Are you failing at being agile? #digitallabin

In these past few years, agile methods became a vital part in the software development process, but are they really applicable for all types of projects and team sizes?

A while ago, our company changed the way we approach project development because the team noticed that standard SCRUM-ish methods aren't fully compatible for us, so we developed our own, modified version of agile. In this talk, I will showcase how powerful this approach is and how you can use it to find problems, and eventually resolve them.

Transcript

1. Are you failing at being agile?
   Antonio Perić-Mažar, Locastic
   28.09.2019. - #digitallabin
   

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2. Antonio
   Perić-Mažar
   CEO @ Locastic
   Co-founder @ Litto
   Co-founder @ Tinel Meetup
   Co-founder @ Blockada
   t: @antonioperic
   m: antonio@locastic.com
   

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3. Locastic
   Helping clients create web
   and mobile apps since 2011
   • UX/UI
   • Mobile apps
   • Web apps
   • Training & Consulting
   www.locastic.com
   @locastic
   

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5. “We do a daily standup
   in the morning; we are
   an Agile shop”.
   

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6. “We do a daily standup
   in the morning; we are
   an Agile shop”.
   - no, you are not
   

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7. • Software development agency
   • 20+ employees
   • More than one project running at same time
   • Different clients, different locations of clients
   Context
   

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8. We stared with the
   waterfall.
   

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9. We stared with the
   waterfall. And we fall.
   Hard.
   

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10. Let’s go AGILE!
    

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12. Let’s do SCRUM!
    

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13. Well, this is fun and ok,
    but still… results are
    better, but…
    

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14. 1st problem:

    we focused to much on
    framework
    

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15. Scrum is a great option
    when you’re a team at
    a software vendor with
    a clear focus to deliver
    a specific product.
    

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16. Scrum is a great option
    when you’re a team at
    a software vendor with
    a clear focus to deliver
    a specific product.
    External
    dependencies
    (clients)
    

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17. AGILE !== SCRUM
    

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18. AGILE > SCRUM
    

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19. If you are doing SCRUM,
    you are not Agile
    company, you need to
    have Agile mindset.
    

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21. We cannot sell the
    waterfall and do it
    agile!
    

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22. Ideal project:
    - time&materials
    - no budget
    - no deadlines
    - no/flexible scope
    

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23. Ideal project:
    - time&materials
    - no budget
    - no deadlines
    - no/flexible scope
    doesn’t exist
    

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24. • Flexible budget + Project idea
    • Fixed budget + Project idea
    • Flexible budget + Project specification (and/or wireframes/
    prototypes)
    • Fixed budget + Project specification (and/or wireframes/prototypes).
    Type of projects
    

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25. • Flexible budget + Project idea
    • Fixed budget + Project idea -> AVOID!
    • Flexible budget + Project specification (and/or wireframes/
    prototypes)
    • Fixed budget + Project specification (and/or wireframes/prototypes).
    Type of projects
    

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26. If the scope, the
    deadline and the price
    have already been set
    at the beginning, it no
    longer makes sense to
    try and implement an
    agile framework such
    as Scrum.
    

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27. Time&Materials model
    

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28. • Huge level of trust
    • Easily overcome as soon as one has completed an agile project
    together
    • Requires education of the client and huge level of empathy on both
    sides
    • Today is much easier to sell it then 5 years ago, it is almost a
    standard
    • Empathy, understanding and patience on both sides
    Time&Materials model
    

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29. Clients still want
    estimates
    

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30. Involve the project
    team in the acquisition
    phase as early as
    possible
    

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31. UX/UI
    first development
    

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34. #1 value
    Customer
    collaboration over
    contract negotiation
    

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35. Forget the service
    provider role (and work
    as a team with your
    client) - add empathy
    

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37. Product Owner
    

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38. Implement one
    measure at a time
    

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39. #2 value
    Individuals and
    interactions over
    processes and tools
    

