Successfully combining a PMO, Agile, and Lean / 6 starts with understanding what benefit each paradigm brings to the table. Architecting a solution for the enterprise requires assembling a “Systems” with processes, people, and principles – all sharing the goal of business improvement.

1.  PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
OFFICE
 AGILE SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT
 LEAN / 6
ALL LIVING IN HARMONY?
Successfully combining a PMO, Agile, and Lean / 6 starts with understanding what benefit each
paradigm brings to the table. Architecting a solution for the enterprise requires assembling a
“Systems” with processes, people, and principles – all sharing the goal of business improvement.
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2. Where do we start?
 Depends on where you want to go
 Enterprise projects need some form of
enterprise management
 Agile software development has specific
assumptions about management outside
their domain
 Lean and 6 are performance
measurement processes
 The solution starts with the
Architecture of the desired business
process – not the tools
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3. The Core Concepts of Lean
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4. The Core Concepts of the Lean
Program Management Office
“Lean Program Office, Defense Software Summit, 15 October 2007
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5. Three Steps to Product and
Process Improvement
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Defining the Controls … That Assures Process Usage … Results in Reduced Waste
The existing process,
development, and operational
controls assessed for
effectiveness, efficiency and
applicability.
These incremental
improvements are made using
the principles of Kaizen guided
by eliminating the 7 Wastes.
Control applications applied to
standard work. Standard work
does not mean constrained,
over controlled, draconian.
It means “what we do for our
customers as a firm is known,
defined, and adds value in
ways acknowledged by all
participants.
Using Kaizen as well as other
process and product
improvement process, search
for, remove, and replace Waste
Reducing process, products
and service.

6. What do Lean and PMO’s have in Common?
Copyright © 2008, Lewis & Fowler, All Rights Reserved, Do Not Use without written permission
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7. Lean Processes
7
Specify value Value is defined by the customer in terms of specific
products & services
Value is defines in terms of Mission Success
Identify the value stream Map out all end-to-end linked actions, processes and
functions necessary for transforming inputs to outputs to
identify and eliminate waste
Use a Value Stream Map or VSM to define the “good” plan
Make value flow
continuously
Having eliminated waste, make remaining value-creating
steps “flow”
Let customers pull value Customer’s “pull” cascades all the way back to the lowest
level supplier, enabling just-in-time production
Pursue perfection Pursue continuous process of improvement striving for
perfection

8. But We’ve Been Here Before !
Total Quality
Management
Traditional Six
Sigma Lean Thinking
Goal
Meet customer
expectations
Reduce process
variation
Eliminate waste
to create value
Focus
Product quality Sources of
variation
People and
processes
Org Structure
Quality circles Green and black
belts
Integrated
Product Teams
Business Model
Improve
shareholder value
Increase
customer
satisfaction
Deliver value to
all stakeholders
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9. What Does This Mean for
Enterprise Software Development?
Value
Identification
Value
Proposition Value Delivery
Identify the
stakeholders and
their value
expectations
Develop a robust
value proposition
to meet the
expectations
Deliver on the
promise with
good technical
and program
performance
Source: Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT’s Lean Aerospace Initiative, Murman, et. al 2002
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10. Principles of the PMO
Principle Activity
Identify, coordinate, verify
connections between projects,
programs, and portfolios of
projects are centrally managed
Through a centralized clearing house, coordinate the
interactions of projects and programs in support of the
delivery of value for the enterprise
Identify and solve issues in
individual projects for the
benefit of all projects
Performs assessments of the overall state of projects
and their management.
Providing going assistance to
assure issues remain solved
Periodic reviews, assessments, oversight, and support
assure issues that arise in individual projects are
addressed in a centralized manner
Centralized services to assure
processes add value to all
projects and programs
Project management tools, processes, training, and
coaching provided through a centralized enterprise
wide organization
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11. Defining Value is a Difficult
Processes
11
 Value Added
 Transforms or shapes material or information
 And the customer wants it
 And it’s done right the first time
 Non-Value Added – Necessary
 No value is created but which cannot be eliminated based
on current technology or thinking
 Required (regulatory, customer mandate, legal)
 Non-Value Added – Waste
 Consumes resources but creates no value in the eyes of
the customer
 If you can’t get rid of the activity, it’s non-value added but
necessary

12. Thinking Lean Takes Effort
Craft Mass Production Lean
Focus Task Product Customer
Operation Single items Batch and queue Synchronized flow
and pull
Overall Aim Mastery of craft Reduce cost and
increase efficiency
Eliminate waste and
add value
Quality Integration (part of
the craft)
Inspection (a
second stage after
production)
Inclusion (built in by
design and
methods)
Business Strategy Customization Economies of scale
and automation
Flexibility and
adaptability
Improvement Master-driven
continuous
improvement
Expert-driven
periodic
improvement
Worker-driven
continuous
improvement
Source: Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT’s Lean Aerospace Initiative, Palgrave, 2002.
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13. Lean Principles in Common with an
Agile PMO
13
Lean Agile PMO
Value Stream Mapping Project and Program Portfolio
Management
Create capacity Resource management
Focus extra capacity on productive work Continuous delivery of increasing value
of IT products and services
Lean out analysis and test to relieve
bottlenecks in production processes
Define incremental increasing maturity
and maturity assessment points of
projects and programs
Return to first principles, then apply
these to reduce waste
Minimize processes and activities that do
not add value to the products and
services

