Insanity; it’s doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. Improving as an organisation is hard. What is even harder? Continuously improving. Yet it is key to any Agile transformation as we challenge ingrained practices and rigid ways of working. How do we manage to do this?!
During this presentation, I will share the strategies I've used to introduce Retrospectives, Lean Coffee, Brown Bags, Team 1:1s, and Guilds in the trenches. All of these continuous improvement practices have fast tracked Agile transformations in the teams and organisations I've worked with. Implement these practices and you can go beyond Agile adoption too.
3. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Change is emotionalMorale
Shock
Denial
Time
Frustration
Depression
Experiment
Decision
Integration
The Kübler-Ross change curve
4. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
What change really looks like
Refer to this blog by @pawelbrodzinski: http://bit.ly/why-we-fail-to-change
Performance
Time
Start Agile
Transformation
5. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
What inevitably happens..Performance
Time
Start Agile
Transformation
Change agent fired
Refer to this blog by @pawelbrodzinski: http://bit.ly/why-we-fail-to-change
6. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Kaizen vs Kaikaku
Kaizen:
Japanese word for “incremental change”
or “continuous improvement”
Kaikaku:
Japanese word for “radical change”
7. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Kaizen vs KaikakuPerformance
Time
Start Agile
Transformation
Refer to this blog by @pawelbrodzinski: http://bit.ly/why-we-fail-to-change
8. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Kaizen
“One of the most notable features of Kaizen is that big
results come from many small changes accumulated over
time. However, this has been misunderstood to mean that
Kaizen equals small changes. In fact, Kaizen means
everyone is involved in making improvements. While the
majority of changes may be small, the greatest impact
may be Kaizens that are led by senior management as
transformational projects, or by cross-functional teams
as Kaizen events.” Kaizen.com
26. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to setup Lean Coffee
• Find the following:
– People who are interested
– Venue that works for the group
– Frequency that works for the group
• Limit the amount of people (~8 works well for us)
• Nominate a facilitator each time
• Keep track of actions
30. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Team 1:1s @ REA Group
Leon Ryan Princy Vinh Miles
Leon 2pm 15/9 2pm 17/9
Ryan 3pm 14/9 10am 9/9 11am 10/9
Princy
Vinh 10am 12/9
Miles
32. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
My feedback
“Be careful not to be dismissive of non-Agile
approaches, particularly dismissive to people. Gain
an understanding of what are the pros & cons of all
approaches and where each is appropriate.”
(Vinh – Business Analyst)
33. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
My feedback
“Learn to stand up for yourself more when you have
a strong opinion, especially when working with
strong personalities.”
(Leon – Developer)
34. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to set up teams 1:1s
• Find people who are interested
• Be proactive in scheduling them
• Put thought into your feedback
• Push past the awkwardness
• Remember to say thank you
35. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Remember this…
Leon Ryan Princy Vinh Miles
Leon 2pm 15/9 2pm 17/9
Ryan 3pm 14/9 10am 9/9 11am 10/9
Princy
Vinh 10am 12/9
Miles
36. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to set up teams 1:1s
• Find people who are interested
• Be proactive in scheduling them
• Put thought into your feedback
• Push past the awkwardness
• Remember to say thank you
41. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to setup a Guild
• Find the people who share a common passion
• Work out what works best for the Guild
– Chatting on Slack / Yammer / Skype
– Regular catch ups (i.e. Lean Coffee)
– Practice your skill set together
• At least 1 person needs to drive the Guild
(at least initially)
48. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to setup Brown Bags
Gaining buy in / support:
1. Get support from your team / leadership
2. Look for alignment with leadership’s goals
3. Identify support from within
How to build excitement:
4. Start with a topical talk
5. Keep promoting the Brown Bags
6. Mix the topics to keep everyone interested
49. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
How to setup Brown Bags
How to maintain momentum:
7. Trade with other organisations to get
speakers
8. Select topics that challenge the organisation
– get them thinking about the future
Just remember…
9. It’s about helping others, it’s not about you
53. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Innovation,
Agile Transformation,
Project Delivery?
Looking for a career in
We’re hiring!
Visit: elabor8.com.au/careers
54. think sharprmckergowRyan McKergow |
Image references
1. Chris Chan blog, (2015). The Improvement Paradox - Too Busy To Improve?. [online] Available at:
http://c2reflexions.com/2015/08/05/the-improvement-paradox-too-busy-to-improve/ [Accessed 23 Aug.
2015].
2. Ricardounr.files.wordpress.com, (2015). The Kubler-Ross Change Curve. [online] Available at:
https://ricardounr.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/change-curve.png [Accessed 23 Aug. 2015].
3. Brodzinski, P. (2015). Why We Fail to Change. [online] Brodzinski.com. Available at:
http://brodzinski.com/2015/02/why-we-fail-to-change.html [Accessed 23 Aug. 2015].
4. Info.versionone.com, (2015). The 9th Annual State of Agile™ Survey. [online] Available at:
http://info.versionone.com/state-of-agile-development-survey-ninth.html [Accessed 28 Aug. 2015].
5. Furnell, J. (2010). Facilitating Collaborative Design Workshops - a step by step guide for rapidly creating
a shared vision for execution. [online] the architecture of everything. Available at:
https://jasonfurnell.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/facilitating-collaborative-design-workshops-a-step-by-
step-guide-for-rapidly-creating-a-shared-vision-for-execution/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2015].
6. Little, J. (2015). Hacking a Conservative Organization with Lean Coffee | Lean Change Management.
[online] Leanchange.org. Available at: http://leanchange.org/2012/11/hacking-a-conservative-
organization-with-lean-coffee/ [Accessed 28 Aug. 2015].
7. Imagingigloo.com, (2015). One on ones. [online] Available at: http://imagingigloo.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/11/one-on-one-meeting.png [Accessed 11 Aug. 2015].
8. Spotifylabscom.files.wordpress.com, (2015). [online] Available at:
https://spotifylabscom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/spotify-engineering-culture-part1.jpeg [Accessed 11
Aug. 2015].