MANNING in an imperfect world FOREWORD BY MARY POPPENDIECK GREG SMITH AHMED SIDKY www.it-ebooks.info Becoming Agile Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info Becoming Agile IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD GREG SMITH AHMED SIDKY MANNING Greenwich (74° w. long.) Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info For online information and ordering of this and other Manning books, please visit www.manning.com. The publisher offers discounts on this book when ordered in quantity. For more information, please contact Special Sales Department Manning Publications Co. Sound View Court 3B fax: (609) 877-8256 Greenwich, CT 06830 email: orders@manning.com ©2009 by Manning Publications Co. All rights reserved. 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Copyeditor: Tiffany Taylor Sound View Court 3B Typesetter: Gordan Salinovic Greenwich, CT 06830 Cover designer: Leslie Haimes ISBN 978-1-933988-25-2 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 – MAL – 14 13 12 11 10 09 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info v brief contents P ART 1 A GILE FUNDAMENTALS AND A SUPPORTING CASE STUDY 1 1 ■ Moving to agile 3 2 ■ The story of Acme Media 17 P ART 2 G ETTING STARTED 25 3 ■ Are you ready for agile? 27 4 ■ The fitness test: all about readiness assessments 43 5 ■ The importance of obtaining executive support 58 6 ■ Improving buy-in by creating a core team 66 7 ■ The mindset of an agile leader 73 8 ■ Injecting agility into your current process 87 9 ■ Selecting a pilot project 105 P ART 3 K ICKING OFF 113 10 ■ Feasibility: is this project viable? 115 11 ■ Aligning the pilot team with the project 136 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info BRIEF CONTENTS vi P ART 4 P OPULATING THE PRODUCT BACKLOG 151 12 ■ Feature cards: a tool for “just enough” planning 153 13 ■ Prioritizing the backlog 170 14 ■ Estimating at the right level with the right people 183 P ART 5 E NOUGH INFORMATION FOR SCHEDULING 193 15 ■ Release planning: envisioning the overall schedule 195 16 ■ Iteration planning: the nitty-gritty details 204 P ART 6 B UILDING THE PRODUCT 221 17 ■ Start your engines: iteration 0 223 18 ■ Delivering working software 230 19 ■ Testing: did you do it right? 244 P ART 7 E MBRACING CHANGE 253 20 ■ Adapting: reacting positively to change 255 21 ■ Delivery: bringing it all together 277 22 ■ The retrospective: working together to improve 297 P ART 8 M OVING FORWARD 311 23 ■ Extending the new process across your company 313 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info vii contents foreword xvii preface xix acknowledgments xxi about this book xxiii P ART 1A GILE FUNDAMENTALS AND A SUPPORTING CASE STUDY 1 1 Moving to agile 3 1.1 Is Agile just another process? 5 The Agile Manifesto and related values 6 ■ The agile principles 7 The agile practices 9 1.2 A paradigm shift from a plan-driven mentality 10 1.3 Agile and the bottom line 11 1.4 How this book will help you become more agile 14 1.5 Key points to remember 16 1.6 Looking ahead 16 2 The story of Acme Media 17 2.1 Case study background and circumstances 18 2.2 About the Acme Media teams 19 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info CONTENTS viii 2.3 About the individuals 19 2.4 What does it look like when a team “becomes agile”? 20 The existing process 20 ■ A process with more agility 21 ■ The ultimate process 22 2.5 Key points to remember 24 2.6 Looking ahead 24 P ART 2G ETTING STARTED 25 3 Are you ready for agile? 27 3.1 What areas will you become more agile in? 28 Increasing customer involvement 28 ■ Improving prioritization of features 28 ■ Increasing team buy-in and involvement 28 Clarifying priorities and reminding everyone of the consequences of changing them 28 ■ Adapting to change during development 29 Better understanding the project’s status 29 ■ More efficient planning and estimating 29 ■ Continuous risk management 30 Delivering the project needed at the end 30 ■ Achieving the right level of project structure 30 3.2 The different flavors of agile 32 Scrum 32 ■ Extreme Programming 34 3.3 Create your own flavor to become agile within your constraints 35 Your goal: reach the right level of agility for your organization 36 Characteristics that make agile easier to adopt 38 ■ Roadblocks that others have overcome 40 3.4 Key points to remember 42 3.5 Looking ahead 42 4 The fitness test: all about readiness assessments 43 4.1 The importance of readiness assessments 44 4.2 Reducing the risks of agile adoption using assessments 44 4.3 Increasing productivity during transitions 46 4.4 Getting executive buy-in for agile adoption using readiness assessments 47 4.5 Conducting readiness assessments 49 Readiness-assessment tables 49 ■ Finding out the results 52 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info CONTENTS ix 4.6 Key points 57 4.7 Looking ahead 57 5 The importance of obtaining executive support 58 5.1 Why should we pursue agile? 