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Are you failing at being agile? #digitallabin

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.

Antonio Peric-Mazar

September 28, 2019
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  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: [email protected]

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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: [email protected]

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