Kevin Murray presents "Agile Project Rescue in a Waterfall environment" at the Valtech Agile Edge March 2010.
This case study describes how the introduction of Agile methods saved a failing project in the government sector.
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Agile project rescue in a waterfall environment
1. AGILE PROJECT RESCUE IN A WATERFALL
ENVIRONMENT BY KEVIN MURRAY
CASE STUDY 2:
KEVIN.MURRAY@VALTECH.CO.UK, TWITTER: @KEV_C_MURRAY
AGILE PROJECT RESCUE
2. BACKGROUND
GOVERNMENT PROJECT
SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A COTS UPGRADE AND SMALL
MIGRATION
THE PROJECT HAD ALL THE HALLMARKS OF FAILURE:
SPIRALLING COSTS
DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUSINESS CUSTOMER,
TEAM MORAL AT ROCK BOTTOM
LITTLE VISIBILITY BY THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CHALLENGES THE
PROJECT FACED
I WAS THE 14th PROJECT MANAGER IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS
3. BASELINE THE REQUIREMENTS
VERY INEXPERIENCED USER GROUP, WHO HAD NOT DEFINED
THE REQUIREMENTS PROPERLY
BUSINESS CUSTOMER WAS IN DAILY COMMUNICATION WITH
THE DEVELOPERS
NOT EVERYONE ON THE CUSTOMER’S TEAM UNDERSTOOD
THE PROBLEM THAT THEY WERE CAUSING
WORKED TOGETHER WITH THE CUSTOMER TO AGREE A NEW
BASE LINED SCOPE, PLAN AND PRICE
EACH SUBSEQUENT CHANGE WOULD NOW GO THROUGH A
FORMAL CHANGE REQUEST PROCESS
4. INTRODUCE PRODUCT OWNER ROLE
CUSTOMER’S SENIOR PM TO OWN THE PRODUCT BACKLOG
PRODUCT OWNER TO ACT AS THE SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT
FOR CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS TEAM
IT WAS AGREED WITH ALL STAKEHOLDERS THAT ANY FUTURE
CHANGE WOULD HAVE ITS IMPACT ASSESSED AND BE
INTRODUCED AT A TIME APPROPRIATE TO THE DEVELOPERS
THE MAIN BENEFIT HERE WAS THAT CLARITY OF SCOPE WAS
ENSURED
5. BECOME A TEAM MEMBER
PREVIOUS PMs WOULD SIT AWAY FROM THE TEAM
POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE TEAM, WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY
FEELING DETACHED
AVAILABLE TO ANSWER OR TAKE AWAY ANY OF THE TEAMS
PROBLEMS
KEEP THE TEAM AS INFORMED AND UP TO DATE AS POSSIBLE
THIS WASN’T A FREE FOR ALL, CONVENTIONAL DAILY STAND
UP MEETINGS WERE INTRODUCED
6. INTRODUCE DAILY STANDUP MEETINGS
DAILY 15 MINUTE STAND UPS REPLACED A DAILY 2 HOUR
LONG CUSTOMER FACING MEETING
INTIMIDATING CUSTOMER NOT PRESENT
INITIALLY THIS DID NOT GO DOWN TOO WELL WITH
EVERYONE
INTRODUCED THE THREE QUESTIONS:
‘WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SINCE THE LAST STAND UP?’,
‘WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT
MEETING?’
‘WHAT IS GETTING IN THE WAY OF DOING YOUR WORK?’
7. INTRODUCE TASK BOARD
THE DAILY STAND UP MEETINGS TOOK PLACE IN FRONT OF A
LARGE, PREVIOUSLY UNUSED WHITE BOARD
THE TEAM WERE PREVIOUSLY NOT AWARE OF THE OVERALL
PROJECT PROGRESS
THE TASK BOARD HELPED MORAL
HELPED IDENTIFY AND DEAL WITH ANY IMPEDIMENTS IN A
TIMELY MANNER
8. EMPOWER THE WHOLE TEAM
THE WHOLE TEAM GOT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE
PRIORITISATION AND ESTIMATION
PREVIOUSLY THIS TYPE OF RESPONSIBILITY WAS ONLY DEEMED
SUITABLE FOR THE TEAM LEADER
HELPED RELIEVE SOME OF THE BURDEN ON THE TEAM LEADER
AND MOTIVATED THE REST OF THE TEAM
9. INTRODUCE RETROSPECTIVES
WHILE WE NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE
TRUE POST SPRINT RETROSPECTIVES, WE DID ARRANGE A
NUMBER OF RETROSPECTIVES, WHICH OCCURRED:
AFTER A PARTICULAR WAVE OF CHANGE REQUESTS HAD BEEN
IMPLEMENTED
AFTER UAT AND
AFTER GO LIVE
DESPITE BLAME CULTURE WITHIN THE ORGANISATION, WE
WERE ABLE TO FOSTER CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK TO ALL
TEAMS WHICH ENSURED THAT PAST MISTAKES WERE NOT
REPEATED
11. PROJECT OUTCOME
THE PROJECT WAS SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED 5 MONTHS
AFTER I JOINED
ONLY THREE WEEKS LATER THAN HAD INITIALLY BEEN AGREED
IN THE REVISED BASELINE OF THE PROJECT PLAN
THE FINAL 5 MONTHS OF THE PROJECT WAS ON BUDGET
THIS LED TO A RENEWED LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE FROM THE
AND FURTHER RELEASES HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED
MORE IMPORTANTLY THE PROJECT EXPERIENCE IS NOW SEEN
AS A POSITIVE ONE FOR THE TEAM