chapter 7

Light the fuse

“You won’t get better at playing the piano by running around the piano.”

José Mourinho

A sneak preview of Chapter 7

Agile Now contains everything you need, whatever the next step is and here’s some last-minute, pre-flight, Go Agile think-pieces:

• Go for it: There’s everything to gain and nothing to lose, so here are the final tips for a quick launch.
• Get regular health checks: Ways to keep an eye on your agile health and guarantee a risk-free lifestyle.
• Options for a wider rollout: How to scale up your agile operations, or to even go Big Bang from the beginning.
• Emergency contact details: What to do if there are any lingering doubts, queries or suggestions.

Get cracking

There are plenty of good reasons for picking up a book like this. Perhaps you’re thinking of going agile soon and on the lookout for guidance. Maybe you’re already on the path and eyeing ways to become even better and faster. Or you’re possibly curious and wanting to know a little bit more about this topical topic. Might even be cramming for a hot job interview!

The aim of Agile Now is to set you up to kick on, whatever the intended destination. To provide a solid understanding of the basics and guidance for where to go if there are any lingering doubts. It might be necessary to read through the book again, check out a LinkedIn group or go to a couple more meet-ups but if you’ve read all this with due care and attention, you’ll be fine.

Agile has something for everyone when used sensibly. It’s a magic mixture of innovative ideas, proven thinking and basic common sense. The recent explosion of interest is well deserved – the direct result of brilliant success stories and great word-of-mouth. It isn’t a miracle cure, but Kanban and Scrum offer proven ways to make that dream come true. If there’s a need – and there usually is – there’s absolutely no reason to stall.

We’re all in search of cheaper, faster, better in one form or other. Especially better. Go agile!

Go for it

If pure curiosity or a tasty job opportunity was the driver behind buying this book, then it should be job done by now. But it’s more likely the reason was related to more complex matters about going agile or with issues mid-stream. So let’s talk about those situations a bit more. If you’re about to set off, then factor in this guidance and if you’re already moving then double-check you’ve acted on it already.

Once the decision is made to go for it, the exciting question is how to start. A very popular and simple option is to pilot agile on a suitable chunk of work – this is by far the most popular first step. Another, much more ambitious approach is to get the whole organisation to go for it big time – and for obvious reasons this doesn’t happen often. Or if all else fails there’s the option for personal agile – not the preferred choice but great trees grow from small acorns.

Whatever the backdrop, treat going agile as a venture in its own right. Yes, the end game may be very different – ranging from personal to corporate agility – but the basic premise is going to be the same. As with any new strategic endeavour, begin by defining the end game or the Vision as we now know it. Pin down exactly what you want to achieve. Often, it’s more than a project, it’s a passion.

Once the Vision is in place, build a Backlog and then, hey, you’re off. Of course, there’ll be a big difference in the detail between kicking off a Kanban board for the family chores compared to introducing Scrum into a FTSE 100 organisation, but the fundamentals are the same.

Get regular health checks

The constant search for improvements is baked into the normal regime and plays a prominent part in all the leading frameworks. It’s useful to supplement this, by scheduling in other occasional independent spot checks just in case. Even the finest athletes at the peak of their powers get themselves checked out by specialists on a periodic basis.

It pays to do this even when things appear to be going swimmingly well and you’re operating within the protection of frameworks. Kanban and Scrum are brilliant but there’s still a danger of bad prac-tice slowly creeping in. It’s surprising how many experienced teams veer off track occasionally despite the in-built protection.

Here are three simple-to-implement health checks that can be used on a regular or irregular basis. They can be random events without prior warning or included as a commitment in the Team Charter. All can be self-administered but for maximum effect get an independent observer, such as a coach, to drive.

Testing the team temperature at the daily gathering

This is a simple check and should be a daily, almost subconscious, review by every member of the team anyway. But once in a while get a second opinion from a friendly face outside of the team. The Daily Kanban, Daily Scrum or Daily Stand-Up format is extremely straightforward to follow and everyone plays their part in keeping to the script. Problems here are like a high temperature and need to be investigated – quite often a minor blip and a false alarm but it can be an early warning of something serious.

