The document discusses common problems teams face when implementing Agile practices, such as long sprint planning meetings, boring daily standups, and unfinished user stories at the end of each sprint. It provides suggestions for how to address these issues, such as splitting large stories into smaller ones, focusing daily standups on planning for the day, and using retrospectives to understand why stories aren't finished and make improvements. The document emphasizes the importance of team culture and fit for successful Agile adoption.

1. @MichaelSahota

2. About Michael
!
STRATEGIC
PLAY®

3. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Our&User&Stories&Suck&
Sprint&planning&mee7ngs&take&forever&&
Team&members&are&not&working&together&
Daily&standups&are&long&and&boring&&
We&keep&geEng&new&stories&&
We&never&finish&all&our&stories&in&a&Sprint&&
We&don't&know&when&our&release&will&be&
done&&
8. We&stopped&having&retrospec7ves&K&waste&of&
7me&
9. It&feels&like&we&are&pushing&rocks&up&hill&to&
keep&Agile&going&

4. @MichaelSahota

5. User story
So that <why>,
As a <stakeholder>
I want <what>
Save%Shopping%Cart%
8
So&that&I&can&con7nue&shopping&later&
As&a&buyer&
I&want&to&save&my&shopping&cart&
How&to&demo:&
1)
Enter&store&
2)
Put&a&book&in&shopping&cart&
3)
Press&”save&cart”&
4)
Leave&store,&and&enter&it&again&
5)
Check&that&the&book&is&in&my&cart&
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized Appropriately
Testable
Acronym courtesy of Bill Wake – www.xp123.com
C
A
GUI
Client
Server
CC Henrik Kniberg
DB schema
B
C

6. Whole&Team&writes&
stories&together&so&
they&have&the&right&
“shape”&for&Biz&and&IT&
to&communicate.
&
Es7ma7on&
offers&another&
opportunity&for&
geEng&to&good&
stories.
&
Organizing&an&
Priori7zing&may&
trigger&story&
restructuring.
&

7. @MichaelSahota

9. Backlog Grooming Meeting
Whole&Team&
1. Es7mate&New&Stories&
2. Split&large&stories&into&smaller&stories&and&
es7mate&them.&
3. Pick&stories&for&the&upcoming&itera7on.&
– Discuss&what&is&needed&to&get&those&stories&READY&
and&who&will&do&it.&
This&is&the&
&
cri7cal&
piece.
&

10. Use&a&Scrum&Board.&It’s&is&10x&more&understandable&as&
well&as&safer&and&faster.&

11. @MichaelSahota

13. Use Tuckman Model

15. What are you doing to turn the
“people” knob to 11?
Develop&Team&through&building&interKpersonal&
connec7ons&and&self&knowledge.&&
• Sharing&Food&&&Drink.&
• Have&fun&together:&events,&funny&video&clips&
• Learning&about&each&other:&
– Constella7ons,&Marketplace,&Timeline&
– StrategicPlay®&with&Lego®&
– Communica7on&and&Collabora7on&Workshop&
• Core&Protocols&
• Temenos&Workshop&(next&slide)&

16. Toronto Temenos Workshop – Nov 9 & 10

17. @MichaelSahota

18. Standup as Daily Planning
• A&good&way&to&think&about&the&daily&standup&is&
as&a&mini&planning&session&for&that&day.&
• Everyone&is&focused&on&delivering&the&most&
important&work&each&day.&
Standup%is%for%the%
team,%not%
manager!
%
An7Kpagern&#1:&Everyone&looking&at&and&repor7ng&to&
Project&Manager&or&Manager.&
An7Kpagern&#2:&Everyone&is&working&on&different&
things&–&there&is&no&real&team&or&teamwork.&

19. Scrum-style Standup
Less&important&
with&use&of&a&task&
board.
&
Consider&suspending&the&“3&ques7ons”&and&exploring&
how&other&formats&work&for&you.&

20. Recipe for Awesome Standups
For&five&days,&hold&a&miniKretrospec7ve&on&how&
to&improve&your&standups&
• Do&this&immediately&aler&the&standup.&
• Aim&for&10K15&minutes.&
• Write&down&changes&agreed&to&by&team&on&
s7cky&notes.&
• Evolve&your&own&standup&
“rules”&(conven7ons)&

21. @MichaelSahota

22. Incremental
: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/

23. Iterative
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moran/

24. “Popping Up Like Mushrooms”

25. New Stories
• Usually&a&symptom&of&reKwork&due&insufficient&
understanding.&UX&is&a&common&problem&area.&
– Try&“Specifica7on&By&Example”&
• High&complexity&domains&may&require&
itera7ve&approach.&
• Totally&OK&as&long&at&Product&Owner&is&making&
scope/date&tradeKoffs&and&backlog&is&not&filled&
with&mandatory&items.&

27. @MichaelSahota

28. Dysfunctions Causing Unfinished
Stories
• Stories&are&too&large&to&be&completed&in&an&
itera7on&
– Split&large&stories&
– Every&team&has&a&max&story&size&that&“fits”&
• Management&pressure&
– Explain&that&overfilling&itera7on&is&slowing&things&
done.&Too&many&cars&on&the&highway.&
• Considered&Acceptable&
– If&the&team&thinks&it’s&OK,&then&it’ll&con7nue&to&
happen.&