59 5.2 The cost of migrating 60 5.3 The risks in migrating 61 5.4 Rewards for the executives 62 5.5 Communicating frequently with your executive team 62 5.6 The role of the sponsor 63 5.7 Following Acme Media as the company obtains a sponsor 63 5.8 Key points 65 5.9 Looking forward 65 6 Improving buy-in by creating a core team 66 6.1 Who should be in the core team? 67 6.2 Choosing the core team at Acme Media 68 6.3 The kickoff meeting 69 Tough questions 70 ■ Your role in the migration 71 6.4 Key points 72 6.5 Looking forward 72 7 The mindset of an agile leader 73 7.1 The role of an agile coach 75 Attributes of a good coach 75 ■ Training and mentoring the core team 76 7.2 Agile management: more shepherding, less directing 77 Soft skills 78 ■ Working with other managers 78 ■ Working with stakeholders 79 ■ Demonstrating value 79 ■ Leading the team to ownership 81 7.3 Creating a team with an agile mindset 82 Culture and roles 83 ■ Characteristics that influence individual performance 84 7.4 Key points 86 7.5 Looking forward 86 Licensed to Deborah Christiansen <pedbro@gmail.com> www.it-ebooks.info [...]... King, Mike Tian-Jian Jiang, Federico Tomassetti, Robert Dempsey, Patrick Debois, Doug Warren, Horaci Mcias, Daniel Alford, Amr Elssamadisy, Dave Corun, Bas Vodde, Vincent Yin, Valentin Crettaz, Marco Ughetti, Darren Neimke, Hannu Terävä, Eric Raymond, Jason Kolter, Christopher Haupt, Robert Hanson, Dusty Jewett, and Christian Siegers Lastly, I thank my family Thanks to my parents, Darrell and Eva, for... Piergies, did an excellent job of coordinating all of our work and getting the book into print And of course, thank you to Publisher Marjan Bace for taking on this book and sticking with it as it went down various paths and side roads on the way to final copy I would also like to thank all of the people who have shaped my ideas about software development throughout my career Joe Woodmancy, thank you for... Completing the user acceptance process 284 Validation of nonfunctional requirements 284 ■ ■ 21.3 Preparing support groups and processes 286 The running maintenance and support worksheet 286 Finalizing help materials and support processes 287 Enabling system monitoring, and creating an escalation process 287 Enabling maintenance and background processes 288 ■ ■ ■ 21.4 21.5 Communication and training Ready... have pursued Thanks to my wife, Peggy, who continued to provide support even after we discovered what it really means to write a book And finally, a thank you to my daughter, Lauren, for listening to me go on and on about agile for years Although only 10 years old, Lauren now has the skills necessary to lead any company in its move to agile GREG SMITH First and foremost, I am grateful and thankful to Allah,... the pain and joy of this book Thank you, Noura, for your love and enthusiasm, and I hope you are ready for my next book This book could not have happened without the hard work and dedication of my dear friend and coauthor Greg Smith I really enjoyed working with him and thank him for his patience and perseverance AHMED SIDKY www.it-ebooks.info Licensed to Deborah Christiansen about... Christiansen xv CONTENTS 20.3 Three ways Acme Media adapted during its first iteration 261 A change in feature scope 261 An issue with performance 262 Underestimating the registration need 262 ■ 20.4 Adapting at the end of an iteration 262 Demonstrating and gathering feedback 263 Re-evaluating priorities: what are your options? 263 Reviewing team performance and velocity 265 Re-planning... with guidance, health, family, and friends who supported me and helped me through the writing of this book I am especially forever grateful to my sisters and beloved parents, Samy and Hoda, who supported me and encouraged me through every step of my life to reach where I am today I am very fortunate to have been blessed with an amazing and supportive wife, Noura, who has felt both the pain and joy of... development managers and customer organizations are often not on board This is a mistake, because dramatic improvements from agile development require a different mindset on the part of both development managers and the organizations for which the software is being developed Second, some companies have made serious missteps in applying agile—perhaps by developing an unmaintainable code base or creating an unsupportable... company culture and maturity This process will allow you to identify many barriers before you begin your migration, and you can make an informed decision about which constraints to accept and which ones to challenge as you move to agile Second, we have witnessed the risks associated with moving to agile We have seen product delivery jeopardized, and we have seen employees become upset with a change... private forum run by Manning Publications where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the authors and other users To access and subscribe to the forum, point your browser to www.manning.com/BecomingAgile or www.manning.com/smith This page provides information on how to get on the forum once you are registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of . agile in? 28 Increasing customer involvement 28 ■ Improving prioritization of features 28 ■ Increasing team buy -in and involvement 28 Clarifying priorities. Obtaining funding 226 17.5 Finalizing and dedicating the project team 227 17.6 Cheating: starting the work early 228 17.7 Key points 229 17.8 Looking forward