Culture is the most widely talked in societies, religion, race, region and workplaces as well. Organizations are the Second Homes as people spend their better half of their time in their offices. Hence, Culture is an integral part (good or bad) for driving the happiness of clients and the colleagues, and success for the products/projects and growing / sustaining business. Agile Implementation is highly dependent upon the Culture of the Organization.
How does a Manager transition to the Role of a Product Owner? What happens to a Product Owner who wants to retain his control on the team rather than working on the Product? Some developers think that Scrum, for instance, brings a lot of meetings and these meetings are a waste of time. The Scrum Master’s role is not a full time role in many companies. Leadership thinks Agile can solve most of their issues without even knowing the root causes of the issues.
In this talk and we will discuss a selection of real-life experiences to tackle these cultural issues and the actual/suggestive steps taken to improve the culture of organizations.
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I delivered this talk in Qcon Rio International Software Conference, Rio, Brazil:
http://qconrio.com/presentation/smell-agile-culture
1. The Smell of Agile Culture
GURPREET SINGH
Disclaimer:Theseare my personal views & does not represent the opinions of my current/past clients or employers.
gp.singh.tech@gmail.com
2. •8+ Experience of working as an Agile Coach, Scrum Master and Product Owner
•Blogger by Hobby
•The Wet Scrum
•Agile Poem
•Golden Triangle
https://www.scrumalliance.org/community/profile/gsingh33
About the Speaker
@gpzee84
6. Agenda
@gpzee84
What we did?
Results
Lessons Learnt
Questions
5
6
7
8
Who were we?
Firm Wide Survey
The Wet Scrum
2
3
4
Culture & Structure
1
7. What is a Culture?
@gpzee84
Our Clothes
Our Mobile Phones
Our Cars
Our Jewelry
Our Bank Balance
8. What is a Culture?
@gpzee84
Our Clothes
Our Mobile Phones
Our Cars
Our Jewellery
Our Bank Balance
It is us –the People
Values
Behavior
Traditions
Norms
9. What is a Culture?
@gpzee84
Parents
Friends
Relatives
Siblings
Culture
Values
Behavior
Traditions
Norms
10. What is Organization Culture?
@gpzee84
Colleagues
Leaders
Eco-systems
Team
Culture
Values
Behavior
Traditions
Norms
11. Organization Culture& Mission
•To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Google
•To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
Facebook
•To be the fabric of real-time communication on the web.
Skype
12. Importance of Organization Culture
@gpzee84
People do not leave their companies;
they leave their Managers
13. @gpzee84
Culture & Structure
How does the Culture dependent upon the Structure of the Organization?
16. Who were we?
@gpzee84
15 Development Teams
1 QA Team
1 Release Management Team
1Team Lead per Team
3 Managers
1 Department Head
17. Who were we?
@gpzee84
Stakeholder
Manager
Team Lead
Team
Team 1
Team 3
Team 2Scary Waterfall Team
18. Firm Wide Survey
@gpzee84
Are we surpassing our Competitors?
Are our Employees happy & motivated about the job?
Are our Stakeholders happy about our Services?
21. The First Step
@gpzee84
Team Leads became
Product Owners
Agile Methodologies
Multiple Stakeholders
Waterfall
TL
PO
Managers became
Scrum Masters
SM
M
23. The Process
@gpzee84
Dev Sprint 1
(2 weeks)
Dev Sprint 2 (2weeks)
Hardening Sprint
(2 weeks) Release(6 Weeks)
24. Reason for the First Steps
@gpzee84
•To Manage the Product Better
Multiple Stakeholders
•Being Agile
Team Leads became Product Owners
•Being Agile
Managers became Scrum Masters
•Being Agile
Cross-Functional Teams
25. Reason for shifting to Agile
@gpzee84
Agile enables Quick Deliveries
Agile can solve all the issues
Agile Teams are High Performing Teams
Agile Projects can not fail
26. Results
@gpzee84
Stakeholders Still Unhappy
Teams Still Unhappy
Managers Still Unhappy
The Efforts missed the target completely.
Any reasons?