14. Turn the
processes from
a linear, waterfall
development
approach …
To iterative,
incremental,
continuously
improvement
activities …
That deliver
continuous value
to the project,
program, and
portfolio
stakeholders.
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15. CONNECTING LEAN AND
THE PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT OFFICE
Lean and PMO are connected through the Seven Wastes
and their resolution on projects, programs, and portfolios
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16. The Seven Process Wastes (Remember TIM WOOD)
Use these as test questions for Process Improvement or Development
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 Transportation
 Unnecessary Inventory
 Unnecessary or Excessive Motion
 Waiting
 Overproduction
 Over or Inappropriate Processing
 Defects

17. Transportation
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Any movement or
motion from one
place to another that
adds no value
 Make the distance over
which something is
moved as short as
possible
 Make review and
approval cycles short
and sweet
 Reduce artifacts to only
those that can be
directly absorbed into
the production of
products or process –
“executable maps in
BPML”

18. Unnecessary
Inventory
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Reduce the amount of
work-in-process within
the system
 Ensure that work arrives at
the downstream process
when it is required and
does not sit (no in basket
overflow)
 Use “pull” work stream
management for all
software production and
test
 Define the “pulled products”
in a maturity map by
working from Right to Left in
the schedule

19. 19
Unnecessary or Excessive
Motion
Processing steps that add
no value to the product or
service
 Avoid looking, searching, or
wasted effort that burdens
the value of the product or
service
 Have producers hold all
components until “pull”
demand is made
 Have repositories of usable
components under
configuration control

20. 20
Waiting
Someone or
something waiting
with nothing to do
 Keep people
productively active
 Avoid paper, or
decisions around the
paper, from sitting
around before being
processed
 Provide adequate
staffing at the
bottlenecked operations
 Minimize non-value-
added transactions by
asking “how does this
effort move the product
or service forward in it’s
maturity?”

21. 21
Overproduction
Production of products,
services, documentation, or
facilities ahead of demand
 Establish a flow sequence
to satisfy the downstream
customer – pull don’t push
 Create workplace
guidelines and standards
for each process and follow
them at all times – pull
don’t push
 Forward 100% mature
products – no rework

22. 22
Over or Inappropriate Processing
Activities still performed
but no longer needed or
poor planning and
organizational flow
 Remove unnecessary
steps – make NVA
 Stop copying
everyone on emails
 Stop sending reports
and see who
complains
 Stop unnecessary
signoffs and reviews

23. Defects
23
Activities that result in error,
rework, work arounds, or
quality defects prevent the
customer from accepting
the product or service
 Error proof the process steps
 Build robust and fault recovery
products and services
 Use standardized work
instructions
 Continuous customer
feedback used to make
incremental improvement to
errors, exceptions, and
recoveries
 Focus on the avoiding
“exception handling” – this is
where waste occurs and burns
valuable resources

24. Lean Principles for Software
Development
Lean Principle Software Development Examples
Transportation  Hand offs and transfers of products to various
functions along the way impedes momentum
Unnecessary Inventory  Features built before needed
Unnecessary or
Excessive Motion
 Looping between teams and functions
 Production of unnecessary documents
Waiting  Bottle necks, inadequate resources
 Keep customer acceptance moving in small increments
Overproduction  “better is the enemy of good enough”
Over or Inappropriate
Processing
 Excess or inadequate coverage resulting in leakage
Defects  Breakage of produced code means rework and lost
value
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25. Most failures to realize potential return on process and
product improvements starts by committing one of these
Seven Sins
The Seven
Sins of
Process
Improvement
Process not
traceable to
strategy
Improvements
don’t involve
the right people
Teams not
given a clear
charter and
held
accountable
Top
management
focused on
change not
improvement
Change to the
people not
considered
Focused on
redesign rather
than
implementation
Failure to leave
measurement
system in place
Improving Performance, How to
Manage the White Space on
the Organization Chart, 2nd
Edition, Geary A. Rummler and
Alan P. Brache, Jossey Bass,
1995
25

26. CONDUCTING THE
PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT KAIZEN
(PDK)
26

27. Example – embedded software
control system
27
Improve Gases Production System Unit Design and Deployment Process
Mission
Increase profit to cost of development of nonflammable gases design and prototyping cycles of
semi-conductor plant standalone units process control software
Goals
 Reduce units from design and prototyping work
 Reduce cycle time for design review and approval to prototype manufacturing for embedded
process controller
 Improve emergency shutdown integrity of software base
Must Haves Can’t Do
 Can make decision about improvements in
the software design and integration process
as long as there is no negative effect on
other organizations within the gas unit
interfaces
 Must get agreement from other departments
prior to executing change if the proposed
change requires adjustment to the
emergency shutdown procedures
 No impact of sunk labor of this department
or other departments results from changes
to the emergency shutdown software
changes

28. The Kaizen Cycle
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Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act

29. The Kaizen Cycle
29
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act

30. The Kaizen Cycle
30
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act

31. The Kaizen Cycle
31
Focus
Evaluate
Solve
Act

32. MODEL OF THE LEAN
ENTERPRISE
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33. Meta Principles of the Lean
Enterprise
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34. Overarching Practices of the Lean
Enterprise
34
Overarching Practices
Human Oriented Practices Process Oriented Practices
Promote Lean
Leadership at all
Levels
Optimize Capability
& Utilization of
People
Assure Seamless
Information Flow
Maintain Challenge
of Existing
Processes
Develop
Relationships
Based on Mutual
Trust &
Commitment
Continuously Focus
on the Customer
Implement
Integrated Product
& Process
Development
Identify & Optimize
Enterprise Flow
Make Decisions at
Lowest Possible
Level
Nurture a Learning
Environment
Ensure Process
Capability and
Maturation
Maximize Stability
in a Changing
Environment
Source: web.mit.edu/lean

35. In the End
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