Mile High Agile 2016 conference is posting materials from our speakers so attendees can familiarize themselves and deepen their research and understanding. First Speaker : Bob Galen

1. Creating Sprint Reviews that
Attract, Engage, and
Enlighten your ‘Customers'
Bob Galen
President & Principal Consultant
RGCG, LLC
bob@rgalen.com

2. Great Sprint Reviews
Patterns for Success
Bob Galen
President & Principal Consultant
RGCG, LLC
bob@rgalen.com

3. Copyright © 2016 RGCG, LLC 3
Introduction
Bob Galen
n Independent Agile Coach (CEC) at RGCG, LLC
n Principle Agile Evangelist at Velocity Partners
n Somewhere ‘north’ of 30 years overall experience J
n Wide variety of technical stacks and business domains
n Developer first, then Project Management / Leadership, then
Testing
n Senior/Executive software development leadership for 20+ years
n Practicing formal agility since 2000
n XP, Lean, Scrum, and Kanban experience
n From Cary, North Carolina
Bias Disclaimer:
Agile is THE BEST Methodology
for Software Development…
However, NOT a Silver Bullet!

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5. iContact
The End State…
• The entire company would engage in our sprint &
release reviews
• C-level engagement; the leadership team regularly came
• We had a room that would handle 60+ folks
• We started to record them on video; and hang TV’s
• Consistent meeting overflow!
• Engagement, questions, feedback, & understanding
• Reduced the need for serial handling of Customer
Support training
• After the meeting demos; excitement & team feedback
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iContact
In the beginning…
• My first Sprint Review –
• Weakly attended
• PowerPoint's per team; No working software
• Creative entertainment—photo’s, jokes, etc.
• Ill conceived in most cases; poorly prepared
• Audience politely laughed at appropriate moments
• Over whelming feeling of…what just happened?

7. Back to Basics
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8. Another Story
n The Product Owner video tapes
the demo, going through primary
flows of delivered functionality.
Then they take it to the leadership
team for viewing (Demo)
n Because the stakeholders are busy, the video is “sped up” so that
everything happens in ~ 5 minutes. Also, ~5 minutes are reserved
for Q&A
q Mickey Mouse voice…
n Then Product Owner would “debrief” feedback with the team
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9. Let’s Collect YOUR Stories
Anti-patterns
ü Painful moments
ü Don’t do this
ü OMG!
ü And nobody came…
ü And then I was looking for
a new job L
Patterns
ü Do this!
ü This worked well
ü Novel approaches
ü We learned…
ü And then I was promoted
J
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10. My Patterns
• Don’t do this…Do this
instead format
• 14 patterns to explore
• Plus a Prime Directive
• Ultimately, adapt to your
context…
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1) It’s all about the Team
• No context setting; where’s the
customer?
• No connecting the dots
• Lack of attendee engagement or listening
Instead
• Focus on results, progress, and goals
• Have an “Owner” or M/C, usually the Product Owner
• What we did before, did now, plan to do
• Solicit feedback; and receive it well. Look around…

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2) Mission!
• Y’all need to watch and learn
• Here’s some “stuff” to consider
• Just dive on in…
Instead
• Set the stage; Product Owner as M/C
• Review the sprint GOAL, plans, expectations
• Review the journey, challenges, learning's, etc.
• Always an eye towards “results”

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3) Practice?
• We don’t need any practice
• Everyone just “shows up”
• Chaos, improv, it’s agile
Instead
• Reserve time in sprint planning for demo prep
• Perform a dry-run…with real software
• Remember - it’s a quality step
• Think about flow, messaging, the “1-Thing” to
communicate

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4) Defensive
• It works as designed
• We delivered what we were asked to deliver
• We didn’t have the time
Instead
• The Team made the commitment – stand as a Team
• Nobody thrown “Under the Bus”
• Feedback is the breakfast of champions
• Take it into the next demo; do something with the
feedback

