How to Get back Our Day

Remaining relevant in the future requires the speedy delivery of business features and revenue protection. Time matters - a lot. There are 5 thieves of time, that if exposed, can help you do something about them. This talk addresses the everyday challenges that cause time theft and provides guidance on how to protect your time so you can deliver your most important work quickly.

1. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Director, Digital Transformation The 5 Thieves of Time: How to get your day back
2. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Disconnect in workflow interferes with communication & delays delivery NDA request Does your work intake process start with email? “Things take too long” is a universal problem
3. ddegrandis.com @dominicad https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-you-ready-for-an-amazon-branded-checking-account-1520251200
4. ddegrandis.com @dominicad WHAT’S THE POINT? The ability to adapt quickly matters. Time matters. A lot. EXPOSE TIME THEFT
5. ddegrandis.com @dominicad • Improve capability to deliver work faster • Progress of work is visible • Improve predictability • Fewer meetings • Get back your day BENEFITs
6. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis The 5Thieves of Time Unplanned work should we Oh, btw still here Conflicting Priorities Unknown Dependencies Neglected work Too Much WIP Foundation of interruptions
7. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Unplanned Work: Interruptions that prevent you from finishing something or from stopping at a better breaking point. Unplanned Work is a time thief b/c unplanned work usurps planned work THIEF UNPLANNED WORK
8. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Unplanned Work Unplanned Work: Interruptions that prevent you from finishing something or from stopping at a better breaking point. Unplanned Work is a time thief b/c unplanned work usurps planned work Why Unplanned Work matters Unplanned Work delays planned work
9. ddegrandis.com @dominicad https://www.verizonenterprise.com/resources/reports/rp_DBIR_2018_Report_execsummary_en_xg.pdf 53,308 security incidents, 2,216 data breaches, • 53,308 security incidents • 2,216 data breaches complicated threat landscape 2018 Data Breach Investigations Rpt
10. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Look at Flow time Expose dalays from Unplanned Work Influence others using the power of visualization date Unplanned work delays Planned work
11. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Synchronize Coordination between Help Desk and Development
12. ddegrandis.com @dominicad THIEF CONFLICTING PRIORITIES A decision to do one thing is a decision to delay something else.
13. ddegrandis.com @dominicad @dominicad https://itrevolution.com/book/the-cornerstone-for-winning/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qav1y7G15JQ People have a finite amount of capacity Why Conflicting Priorities matter
14. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Explicit Prioritization Policies help teams be more predictable § PNW rainy weather causes unpredictable Landslides § Limited number of rails - freight trains have higher priority
15. ddegrandis.com @dominicad How to Prioritize? Explicit Prioritization Options ROI: Return of investment Cost of investment CoD: Missed revenue (gen, rev protection) costs (staffing, operational) WSJF: Delay cost Duration FIFO: First In First Out HiPPO: Highest Paid Persons Opinion wsjf - http://reinertsenassociates.com/books/ if work is same size, do work w/ high CoD If work is same Cod, do short work 1st if size & CoD are diff, base priority on delay cost divided by duration measure of impact of time on desired outcomes
16. ddegrandis.com @dominicad How do you prioritize your work? How do you prioritize your work? Go to www.menti.com and use code: 63 46 62
17. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Conflicting Priorities Projects and tasks that compete with each other. Conflicting Priorities is a time thief b/c people take on too much WIP when priorities are unclear. Expose Competing work items • Visualize priority indicators • identify top 5 things • can't deny what’s not worked on • Reflection of latest state of understanding or misunderstanding
18. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Beastly Practice Individually named swim lanes People may prioritize based on making themselves look good to the detriment of the team performance! Same thing at the team level w/ local optimization. Avoid this design
19. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Unplanned Work: Interruptions that prevent you from finishing something or from stopping at a better breaking point. Unplanned Work is a time thief b/c unplanned work usurps planned work THIEF UNKNOWN DEPENDENCIES Teams rarely work in isolation. The larger the org, the more teams, the higher probability of unknown dependencies
20. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Why Dependencies Matter • 8 ways to have three inputs • 1 in 8 chance of on time delivery • Every dependency doubles your chance of being delayed • Dependencies are asymmetrical in their impact. • 4 dependencies = 16 possible outcomes People aren’t available when needed
21. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Remove Dependencies whenever possible The more teams, the higher probability of more dependencies. Loosely coupled components
22. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Make Dependencies Visible
23. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Neglected Work Neglected Work is partially completed work that gets postponed. It’s work that sits idle on the bench waiting for attention. Neglected work is a time thief b/c it either gets in the way of higher value work or it delays the delivery of important work. NEGLECTED WORK
24. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Neglected Work Neglected Work is partially completed work that gets postponed. It’s work that sits idle on the bench waiting for attention. Neglected work is a time thief b/c it either gets in the way of higher value work or it delays the delivery of important work.
25. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Make tradeoffs clear – set strategic direction with Flow Distribution
26. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Too much Work-in-progress (WIP) THIEF TOO MUCH Work-in-Progress (WIP) Too much WIP comes from too much Yes
27. ddegrandis.com @dominicad The Honey Do List?
28. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Why do you take on more WIP than you have capacity to do?
29. ddegrandis.com @dominicad How do you prioritize your work? Why do you take on more work than you have capacity to do? Go to www.menti.com and use code: 63 46 62
30. ddegrandis.com @dominicad “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything.” ~Warren Buffett https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/756.Warren_Buffett
31. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Think twice before saying yes
32. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Unplanned Work Transaction costs: Low for a one-time 6 month supply High for a one day supply. Knowledge work is perishable Consider Batch Size
33. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Dominica DeGrandis Thief Unplanned Work Unplanned Work: Interruptions that prevent you from finishing something or from stopping at a better breaking point. Unplanned Work is a time thief b/c unplanned work usurps planned work @dominicad While economies of scale can reduce costs in manufacturing, software is a different story. Two things to consider: • Transaction cost • Holding cost
34. ddegrandis.com @dominicad WIP is a leading indicator
35. ddegrandis.com @dominicad The all day cram The 30 minute jam The triple booked wham What kind of calendar do you have?
36. ddegrandis.com @dominicad CSRA Learning Team “SparrowHawks” via @paula_thrasher:
37. ddegrandis.com @dominicad • 10 -12 meetings a day • perpetual stop and go • exacerbates context switching The 30 minute jam
38. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Back-to-back 7am to 7pm meetings leave zero flexible time § no room for unexpected important urgent work § disappointed people § cancelled meetings (how often cancelled?) § How much time is wasted rescheduling meetings? The all day cram
39. ddegrandis.com @dominicad rescheduled meetings create rework – which has a cost The triple booked wham If the no-show person disagrees w/ decision made by the others, then rework occurs to rehash out that decision.
40. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Calendar - before
41. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Break down work into time-boxed intervals separated by short breaks. Set timer for 25 or 30 min and work to finish your task until timer rings. Pomodoros provide intense focus time. Interruption Buster: Pomodoro
42. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Interruption Buster: Do-not-disturb hours Set a regular cadence to let people know when you are available and when you are not available.
43. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Calendar - after D1 D1 D1 D1 Pomodoro time DND
44. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Synchronize Coordination Discover missing links - connect the dots
45. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Primary challenges & business drivers
46. ddegrandis.com @dominicad https://itrevolution.com/book/overcoming- inefficiencies-multiple-work-management-systems/ Strategies to provide examples of ways to make all the work visible across all teams, including the “black box” of operations work.
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49. ddegrandis.com @dominicad WHAT’S THE POINT? The ability to adapt quickly matters. Time matters. A lot. EXPOSE TIME THEFT
50. ddegrandis.com @dominicad • Improve capability to deliver work faster • Progress of work is visible • Improve predictability • Fewer meetings • Get back your day BENEFITs
51. ddegrandis.com @dominicad It’s hard to say “no,” to the boss or to people we like. Who feels okay to refuse a manager’s request? Be the voice of reason in our organization
52. ddegrandis.com @dominicad Email: dominica@SendYourSlides.com Subject: flow To receive: • copy of this presentation deck • excerpts of Making Work Visible • Tasktop video on TFS/SN tool integration • Forrester article: Agile-Plus-DevOps With Value Stream Management • Overcoming inefficiencies in work mgmt. systems