews with each member of the project; c) the retro-spective itself; g) meeting after the retrospective, aimed at further de-velopment and implementation of the decisions taken.

Launch meeting (25 June 2015; 1.5 hours)

Work on the retrospective began with a big launch meeting that included all project participants that are significantly involved in the implementation. A total of 40 people gathered for the launch meeting.

Launch meeting had three objectives.

Firstly, we wanted to demonstrate a sincere interest of management and project sponsors in the results of a retrospective. At the beginning of the meeting, the head of retail management technology announced the companies’ goals. «We carry out FLECS project retrospective in order to:

a) to extract knowledge for the benefit of others; b) to look at the project from different perspectives, as the results of the project were controversial; c) to develop teamwork, project participants to cooperate, not just «learn to tolerate each other.»

Secondly, it was necessary to prepare participants for the upcoming retrospective and set the expectations. Retrospective – is not a session to search, charge, or punishment of any scapegoats. It is an opportunity to learn how and what can

be improved. The team will need to find ways to improve their performance by themselves as the most willing of socially acceptable answers do not exist. It was important to have at the launch meeting to convey to the participants Kerth’s Prime Directive:

Regardless of what we discover, we must understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job he or she could, given what was known at the time, his or her skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.

Thirdly, the meeting gave the opportunity to start at an early stage to get feedback from the participants of the project and to give a more accurate explanation of the retrospective itself. To do this, we discussed the following question, what topics do you think it is important to address in the course of the FLECS project retrospective?

Interviews with project participants (1-20 July 2015)

The next step was to have the retrospective facilitators hold personal meetings with each individual participant. This step was to understand the mindset of the employees, to identify the main issues and concerns, as well as to find out their attitude and willingness to participate in the retrospective.

However, the purpose of the interview before the retrospective was not only to learn the specifics of the project by consultant. Interviews have two other purposes more important than raising the consultant’s awareness.

The individual preliminary interviews were to help the participants gather and understand their thoughts

MARTIN PILECKI, CIO, «Alfa-Bank»:

MARIA GARANINA, Head of the Center of Expertise in Operating Processes, Alfa-Bank, «Alfa-Bank»

DMITRY LAZAREV, Consultant on organizational development

MEETING FOR FEED-BACK AND FUTURE

ACTIVITIES PLANNINGLAUNCH MEETING

OFFSITE MEETING

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

STAGES OF PROJECT RETROSPECTIVE

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and feelings, as well as help them prepare and articulate what they want to share in the upcoming retrospective.

The preliminary interview also can eliminate speculation about the motives of the consultant and his working methods. Often a retrospective is held at the end of the project. The success of which is being questioned at all different levels within the organization. Moreover, some participants, despite all the assurances of management remain concerned about possible «career limitations» as the results of a retrospective. Individual interviews help, if not completely dispel these fears, and help prepare employees to ensure that all discussions during the retrospective will take place in a safe atmosphere, and that the participation in retrospective is completely voluntary.

The two-day retrospective out of office and out of the city (July 30-31, 2015)

The event is designed so that at the beginning, participants perform several exercises designed to create a comfortable and safe environment to work together:

1. Working in groups, of which are constantly changing, so that everyone can communicate with as many people as possible.

2. Developing a common understanding of the project’s success.

3. Drawing up the emotional cardiogram project.4. Competition for the best artifacts.

During the first day, we made a timeline of FLECS project life by identifying and placing all important events.

After the retrospective

Two months after the “offsite retrospective” we held three more meetings to finalize the decisions before the project implementation. It is important to finish and put the squeeze on solutions to implementation. It’s essential to complete the current cycle and send the team a message that we did not just talk and have a good time together but were able to improve our operational performance.

Teamwork helps people to take responsibility for the implementation of the decisions and to gain the support from those on who will need to sustain the changes in the future.

We have noticed some positive behavior:

1. Employees themselves were engaged and brought their own proposals to the end without having to be forced.

2. People began to show more initiative and self-organization on improving workflow.

At the end of the interview I explained to each partic-ipant that retrospective is

very similar to the archae-ological site and asked

participants to look for the important project artifacts and bring them to the retrospec-tive. Artifacts are physical objects related to the project. Most often these objects are documents, such as the very first project schedule or the first version of the solution architecture, sketched on a napkin. I asked for some time to develop in the IT-archeologists and find important artifacts. Dur-ing the retrospective, we will arrange a compe-tition among team members, during which they need to introduce and describe their artifacts telling associated stories. Following these pres-entations, we will have a contest with prizes for artifacts in three categories: “The most important project artifact”, “The most unusu-al project artifact” and “The biggest collection of project artifacts.

DMITRY LAZAREV, Consultant on organizational development

The most emotional and memo-rable moment was the first day of its completion, when each can say

thanks to the man who helped and / or still help him / her in

the project. We too often do not have time to say a sincere thanks to others, and it is

not always acceptable (by inner culturally), and then it turns out that the only problems and complaints loudly sound, and good re-mains in the shadows.

OGANESOV GEORGE, Head of the Development of Credit Business Processes, product owner

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WHAT IS A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL RETROSPECTIVE PROJECT?