• What’s the regularity? The only acceptable answer is at the same time every normal working day without fail.
• Is the agreed format always used? Focussing on what was done yesterday, plans for today and any blockers.
• Are the team paying attention? This is an update for their benefit, not a status report for the Scrum Master.
• What happens with the blockers? They must be noted and acted on immediately afterwards.

Stand-Ups follow a blisteringly simple format but of course there’ll be deviations occasionally – times when a key issue can be discussed and sorted in a couple of minutes with all the team there. But be careful to avoid too many exceptions to the rule. And be wary if certain individuals repeatedly transgress by always looking to duck out or are reluctant to contribute when there.

Checking the blood pressure at the Retrospectives

Getting the best out of Retrospectives is a crucial part of the agile ethos so it pays to step back occasionally and reflect on them directly. Not only to confirm they’re running well with the expected outcomes being churned out, but also to check the team are not feeling too much heat. This is a precautionary examination to ensure there’s enough pressure to inspire results but no risk of heart failure.

• Is everyone chipping in? Everyone should contribute at least one thing of consequence.
• Are there clear outcomes? An occasional moan-fest is acceptable, but the norm needs to be actions rather than hot air.
• How many things done well are mentioned? Expect at least a regular trickle of positive comments.
• Are the same observations re-occurring? Good, bad and ugly points must all be acted on, not noted and then forgotten about.

Whatever the format in the Retrospectives, expect them to focus on: what do we do well and what can we do better? Of course, it’s OK if the team needs to let off steam from time to time but the general vibe needs to stay upbeat, continually in a search for tweaks and improvements. Loud alarm bells should be ringing if there’s little of lasting value generated, especially if sessions are consistently degenerating into the blame game.

Full end-to-end annual reviews

The team will always have a gut feel for how things are going but put time aside for a full annual check-up. This should include a look at the Daily Stand-Ups and another Retrospective of Retrospectives, but centre stage is a review of the Team Charter. As with any deeper dive, target this to happen annually but don’t be afraid to bring it forward if any concerns or other warning signs are spotted.

• Is the charter a living document? This shouldn’t be the first visit since inception, so expect the team to have it constantly in mind.
• Do the team live by the spirit of the rules? Occasional blips are natural but be concerned about any outright disrespect or regular disregard.
• Any improvements recommended? It’s impossible to nail down a perfect, positive culture, so the Team Charter must evolve over time.

If the Stand-Ups are going well, the Retrospectives are constantly sparking improvements and the Team Charter is a living document then put yourselves forward for Agile Team of The Year. In reality, perfect teams are unheard of but if any or all of those areas are very weak then there may be trouble brewing.

All checks can be self-administered but it’s invariably more effective to get an independent assessment (a decent coach should be keeping an eye on these key indicators anyway). Act on issues early and don’t be tempted to ignore any symptoms of ill health. If caught early, anything can be fixed, but left to fester it might be terminal.

Teams working in multiple locations

With agile there’s a definite preference for teams to be co-located. Working together as a self-contained, empowered team is far easier when everyone is literally sitting side by side. In fact, there was even a time when this was seen as a non-negotiable prerequisite. However, co-location isn’t always viable and over recent years there’s been an acceptance of Distributed Teams spread across multiple geographical locations.

There are also times when working from home is a necessity. Anything from a child-minding emergency, a planned rail strike, extreme weather conditions or an unexpected pandemic. This can affect some or all of the team and may be a one-off or a long-standing situation to deal with. Whatever the backdrop is, keeping the conversations and collaboration flowing is always a challenge when folk are spread out.

It will come as no surprise that technology plays a significant part in helping a team stay connected when they’re based in multiple locations. This is largely achieved by utilising tech solutions that are freely available, portable and easy to set up at the drop of a hat if necessary:

Questions: Messaging is an extremely effective way to ask and answer questions. All the widely used apps, such as Slack or WhatsApp, cater for a direct one-to-one approach or a group exchange.

Chats: Video conference calling is the most commonly used substitute when a face-to-face is impossible. Messaging apps offer this feature too or there are dedicated options.

Meetings: When a larger crowd is involved and the format is more structured, the likes of MS Teams and Zoom offer plenty of bells and whistles to keep good order, share information and promote inclusivity.