29. Carrying%
stories%is%a%
badge%of%
shame.
%
Team%only%
accepts%
work%they%
can%finish.
%

30. Team “Forecasts” completion of all
Stories in Sprint Planning
• Helpful&to&think&of&this&like&“Sales&Forecast”&–&there&is&
uncertainty!&
• Using&term&“Commitment”&can&help&team&cohesion&
but&can&also&induce&damaging&pressure.&
• The&team&needs&to&advise&Product&Owner&if&stories&
are&in&danger&of&not&finishing&and&reKnego7ate&
itera7on&scope.&E.g.&split&story&
• Retrospec7ve&help&understand&reasons&and&create&
counterKmeasures.&

31. @MichaelSahota

32. Balance%the%product%backlog%
Too big items?
Too many items?
V
CC Henrik Kniberg
V
Balanced
V

33. Use A Story Map
Release&Plans&are&NOT&Op7onal!&

34. Use&a&Scope&and&BurnKup&Chart
&
Burn-Up and Burn-Down
Total%Scope%Line
%
800
700
600
500
Remaining Story Points
Completed Story Points Cumulative
Linear Regression for Completed Story Points Cumulative
Total Story Points (Scope)
Linear Regression for Total Story Points (Scope)
400
300
200
BurnAup%Line.%
Slope=Velocity
%
100
0
Iteration 1
Iteration 3
Iteration 5
Iteration 7
Iteration 9
Iteration 11
Iteration 13
Iteration 15
Iteration 0
Iteration 2
Iteration 4
Iteration 6
Iteration 8
Iteration 10
Iteration 12
Iteration 14
Copyright © 2007-2009 Dave Nicolette

35. @MichaelSahota

37. Retrospectives
• No&fixed&format.&There’s&a&whole&book&
on&ways&to&run.&&
• Discuss&any&personal,&team&or&process&
issues.&
• Discuss&what&worked&and&what&&needs&
to&change.&
• Agree&on&top&items&to&be&addressed&and&
fixed.&
• See&an7Kpagerns:&
hgp://skycoach.be/2011/05/16/agileKretrospec7vesKan7K
pagerns/&&&

38. No Time
(Retrospective Anti-Pattern)
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/

39. No Team
CC Gerry Kirk

40. No Safety
(Retrospective Anti-Pattern)
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/c_nilsen/

41. No Tools
(Retrospective Anti-Pattern)

42. No Action
(Retrospective Anti-Pattern)
• Who?&
• What?&&
• When?&
Failure&to&act&is&a&guaranteed&
Retrospec7ve&Killer.&

43. Some Tips
• Start&by&reviewing&ac7on&items&from&last&
retrospec7ve.&
• Have&everyone&sign&up&for&ONE&ac7on&item.&If&
the&finish,&they&can&pick&up&another&one.&
• Walk&management&through&the&output&and&
ask&them&what&they&can&help&with&

44. Ask Scary Questions with Secret
Ballot

45. Some Easy Retrospective Practices
via Yves Hanoulle
Project Coach
Training, Coaching & Consultancy Services
on agile & Team practices n EMEA.
How to make your retrospective the heart of your
agile process
See full slide deck:
http://www.hanoulle.be/2009/10/how-to-make-your-retrospective-the-heart-ofyour-agile-process/

46. Short Retrospectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Start Doing
Stop Doing
Keep Doing
Less of
More of

47. Roti
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben30/2741878021/

48. Histogram

49. Force Field analysis

50. @MichaelSahota

51. Copyright http://www.hostingwiththemostzing.com/?p=12

52. Michael’s Mountain Landscape

53. @MichaelSahota

54. Agile Fails Due to Culture
Sources: Multiple Workshops with 100 s of participants; Version One Survey
http://agilitrix.com/2012/08/agile-2012-workshop-results/

56. Culture Mismatch will Slow and Ultimately Fail Your
Agile Initiative
Avoid seductive fantasy that Agile practices will
change your Culture. They won t.

57. Adopt Agile Practices that fit Culture (Option 1)
Example: Introducing automated testing to
reduce regression test costs and time.
Find the practice
(puzzle piece) that
fits your problem.

58. Start Evolving Your Process and
Practices with Kanban (Option 2)
1. Visualize Work
2. Add Metrics
3. Make Improvements

59. Change Culture through Organizational
Transformation (Option 3)
75% of a company s
management is honestly
convinced that business as
usual is totally unacceptable.
- John Kotter

60. Creating A Culture Bubble

61. Photo Credit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51229679@N03/
@MichaelSahota

62. Get Help with Agile Practices to Avoid
Wasting Time & Effort
One&of&about&50&coaches&
worldwide&that&know&how&to&help&
organiza7on&succeed&with&Agile*.&
&
&
*&About&half&of&my&work&is&with&Kanban
%

63. Get Help with Culture to Develop a 21st
Century Workforce
I wrote “the book” on
Agile & Culture.
!
Phone me: 416.999.3297 !
Email me: michael.sahota@agilitrix.com !
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