An Agile Retrospective

Presented by Rob Moore and Chris Gilbert at DDD Perth 2016.

A look at some of the common problems that we're still seeing in Agile software development in 2016 and some things that can help.

Transcript

1. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth An Agile Retrospective What works? What doesn’t? What can we try out in order to improve?
2. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth
3. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Rob Moore Principal Consultant for Readify. Passionate about leading software teams to deliver business value. @robdmoore Chris Gilbert Principal Consultant for SixPivot. Common sense enthusiast. Wearer of pants. @chriswithpants
4. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Why are we here? Guiding choice: What do we see the most pain from?
5. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Retrospective Prime Directive Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand. Norm Kerth Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews
6. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Caveat Context is everything; be pragmatic We are going to show you things we’ve done that have worked for us* * YMMV
7. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Ceremonies
8. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Bad standups Idea #1: Walk the board Idea #2: Goal-oriented questions
9. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “Are you getting value from the ceremony? What changes– even radical ones – can you introduce to get more value? EXPERIMENT!”
10. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Backlog Management
11. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Business value not driving backlog items Idea #1: Emphasise “So That” Idea #2: Drive tech debt via business value
12. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Driving requirements from huge spec documents that are months/years in the making Idea #1: Use acceptance criteria effectively Idea #2: Use more than just text
13. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “Focus on value to the business for all work. Optimise for just in time conversations where possible.”
14. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Estimation
15. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Tedious planning poker Idea #1: Take high estimate if one Fibonacci bracket diff Idea #2: Only discuss implementation if points dispute
16. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Inaccurate Estimating Idea #1: Only estimate stories Idea #2: Use relative Fibonacci estimation
17. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Relative estimation ftw
18. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “It's a balancing act between too much effort and not enough. It's an estimate - it's OK if the estimate is wrong. Law of averages usually applies.”
19. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Testing
20. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Separate test plans / specs are created Idea: Use acceptance criteria
21. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Testers (and BAs!) out of sync with dev team Idea #1: Testers part of the core team Idea #2: Story kickoffs
22. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “The whole idea of agile is it's iterative and we fail fast. If testing isn't a collaborative part of the work as it's being done, we're not failing fast and if we don't fail fast, we can't fix it fast.”
23. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Product Owners
24. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: PO's with no authority over scope Idea: Empowered, knowledgeable PO
25. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Unidirectional conversations about scope (PO -> Devs -or- Devs -> PO) Idea: Foster bi-directional relationship with PO
26. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “Bi-directional relationship between dev team and empowered, preferably collocated product owner”
27. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Culture
28. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Not focusing on shipping Idea #1: Build a culture of making production matter Idea #2: Use milestones to give the team focus
29. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Problem: Company not open to change Idea #1: Question the value of activities Idea #2: Build continuous improvement culture
30. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Guiding Principle “Fostering a culture of continuous improvement is so very important; that way it doesn’t matter where you start you can always improve. Production or it didn’t happen”
31. @robdmoore @chriswithpants #agileretro #dddperth Thanks! Questions? Rob Moore @robdmoore Chris Gilbert @chriswithpants