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40. #3 value
    Working software over
    comprehensive
    documentation
    

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41. • It should be clear at first glance what feature the task is related to
    • Description of a task should always begin with its purpos
    • A task should always be written in a way that is relevant for the whole
    tea
    • A task should list all important steps for completing it
    • Criteria should be very specific and related to the task, and should
    contain real testable example
    • Each task should contain a direct link to a wireframe and/or design view
    Anatomy of a Task
    

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43. #4 value
    Responding to change
    over following a plan
    

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44. The Law of the customer
    an obsession with delivering value to
    customers as the be-all and end-all of
    the organization.
    

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45. The Law of the small team
    a presumption that all work be carried
    out by small self -organizing teams,
    working in short cycles and focused on
    delivering value to customers—and
    

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46. The Law of the network
    a continuing effort to obliterate
    bureaucracy and top-down hierarchy
    so that the firm operates as an
    interacting network of teams, all
    focused on working together to deliver
    increasing value to customers
    

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47. #bestAdviceEver
    Stop being heroic
    command giver, and
    start being humble
    gardener
    

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48. • People and project are more important then process (methodology)
    • Scrum is just a framework that we adjusted to ourself
    • It is a philosophy not a process
    • It is probably the best solution at the moment for chaotic systems
    • It is easy to learn in theory, but it is very hard to practice it, especially
    with external parties (clients)
    How we see Agile today
    

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49. • Agile is way of thinking, and it should be integrated to each part of
    the team/company:
    • it should be a way of thinking
    • a way of writing the tasks
    • a way of signing the contracts
    • a way of doing business development
    • and etc.
    How we see Agile today
    

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50. • it is good for organisation and task management
    • it delivers new features constantly, client can see the progress and
    client is more involved in entire process
    • usually clients are more happy
    • if everything is setup well, it is very easy to rotate team members
    Advantages
    

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51. • client is part of development process, and software development is
    no longer strange thing for them
    • there is no bunch of documentation
    • entire team is more focuses on delivering high quality product
    Advantages
    

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52. • It is very hard to get client on location all the time
    • Product owner role is very hard, and usually clients don’t have person
    who is ready to take that role
    • in this situation team need to have one more person who will do
    training and consulting to help client with assignments
    • Client almost always wants to know price and deadlines
    • in this case sometimes SCRUM/AGILE is not possible and it
    becomes just a show
    Disadvantages
    

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53. • Sometimes clients don’t get the concepts of agile, as they are used in
    traditional processes
    • If team and client are not on the same location, it makes process
    slower
    • Client is usually more involved in the beginning
    • It is not for inexperienced teams
    Disadvantages
    

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54. • Lean Development
    • Extreme programming, pair programming
    • BDD, TDD, DDD…
    • CI/CD
    • Automation of processes (testing, deploying, etc)
    Agile is not just SCRUM
    

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55. Where we are going
    with agile today?
    

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56. Moving to Kanban
    more!
    

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57. Be Agile with Agile!
    

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58. • increased number of releases
    • reduced number of bugs
    • better and more quality metrics per teams
    • design process are drastically improved
    • moral of teams and people is increasead
    • clients are more happy
    Results
    

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59. “I’m sick of it. I can’t wait for the day when
    everyone realises how much of a fad-diet,
    religious-cult-inspired, money-making
    exercise it is for a group of consultants. I
    can’t wait for people to wake up to the fact
    that the only good parts of Agile are just
    basic common sense and don’t need a
    ‘manifesto’ or evangelists to support
    them.”.
    - the rant of Luke Halliwell some ten years ago
    

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60. The is no one-size-fits-
    all approach for
    agencies.
    

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61. Without an Agile
    mindset, Agile remains
    an inert, lifeless set of
    ceremonies.
    

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62. Thank you!
    

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63. Questions?
    Antonio Perić-Mažar
    t: @antonioperic
    m: antonio@locastic.com
    

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