Managing Agile: Strategy, Implementation, Organisation and People

266 Pages·2015·7.19 MB·English

by  Alan Moran (auth.)

Alan Moran
Managing
Agile
Strategy, Implementation, Organisation
and People
Managing Agile
Alan Moran
Managing Agile
Strategy, Implementation, Organisation
and People
123
Alan Moran
Zurich
Switzerland
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ISBN 978-3-319-16261-4 ISBN 978-3-319-16262-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16262-1
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Preface
This book considers agile from a management perspective by focusing on matters
of strategy, implementation, organisation and people. It examines the turbulence
ofthemarketplaceandbusinessenvironmentinordertoidentifywhatroleagilehas
to play in coping with such change and uncertainty. What emerges is a narrative
concerning a new strategic orientation based on dynamic capabilities and the
renegotiationofmeaningwithintheorganisationthatlendsitselftoimplementation
using appropriate agile project and programme management techniques. This
results in a transformative experience for the organisation which must challenge
longheldbeliefsaboutitsownidentityandembracetheentrepreneurialspiritofits
employees. Accordingly self-organisational paradigms directed outwards towards
the needs of customers and teams that possess the necessary autonomy and
empowerment become the new order of play. This book, based on observations,
personal experience and extensive research endeavours to make clear the fabric
of the agile organisation thereby assisting managers to become agile leaders in an
uncertain world.
This book is intended for those with decision-making authority within their
organisations (e.g., line managers, programme, project and risk managers, senior
managers)aboutwhomtheassumptionismadethattheessentialsoftopicssuchas
strategy,finance,quality,governanceandriskmanagementarenotonlyunderstood
but constitute a daily aspect of their working lives. It is also likely that this book
will be of interest to those studying advanced management or business adminis-
trationcourses(e.g.,M.B.A.,M.Sc.),whowishtoengageinthemanagementaffairs
of agile organisations and thus need to adapt their skills and knowledge accord-
ingly. Though operational aspects of agile (e.g., how to create a backlog of
requirementsormanageafacilitatedworkshop)areoccasionallyalludedtotheyare
notthemainconcernofthisbookassuchmattersarecoveredatlengthelsewherein
the wider agile literature.
This book opens with a broad survey of agile contrasting and comparing some
ofthemajor methodologiesselectedonthebasisofwheretheylieonacontinuum
of ceremony and formality ranging from the minimalist technique-driven and
software engineering focused XP, through to the pragmatic product-project
vii
viii Preface
®
paradigm that is Scrum and its scaled counterpart SAFe , to the comparatively
project-centric DSDM. Each enjoys the following of a vibrant community and all
arewelldocumentedindetailelsewhere.Thoughreferenceismadetoeachofthem,
DSDM occupies a special place in this book owing to its comprehensive elabora-
tion of programme and project management practices.
Discussion then moves on to the formulation of agile strategy framed in the
languageandconceptsofthedynamicresource-basedviewandinstitutionaltheory
schoolsofthoughtthatbestcapturetheattitudetowardschangeanduncertaintythat
agile seeks to embrace. The relationship between agile, innovation and entrepre-
neurshipisalsoelaboratedonbeforeconsideringmattersoffinancialbudgetingand
appraisal and the contribution that agile makes to returns on investment and ulti-
mately the bottom line.
A detailed discussion of agile programme and project management using the
DSDM frameworks as their basis sets the stage for a series of topics including
governance,quality,riskandconfigurationmanagement.Thisanalysismakesclear
the link between strategy and its implementation transposing practices that may
already be familiar to readers with a more traditional background in the agile
context. Accordingly, there emerges not only a transition path towards more agile
ways of working but also explanation of the specific nuances that distinguish
traditional and agile approaches to programme and project management.
This book concludes with an analysis of the implications of agile for the wider
organisation and a discussion of people factors. It is owing to the central organi-
sational paradigm of self-organised teams that these two spheres are intimately
linked. Indeed, self-organisation becomes the arena in which many people aspects
findtheirexpression(e.g.,autonomy,flexibility)supportedbywiderorganisational
learning from which team performance is ultimately derived.
Whilst this book may be read sequentially many readers may find that they can
skimmaterialalreadyfamiliartothemchoosinginsteadtofocusonspecificdetails
whereappropriate.Indeed,thematerialhasbeendividedintobroadlyself-contained
parts so that readers may opt to focus their reading accordingly. In any event, the
impatientreadermayconsiderfirstreadingthe“ManagementImplications”section
of any chapter only delving further into details should they encounter something
thatpiquestheirinterest.Sincethisbookisbasedonextensiveresearch,additional
information can be found in the inline citations or in the hundreds of references
found in the bibliography.
Acknowledgments
This book is based on practical experience and personal reflections validated by
exchangeswithawiderangeofpractitioners,leadingfiguresandresearcherswithin
theagileandmanagementcommunities.Itbuildsuponthelearningandwisdomof
others who have experienced both success and failure in their application of agile.
Thanks must be extended therefore to all who directly or indirectly contributed to
this book through their discussions, feedback and thoughtful insights. Special
thanks, however, is afforded to the reviewers Arie van Bennekum, Mirosław
Dabrowski,JuliaGodwin,JudyGraham,ClaudiaLienert,MyriamHarmedTorres,
Sridhar Nerur, Michael Nir, Simone Onofri, Konstantinos Panagiotidis, Barbara
Roberts, Luis Sequeira and Richard Walker whose remarks and comments spoke
volumes about their depth of experience.
ix
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Agile Defined. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Historical Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Agile Charting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Iterations and Increments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 Agile in Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.6 Comparison of Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.6.1 Extreme Programming (XP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6.2 Scrum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.6.3 Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM). . . . 21
® ®
1.6.4 Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.7 Systems Thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.8 Influence of Lean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.9 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Part I Agile Strategy
2 Strategy and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.2 Strategic Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.1 Dynamic Resource-Based View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.2 Institutional Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.2.3 Agile Implications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3 Innovation and Entrepreneurship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.4 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3 Financial Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.2 Beyond Budgeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.3 Expenditure and Profit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
xi
xii Contents
3.4 Project Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5 Agile Contracting and Pricing Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.6 Management Implication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Part II Implementation
4 Agile Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.2 Core Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2.1 Workshops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.2.2 MoSCoW Prioritisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.2.3 Iterative Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.2.4 Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.2.5 Timeboxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.3 Lifecycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.4 Roles and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.5 Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.6 Planning and Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4.7 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5 Agile Programme Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5.2 Lifecycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3 Roles and Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.4 Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.5 Planning and Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5.6 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6 Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.2 DSDM and Governance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6.3 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
7 Quality and Test Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
7.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
7.2 Quality Deconstructed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
7.3 Quality Control and Assurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7.4 DSDM and Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
7.5 Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.6 Management Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8 Risk Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.2 Definition of Risk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151