Task Management: There’s plenty of choice when it comes to software dedicated to managing an agile workflow. Trello and Jira are fully featured and have big fan bases in the agile community.

Look at what’s on offer with MS Office 365 or Google G Suite as they’re both excellent benchmarks for the must have facilities for communicating and collaborating remotely. Quite possibly you’re already using bits ‘n bobs from one of them! Either one, alongside a specialised agile workflow management tool such as Trello or Jira, helps get the best out of people working in multiple locations.

Less is more

Our focus has been on getting the foundations right for a single, pilot implementation. But once there’s an isolated success story there may well be an appetite for rolling it out further, maybe even across the whole organisation. There’s no doubt about the benefits of having more people on the same page and it’s a whole different ballgame when agile becomes the norm, with everyone sharing the same ways of working and mindset.

It’s fair to say large-scale rollouts have a chequered history, especially Big Bang implementations. But even though some say scaling is the movement’s Achilles heel, it has been done successfully many, many times. So, if there are ever grand designs on the horizon, spend time looking into the three best established and most widely acclaimed approaches.

SAFe (scaled agile framework)

SAFe is spreading rapidly around the world and is a huge commercial success story. It’s also prone to generating heated arguments between the pro and anti factions. Seventy percent of Fortune 100 companies, and a growing number of the Global 2000, have certified SAFe professionals and consultants on site, and over 450,000 practitioners have been trained to date.

SAFe launched in 2011 and it’s on a roll. If personal marketability is the prime objective, then it’s a very safe bet (pun intended). There have been doubters from the very beginning, many with very strong opinions but there’s no question it’s the latest flavour of the month when it comes to scaling. See www.scaledagile.com for more comprehensive information.

LeSS (large-scale Scrum)

LeSS is a lightweight framework for scaling Scrum to more than one team. The big difference to other scaling frameworks is it provides a minimalistic framework that enables teams and organisations to inspect and adapt based on experience. Agile purists tend to lean towards this approach (pun intended again).

LeSS supporters argue that providing prescriptive scaling guidance for organisations to work within is fatally flawed. Instead, it recommends scaling frameworks should be bare bones with organisations allowed to fill in the detail. Check out www.less.works for more information.

The Spotify model

The amazing success story at music streaming company Spotify has generated many wannabes and copying its exact modus operandi is surprisingly popular. When people talk about the Spotify model what they mean is the way Spotify found to scale beyond the team to a larger organisation. Spotify teams mostly do something along the lines of ScrumBan – Kanban with some of the Scrum Events and other stuff thrown in as well.

The idea of organically developing an approach to scaling is a solid one and analysing the Spotify story is likely to spark ideas. But drawing on the experience of others is very different to apeing them. Copycatting the Spotify model might seem an attractive shortcut but be very careful as nuances that worked well for them are not likely to suit everyone. Better to come up with a personalised hybrid, pinching an idea from here and there before adding your own spin.

Agile works brilliantly when there’s one standalone team working in blissful isolation but life’s more complicated when there are two, three or four teams – especially with the thorny challenge of inter-team coexistence, as illustrated by the diagram on the previous page. Imagine the complexity when the whole organisation is on the same journey but if Google and Spotify can pull it off, then so can you.

Tread carefully, yes. But remember a drive for a wider implementation is a positive step invariably on the back of one or more successes. It’s not something to be feared.

The final, final word

If you happen to have a very successful formula, then sticking with what you do right now is a pretty decent option. But it’s only a serious choice in exceptional circumstances as most of us know there’s always scope for improvements. The degree of opportunity will vary but there’s usually ample room to become cheaper, faster or better – quite often all three.

Be wary if things aren’t going well and you feel agile isn’t the answer. Try to get to the root of why it isn’t viable as this might provide vital clues about the wider malaise. Yes, change can be daunting but reflect on examples of once proud corporate dinosaurs who couldn’t adapt to changing circumstances and became extinct. Think very carefully before putting this book to one side and soldiering on.

If you’re in the same boat as the majority of us, there’s work to be done. It might boil down to a series of small tweaks or perhaps a serious overhaul. Agile is here to help and can handle every eventuality. It provides a proven structure for getting stuff done more effectively and there are ready-made frameworks to help deliver. Go agile!