EXIN Agile Scrum Master

Adopting Agile
 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Build a roadmap toward becoming an Agile organization

Manage the changes needed for the Agile transformation

Implement organizational changes for agility

Discuss cultural changes supporting agility

 Patterns of Agile Adoption

There is no single right path to agile adoption. Choose between Start-Small or All-in approaches.

Start Small (Pilot) All-In

• Less risky
• Quicker transition
• Chance to pick suitable teams
• Lower cost of transition
• Almost guarantees early success
• Chance to learn from each other
• Initial resistance reduction
• Strong top-down buy-in and
• Radical change can be deferred
change management are
• Choice of pilot and expectation
required
management is important
 Select the Right-Size Pilot Project

Choosing the right pilot project is important for the success of the agile pilot project.

Large
Pick This Project
Project Size

Duration

Short Long

Small
 Choices in Agile Transformation Journey

There are many patterns to choose from while embarking on an Agile transition journey:

Public Display Split and Seed Technical Practices

Demonstrates strong Split the first team, and assign
Introduced Early
commitment and clear change agents to other teams, Bring in significant RoI with
messaging which will ensure faster change early adoption

Stealth Grow and Split Technical Practices in Stages

Respects initial resistance Grow an entire team in Agile Let the team gradually bring
and allows to choose when doctrines and then split it into in improvements if there is
to go public smaller teams, which will ensure significant resistance
deeper change
 Iterative Execution of Transition Projects

Agile transformations should be executed like any other project that includes:.

Seeking an influential Building an Enterprise Creating a backlog for

sponsor who is Transition Committee (ETC) transition and execute
committed to the project iteratively

ETC should lead the product backlog process and identify specific milestones.

ETC may form several Improvement Committees (ICs) for specific areas.
 Setting the Expectations

Anticipate resistance to change and set expectations with the stakeholders.

Customers
Why spend so much
time with the teams?

Testers Teams
Why test unfinished Why spend too much
work repeatedly? Complain time in meetings?
ts

Old school Star performers

Less documentation and formality in Excessive focus on the
methods are discomforting team, no recognition!
 Change Style Indicators

People react to change in different ways. The major patterns are:

Conservers
01 • Fear of the unknown
• Involve in planning and managing risks

Pragmatists
02 • Change when absolutely needed
• Resolve conflicts and mediate

Originators
03 • Let’s give it a go!
• Lead and provide vision and novelty
 Managing Resistance to Change

Resistance to change may take up different forms. There are different approaches to address it:

Active
Diehards Saboteurs
How they resist

Passive

Followers Skeptics

Like status quo Don’t like scrum

Two parameters: Why they resist

Ref: Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn

Activity: Resistance to Change

Duration: 5 min

As expected, Hi-Tec Learning is experiencing a lot of resistance to changes brought in

through Agile methods. Angela, who is leading the transformation program, is seeking help
to deal with people resisting change. Can you help Angela pick the right strategy?
 Instructions

Approaches Resistance Patterns

1. Explain what is wrong with current system a) Follower

2. Reaffirm commitment to scrum b) Sceptic
3. Involve in the processes c) Diehard
4. Appoint a champion and address issues d) Saboteur
 People Issues

Dealing with people issues arising due to the changes within the organization is important.

Top-Down Management Lack of Collaboration

• Bring role clarity for team members • Avoid silo thinking

• Provide agile coaching • Create incentives for collaboration
• Model right behaviors • Set up cross-functional teams

Impossible Stakeholder Demands Struggles with Obstacles

• Servant leader to focus on obstacles

• Servant leadership to work with
• Provide agile coaching
stakeholders
• Escalate issues that need higher level
• Create win-win situations
intervention
 Planning and Tracking Issues

Planning and tracking issues should be taken care of during an agile transformation journey

Inattention to Burndown Under or Over Commitment

• Coach the team to make reliable plans

• Scrum master to draw team’s attention
• Split stories into smaller units
• Make information radiators visible
• Track story completion rates

Inadequate Backlog Refinement Degraded Quality

• Set aside specific time for refinement • Pay attention to technical debt
• Establish and use a definition of ready • Establish and use definition of done
 Changes to HR or People Management

HR is an important stakeholder. They should be on-board the agile transformation journey.