27. The Culture was still Stinky
@gpzee84
Lack of Vision
Lack of Motivation
Constantly changing
Priorities
Agile Mindset missing
Support from
Leadership missing
Inertia
Command & Control
The Wet Scrum
28. The Second Step
@gpzee84
We hired an Agile Consultant
…to examine the
Current Situation
29. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
1. Multiple Stakeholders
Multiple Directions
Changing Priorities
Unclear Scope
Demotivated Team
30. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
Stakeholder 1
Scrum Master /Manager
Product Owner/
Team Lead
Team
Push Work
PO Bypassed
Stakeholder 2
Multiple paths of Work-Push Model
31. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
2. Team Leads became Product Owners
Push Work to the Team
Microscopic Management
Forced Sizing of Stories
No Team Aspect
Old Wine, New Bottle
32. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
Bypass
Product Owner
Forced Commitment
Command & Control
No Team Aspect
3. Managers became Scrum Masters
Old Wine, New Bottle
33. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
4. Cross Functional Teams
Lack of Trust
34. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
Lack of Accountability
4. Cross Functional Teams
35. @gpzee84
The Blame Cycle
Problem Arises
Analyze
Blame Occurs
Blame Deflected
Sadness Builds
Fades Away
The Smell of Changes
36. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
Lack of Direction
4. Cross Functional Teams
37. The Smell of Changes
@gpzee84
Cross Functional Teams
Lack of Empowerment
38. Sprint Ceremonies
@gpzee84
•30 minutes daily
Daily Standup
•Stakeholders missing & loads of unplanned work to be done
Backlog Grooming & Sprint Planning
•Mostly Not done. When done; no issues raised (totally ineffective)!
Retrospectives
39. Coaching at 3 Fronts
@gpzee84
Coach Stakeholders & Managers
Coach Product Owners
Coach Teams
40. The Third Step
@gpzee84
Stakeholder 1
Scrum Master /Manager
Product Owner/
Team Lead
Team
Push Work
PO Bypassed
Stakeholder 2
Coach Stakeholders/Leadership
41. Coaching Stakeholders
@gpzee84
Stakeholder 1
Scrum Master /Manager
Product Owner/
Team Lead
Team
Push Work
PO Bypassed
Stakeholder 2
Primary
Stakeholder
Primary Stakeholder as the Single Vision
for the Product
42. Primary Stakeholder -Benefits
@gpzee84
Single Vision for the Product
Responsible for getting Consensus
from Other Stakeholders
No Mismatch of Priorities
43. Coaching Stakeholders
@gpzee84
Emphasized the Presence of Primary Stakeholder
in Backlog Grooming/Planning Meetings
Minimal overlap of 70% of Stories of Backlog Grooming/Planning meetings
Aligning Business Value with the New Features
45. Coaching Managers
@gpzee84
People will not work without the Control!
If People will work on their own, then what is my role?
Why do we need a change: we are already doing good?
46. Coaching Managers
@gpzee84
Emphasized the benefits of Servant Leadership over Command-n-Control
Workshops/Sessions to highlight Agile Values e.g. Sizing, Pull vs Push, Open Communication, etc
More Focus on Product Strategy &
People Development
47. Coaching Product Owners
@gpzee84
Pull Vs. Push Work Model
Requirement Gathering Techniques
(Writing Effective Stories)
Maintain Updated Product Backlog –in Real-time (Priority Management)
48. Someone was still missing
@gpzee84
1
•Managers were Not Good Scrum Masters
2
•15 Teams were too many to be Coached effectively by 1 Agile Coach
3
•Full Time Scrum Masters for each team were missing
58. Coaching Teams –Meetings
@gpzee84
Backlog Grooming
4 hours >> 2 hours
Single Vision
Team asks Questions about Scope before the Meeting
Team Pulls work
Scrum Master checks Business Value with PO
59. Coaching Teams –Meetings
@gpzee84
Sprint Planning
3 hours >> 1.5 hours
70% of the Stories in Planning & Grooming are the same
PO manages the Priorities of Bugs and New Features
Blockers & Dependencies are discussed before hand
60. Coaching Teams –Meetings
@gpzee84
Daily Standup
30 minutes >> 10 minutes
What did I do yesterday?
What were the Blockers which I faced yesterday?
What will I be doing today?
61. Coaching Teams –Bugs
@gpzee84
A Bug is not a Developer’s Issue.
It is a Team’s Responsibility.
A Bug is a Feature with a Negative Value.
PO manages the Priorities of Bugs
and New Features in the Same Backlog
Catching /Resolving Bugs is not the End Goal
62. Coaching Teams –Transparency
@gpzee84
1. Share your Code
2. Discuss in Retros
3. Transparent Capacity
4. Celebrate Defeats
73. Lessons Learnt
Ultimately, it’s all about the People
(Teams & Clients)
@gpzee84
3
Processes & Technology do help
And this is the
Organization Culture
74. Conclusion
@gpzee84
Happy, Empowered & Motivated Teams
Individuals & Teams are in Sync with Organization Goals
A Learning Self-Evolving Organization Culture