Purpose: To save time, energy and nerves in the future for projects implementation.

ResultThe collective wisdom of the team, absorbed during the project, extracted, documented and distributed to the entire company as a whole.

DurationPreparation: 3-6 weeks.The event: 2-2.5 day offsitePost-event retrospective: 1-3 months.Maintenance: If necessary, ½-day month.

Number of participants. 8-50 people.

List of participantsAll participants of the project, as well as representatives of external and internal stakeholders (contractors, customers).

Side effectsSwitching communication from allegations to personal responsibility.Improve business processes and interactions.Repair damaged relationships.

When to useIn complex projects with high stakes.In projects with highly interdependent teams: after a significant stage or at the end of the project.If you determine that, you need to find a way to improve your operation.

When not to useIn projects with low interdependent teams.When you are trying to find out who is responsible or guilty.When you need to influence the team gently to the pre-defined solutions.

Literature. Norm Kerth. Retrospective of the project,M.: Publisher D. Lazarev, 2015

What is a retrospective of the project?Retrospective of the project – a special ritual conducted:1) At regular intervals during the project (eg. Bi-weekly for 2–3 hours)

2) At the end of a significant phase (timeframe 1 year) or at the end no matter if the project failed or was successful. (2–2.5 day offsite)

Types of retrospectives:1) In – command,2) Cross-functional (inter-team).In this article, we describe our experience in cross-functional retrospective teams and what it was like at the end of a certain stages of the project.

What is the effect of a retrospective on the team’s performance?The aim of the retrospective is to save time and resources in the implementation of future projects. To complete research within teams from different sectors1 and show that a company can increase individual and team productivity by 20-25% by using properly prepared retrospectives.

Properly prepared retrospectives must meet four criteria:

1) Active self-learning (rather than passively accepting information). As a rule, people tend to learn and develop more progressively when they are directly involved and experiencing the learning. Therefore, in order to give a retrospective effect there should be activities that include self-training and self-study within the teams and not just the slide presentations.

2) Developmental intention (rather than administrative). Creating an environment of psychological safety where participants are providing constructive feedback in an appreciative way that allows for mutual dialogue and allows everyone to share their experience.

3) Analysis of the specific (not generic) events. Analysis of specific events will allow deeper understanding of individual actions and their relationship to the overall strategy. This approach allows retrospectives to identify future goals, action plans and final steps.

4) Multiple (but not the only) sources of information. A variety of points of view makes it possible to get the most complete picture of the working episodes. It is therefore useful to include a retrospective of external (independent in relation to the team as a whole) sources of information.

1 Tannenbaum, S.I. & Cerasoli, C.P. (2013). Do team and individual debriefs enhance performance? A meta-analysis. Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 55, 231–245.

3. Relationships, communication and mutual understanding between employees improved significantly.

At this point, it is sufficient to meet regularly, to maintain the focus on improving processes and redirect people’s attention from the fixing endless current issues to improvement of the project.

Here are some of our results:

1. Subprojects related to the transfer of cash loans, were completed a month earlier than planned. This was due to the improvement of our test stands: we made changes to the software testing process and the analysts became more involved in testing.

2. To improve the quality of software delivered to the Bank we invited to the team the architect with the necessary skills to work with the platform Pega, and worked on his area of responsibility and authority. Then we have audited the architecture of the new credit front office and made a plan for implementing improvements in it.

3. We conducted additional training for IT departments and businesses, introducing them the intricacies of the new platform with the goal was employees could independently, without the involvement of vendors to make minor improvements to the system.

4. Decision to maintain the tradition of celebrating milestones and victories whether they are large or small.

The main reflection came on the second day, when we were working on the issues:1. What worked well, and we do not want to forget it?2. What is still puzzling us?

3. What still needs to be discussed in more detail?4. What can we do differently?

5. What have we learned?The timeline we created on the first day helped us tremendously. We remembered

not only current and recent events, but also looked into the past. For example, those who joined the project in the middle of it’s life, did not understand why the Pega platform has been selected. Answers to questions participants were able to get «here and now» from those that were part of the original project.

DMITRY SIMONYATOV, Head of lending technology

A lot of material has been collected. Sometimes it

seemed that it would nev-er end, not only in regard to the disad-

vantages, problems and various bottlenecks, but also the good, useful things.

DMITRY YERMOSHIN, Head of the testing and implementation

From all data collected, we have chosen by a vote that four problems

bother the team the most. To focus efforts this question helped guide us: what are the five things we

want to spend time resource on to find a solu-tion for the future?The most important for us to become:1. Improving communication between the units.2. Improving the expertise and expand our knowledge on the work with the new platform.3. Simultaneously improving the quality of the software delivered to the bank, during its development by the two companies.4. Improving the quality of testing and reducing the number of defects.One of the most surprising results of the joint work was the fact that 40 people in three hours proposed and agreed solutions for all five problems. Anyone who has coordinat-ed this type of collaboration in a large organ-ization knows the effort it takes to harmonize the document with all of its endless reminders, notes and iterations.

Moscow, April 2016

MARIA GARANINA, Head of the Center of Expertise in Operating Processes, Alfa-Bank, «Alfa-Bank»

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