Human Resources

Communication of
Get some scrum
organizational changes
training for HR people
in a sensitive way

Define authority levels Provide incentives to

for self-organized teams collaborate

Create career paths for

Understand scrum roles Understand rules
scrum roles
 Facilities and Administration

Create an open, collaborative space for Agile teams, spaces for huddles, information
radiators, pantries, and places to eat together.
 Project Management Office (PMO)

PMO and other process-oriented groups can be a powerful source of support.

If they feel left out, they can also be a source of significant resistance.

Potential roles for the PMO:

Assist with
Develop training Provide Be a gatekeeper
reporting or
plans coaching for projects
compliance

Establish
Provide and Assist in Identify and
communities of
maintain tools collecting data reduce waste
practice
 Whole Team Responsibility

Team responsibility takes a while to set in.

Reduce excessive reliance

on specialists
Accommodate every team
member’s needs

Motivate the team with a

challenging project

Provide time for the

specialists
Create forums for cross-
team learning
 Self-Organization

Self-organization does not mean being unmanaged. It means a high degree of autonomy and subtle
controls.

Set up containers Manage exchanges

Establish the boundaries within Create forums and mechanisms for the
which the team will operate teams to engage with the world outside

Amplify or dampen differences

Amplify or dampen differences so that there is
healthy debate but no analysis paralysis
 What is a Maturity Model?

Agile Maturity Model is a tool that helps people assess the effectiveness of a team and identify
areas for improving in terms of agile practices.

Level 3
Optimizing
Level 2
Quantitatively
managed
Level 1
Consistent
Level 0
Repeatable
Level -1
Regressive

Ref: The Agile Maturity Model (thoughtworks.com)

 Why Maturity Model?

Why should an organization choose to follow somebody else’s model to achieve the so called
“perfect state”?

At regular intervals, the team reflects on how

to become more effective, then tunes and
adjusts its behavior accordingly.

– Agile Manifesto, Principle 12

Choose a model that allows for flexibility in terms of actual practices applied, but
focuses on “Inspect and Adapt” principle of agile methods.
 Use of Maturity Model

The right use of maturity models should be to:

Implement
Plan for
Assess Identify KPAs Improvement
Improvement
s
 Different Maturity Models

Some of the examples of maturity models are:

Model Levels Key Assessment Areas

Harman Maturity Model L-1 Ad-hoc; Agile principles and manifesto; Planning & Commitment; Collaboration and Communication;
L-2: Doing; Risk Management;
L-3: Being; Engineering Maturity;
L-4: Excel Change Management;
Delivery Maturity;
Agile Metrics; Automation

Thoughtworks Agile L (-1): Regressive;
Maturity Model L-0: Repeatable;
L-1: Consistent;
L-2: Quantitatively Managed;
L-3: Optimizing
Build management and continuous integration; Environments and Deployment;
Release management and Compliance; Testing;
Data management

Cape Management L-1: Ad-hoc; Agile Practices;

Maturity Index L-2: Doing; Quality;
L-3: Being; Testing;
L-4: Thinking; Team working and collaboration;
L-5: Culturally Consistency;
Lean portfolio;
Governance;
Agile at scale;
Automation and Autonomation (human touch); Continuous improvement and optimization
 Key Takeaways

There is no single right path to agile adoption. Choose

between All-In and Start-Small (Pilot) approaches.

Form an Enterprise Transition Committee (ETC), create a

backlog for transition, and execute iteratively.

Organizational support functions like HR and Facilities need

to be on-boarded on agile methods.

Most organizations might underestimate the cultural

changes needed to make agile successful.