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5) Show Everything or
Show Too Little
• We did this, then we did this,
then we…
• We repaired 52 bugs, let us show you
• And story #22 looks like; 3-hour test automation runs
Instead
• Have a game plan; regular tempo, time box, agenda
• Align to sprint goals, themes, anchor stories
• Tell a story; show a workflow; explain your journey
• Leave a lasting impression…

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6) Only the Feature Film
• We’re just showing features
• Nobody wants to see “plumbing”
• That’s really hard to demo, so we won’t…
Instead
• Demo everything: features, bugs, architecture,
automation, refactoring, infrastructure, plumbing, plans,
etc.
• What if it’s hard or ugly to demo? Tough!
• If it has value and is part of your primary goal, then…

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7) Surprise!
• Why did you do that?
• Wait for the demo to “sign-off” on work
• Crap – that’s not what I asked for!
Instead
• Product Owner should be approving work all along the
sprint; making adjustments as necessary
• Even pulling in customers & stakeholders for interim
feedback
• No surprises!

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8) Demo or Review?
• Demo – software centric, some feedback
• Review – data / communications centric
Instead
• Do both! Demo the software, key features/workflows
AND key points, journey feedback
• Explain the “landscape” – team, velocity, complexity,
strategy, challenges/risks, impediments, etc.
• If needed, ask for Help!

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9) 1-Person Demo
• The ScrumMaster does the
review
• The Product Owner does the demo
• The Team Lead does the review
Instead
• Everyone has a role; “Whole Team” view
• Everyone can show software; particularly what they have
personally contributed
• Stage fright – then supporting role

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10) Nothing is really
“Done”
• We “almost” delivered our goal
• A couple of stories need “cleanup”
• Worse – hiding the incomplete work…continuation story
Instead
• Only show done-done-done work; with RARE exceptions
for feedback
• Talk about incomplete work and how you’ll be cleaning it
up – impact to next sprint
• Talk about corrective action in your retrospective

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11) Are we there yet?
• +2-hour demos
• Is someone snoring?
• Just wait, it’s about to get interesting…
Instead
• Think in terms of what they want to see? What they need
to see?
• Feedback opportunity for critical work
• Empathy, marketing, showmanship, keep it lively and
entertaining

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12) Thank you?
Appreciate?
• We did it ourselves
• 1 for 1
• And the winner is…US!
Instead
• Take time to recognize the efforts; kudo’s
• Say…thank you; within and outside the team
• Remember leadership and “role players”

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13) Let me show us
what we did…
• Demoing to ourselves
• We sent an invitation, but nobody came
• We’re too busy; it takes too long
Instead
• It’s not FOR the team or the Product Owner
• The review IS the most important event for stakeholders;
The room should be FULL
• Don’t simply listen…engage!
• Feedback – both constructive and affirmative

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14) Cut to the chase
• Thank you for attending
• We’re playing at this time again next week
• Just wait, we have 30 minutes to cover in the next 2
minutes
Instead
• Did you succeed - Yes or No?
• What about Definition of Done?
• Any special goals?
• Velocity? Quality? Value?

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A Defining Moment
• Your Demo / Review IS a
Big Deal
• View it that way, plan it that
way, deliver it what way
• Expect big things
• Ask for and act on ALL
feedback
• Make it fun
• You should have to “beat
them away” at the door…

26. Summary
• More Subtle Lessons
• Laser focus on your customer
• Have a unique demo strategy; Prepare
• Show everything – not just “features”; don’t “Go Silent” for too
long
• Constantly explain the impact/import to the business (even for
technical items)
• Fail Forward
• Be honest & transparent
• Every demo is important
• Have the vision & expectation of Powerful Reviews
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27. The Prime Directive
Attendance, Feedback, Action, Delivery
And it’s 360o Feedback
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Wrap-up
• Final questions or discussion?
Thank you!
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29. Contact Info Bob Galen
Principal Consultant,
RGalen Consulting Group, L.L.C.
Experience-driven agile focused
training, coaching & consulting
Cell: (919) 272-0719
bob@rgalen.com www.rgalen.com
@bobgalen
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobgalen
Podcast on all things ‘agile’ -
http://www.meta-cast.com/
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