The Board Whisperer

At this point in Agile's lifecycle, many teams have switched to using a Kanban Board. Some are simple, three-column trackers; others are considerably more involved. Yet, many teams don't know how to stop for a moment and listen to their board. It's gently trying to nudge them about the changes that it needs to make them a better team. Come along and learn how we can go from simple to just complicated enough, smoothly.

In a new team, we started with a three-column standard to something that fits us perfectly. Our board won't work for you, but by learning how, when, and why we made our changes, you can make a board that works perfectly for your team too. See the patterns and anti-patterns; listen to the change that your board is crying out for; and enjoy the results.

Transcript

2. “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.”
3. The Board Whisperer @garyfleming http://bit.ly/the-board-whisperer
4. The Board Whisperer (Roll credits) @garyfleming http://bit.ly/the-board-whisperer
5. The Stand-Up Dysfunction @garyfleming
6. The Death Spiral of Justification @garyfleming
7. Boards Offer Insight @garyfleming
8. R U XPRNC'D?
9. @garyfleming
10. Flow boards @garyfleming
11. Flow Forwards @garyfleming
12. "We Had A Conversation" @garyfleming
13. Meetings Are Not Conversations @garyfleming
14. Based on a True Story @garyfleming
15. @garyfleming
16. @garyfleming
17. Three-Column Kanban @garyfleming
18. Delivering Value @garyfleming
19. Whole Team Responsibility @garyfleming
20. Work-in-Progress (WiP) Limits @garyfleming
21. Work-in-Progress (WiP) Limits @garyfleming
22. Signals @garyfleming
23. Signals @garyfleming
24. Signals 4 Not positive or negative @garyfleming
25. Signals 4 Not positive or negative 4 Not necessarily loud @garyfleming
26. Signals 4 Not positive or negative 4 Not necessarily loud 4 Attending to one may help you see way more @garyfleming
27. Signals 4 Not positive or negative 4 Not necessarily loud 4 Attending to one may help you see way more 4 Conversations are a MUST! @garyfleming
28. Physical Boards Are Signalling @garyfleming
29. Digital Boards are Analytical @garyfleming
30. Signal: What's the actual process? @garyfleming
31. Solution: Conversations and Columns @garyfleming
32. Signal: TODO @garyfleming
33. Signal: WiP Breaches @garyfleming
34. Solution: Active columns @garyfleming
35. @garyfleming
36. Signal: Done, But No Value Yet @garyfleming
37. Answer: Ready to Celebrate !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @garyfleming
38. Answer: Ready to Celebrate @garyfleming
39. Signal: Too Much Rework. @garyfleming
40. Signal: Too Much Rework. "THAT WASN'T IN THE REQUIREMENTS." @garyfleming
41. Answer: Three Amigos @garyfleming
42. Answer: Three Amigos Ensure the work is wanted, Do the work, check the work, ensure the work is wanted (again) @garyfleming
43. Three Amigos: Example Mapping examplemapping.com @garyfleming
44. Useful signal: Three Amigos Bottleneck @garyfleming
45. Useful signal: Three Amigos Bottleneck @garyfleming
46. Signal: "Unfinished" work moving @garyfleming
47. Answer: Push Criteria 4 "All tests must pass" 4 "Code review must be complete, unless pairing" 4 "Passing build pipeline to Test environment" @garyfleming
48. Answer: Pull Criteria 4 "Ready for Test -> Test: I've had a chat with the developer to learn about any issues" 4 "It's the highest value item in the column" @garyfleming
49. Shared Ownership through Conversations @garyfleming
50. ... Exit Criteria On the Board @garyfleming
52. Signal Experiment: Log Jam In Review @garyfleming
53. What if... WiP Limits Had Been Increased? @garyfleming
54. "What should the WiP limits be for column X?" 1? @garyfleming
55. "What should the WiP limits be for column X?" Affected by: 4 Slicing of task, 4 Complexity of task, 4 The stage of work (Dev vs test etc) 4 The people doing the work. etc. @garyfleming
56. People != Resources @garyfleming
57. Well-Oiled Machine @garyfleming
58. Well-Oiled Machine Prelude to a Disaster @garyfleming
59. Signal: Disaster in Discovery @garyfleming
60. Solution: Three-Column Kanban @garyfleming
61. Starting a new Journey @garyfleming
62. Signal: Done in Discovery? @garyfleming
63. Solution: Playback @garyfleming
64. Back to Big @garyfleming
65. The Stand-Up Dysfunction Revisited @garyfleming
66. The Stand-Up Dysfunction Revisited @garyfleming
67. The Stand-Up Dysfunction Revisited 4 A human process. @garyfleming
68. The Stand-Up Dysfunction Revisited 4 A human process. 4 Conversations (right to left). @garyfleming
69. The Stand-Up Dysfunction Revisited 4 A human process. 4 Conversations (right to left). 4 An accurate enough board. @garyfleming
70. Just enough. Not perfect. @garyfleming
71. No Recipes for Evolving But... 4 Items not flowing, 4 Columns blocking, 4 Gaps in the flow, 4 Odd movement (skipping), 4 Starvation or abundance, 4 Clustering, And many more...
72. Evolve Your Board, Evolve Your Team. @garyfleming
73. The real work is... @garyfleming
74. The real work is... 4 Individuals & Interactions @garyfleming
75. The real work is... 4 Individuals & Interactions 4 Collaboration @garyfleming
76. The real work is... 4 Individuals & Interactions 4 Collaboration 4 Responding to change @garyfleming
77. The real work is... 4 Individuals & Interactions 4 Collaboration 4 Responding to change 4 Producing working software @garyfleming
78. The board helps by 4 Removing confusing details. 4 By Selecting. 4 By Elimination. 4 By Emphasising. 4 By getting at the real meaning of things. @garyfleming
79. @garyfleming
80. “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.” @garyfleming
81. Thank You @garyfleming http://bit.ly/the-board-whisperer @garyfleming
82. Thank You @garyfleming http://bit.ly/the-board- whisperer @garyfleming
83. Common Question What do we do when we're remote/ distributed? @garyfleming