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Agile Dependency Management

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This document discusses various types of dependencies that can impact agile planning and development if not properly managed. It begins by covering dependencies related to requirements preparation, UI design, and inter-story dependencies that can delay development if not addressed in advance. It then discusses external dependencies on other teams, vendors, or systems that may not follow agile practices. The document provides recommendations for minimizing the impact of dependencies, such as advanced planning, cross-team coordination, and determining if dependencies are truly necessary or if workarounds are possible. The overall message is that dependencies require extra planning efforts to avoid blocking development work or impacting velocity.

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Agile Dependency Management November 2nd 2011
About  the  Speaker   !   Principal  Consultant  at  ThoughtWorks,  Inc   !   13+  years  at  ThoughtWorks   !   10  years  at  GE  Capital   !   Developer  -­‐>  Project  Manager,  Delivery  Assurance,   Program  Manager,  Coach,  Entertainer,  etc,  etc   !   Leasing,  banking,  medical,  insurance,  hotel,  etc    
Blockers – Argh!!
Goals For Today !   Awareness of potential gotchas related to dependencies !   Maybe relieve some frustrations !   Walk away with some practical advice
One of Our Favorite Agile Acronyms Independent Basically,  NO  dependencies   Negotiable Valuable Estimatable Small Testable
First Speedbump !   Card as a placeholder for conversation !   1st day of 1st iteration - textbook IPM is conducted !   Developers want to commit to stories !   Requirements not fully thought out !   Result? •  Development delayed •  Product owner becomes a bottleneck •  Efficiency is diminished •  Velocity impeded
Requirements Preparation !   Goal: Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration •  One iteration ahead planning •  Product Owners have a full iteration to prepare stories Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n - 1 Dev Iteration n Itera&on  Zero  
UI Visioning !   Some feature sets need to be envisioned as a group !   Could require numerous iterations !   Could involve collecting external feedback
UI Visioning !   Goal: Refine vision well ahead of iteration planning Rolling  Release  Planning   Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n
Really Rolling
UI Comps !   Developers don’t always have the skill or patience to create the final look and feel !   UI team may need to create the “comp” prior to development
UI Comps !   Goal: Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration Rolling  Release  Planning   Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   UI  Comps   Dev Iteration n
Dependencies Gone Wild !   The more dependencies you have, the more planning nonsense you will have to put up with
Impact on Planning
Velocity Impacts !   The more dependencies you have, the more developer overhead you will have, and the less velocity Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   UI  Comps   Dev Iteration n
Velocity Impacts Story  2  (8)   Story  3  (3)   Story  4  (3)   Story  3  (3)   Story  2  (8)   Story  4  (3)   Story  5  (8)   3 11 ?
Inter-Story Dependency Planning Total  Story  Points  /  Raw  Velocity  Per  Itera5on  =  Rough  Number  of  IteraNons?   Story  1   Story  2   Story  3   Story  4   Story  5  
External Dependencies
Best Case – Both Teams Agile !   Align iteration/release schedules !   Cross-team planning !   “Scrum of Scrums” to keep on top of issues (or standup visitors) !   Shared codebase? !   Cross-team retrospectives (or partial attendance) !   Shared tech huddles
Cross-Team Dependencies !   Goal: Have dependencies ready by the time we want our team to work on stories Rolling  Release  Planning   Cross–Planning   IteraNon  Planning   Other  Dev  IteraNon n   Analysis  for  IteraNon     IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n
Is Separation Necessary? Java C++ C++ India
Combine the Teams
Agile Dependency Management
Other Team is Not Agile !  Beg them to change! !  Force the issue
Potential to Change Behavior Program Project OurTeam Team 2 3rd Party Product Partner Vendor Team 3
Agile/Waterfall Mismatch WATERFALL PREDICTIVE PLANNING Req & planning Design Code Integrate UAT Deploy Timeline ADAPTIVE PLANNING Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration
What Can You Do? WATERFALL PREDICTIVE PLANNING Req & planning Req & Design planning Code Design Integrate Code UAT Integrate Deploy UAT Deploy Timeline ADAPTIVE PLANNING Estimates Iteration Iteration Velocity Iteration Iteration Iteration Testing Iteration Iteration Iteration Analysis Development
Not Negotiable !   Frequent communication •  Participation in planning meetings •  Participation in retrospectives •  Illustrate the blockers/pain to management •  Standups? Probably not likely Manage the risks associated with lack of communication
Stealth Method !   Mocks or stub out interfaces, real integration later !   “Preview” or “Alpha” versions !   Absorb into team !   In-Team Pilot !   Separate code branch Chip away at the resistance
Is The Dependency Worth It? !   Does the benefit of using the interface outweigh the cost of doing it yourself (ex: accessing the data)? !   Does the separation of teams justify the overhead?
Face It, Some Stuff is Waterfall-ish !   Hardware !   Network !   Training !   User documentation
Tracking Dependencies !   Predecessors on cards !   Blocked stickers on cards, or blocked status on card in tracking tool !   Expose in planning meetings, standups !   Visibility in metrics !   Plan level visibility
Why Independence is Important !   Dependencies limit flexibility in planning !   Dependencies cause overhead !   Dependencies may ultimately increase your cost !   Dependencies can mess up your velocity !   Dependencies can mess up your plan !   Dependencies can cause rework !   Dependencies can make you want to quit software development
Work Towards These Goals !   Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration !   Refine vision well ahead of iteration planning !   Have dependencies ready by the time we want our team to work on stories !   Revisit your release plan frequently !   Be ever vigilant of things which will block progress
Questions? joez@thoughtworks.com

More Related Content

Agile Dependency Management

  • 1. Agile Dependency Management November 2nd 2011
  • 2. About  the  Speaker   !   Principal  Consultant  at  ThoughtWorks,  Inc   !   13+  years  at  ThoughtWorks   !   10  years  at  GE  Capital   !   Developer  -­‐>  Project  Manager,  Delivery  Assurance,   Program  Manager,  Coach,  Entertainer,  etc,  etc   !   Leasing,  banking,  medical,  insurance,  hotel,  etc    
  • 4. Goals For Today !   Awareness of potential gotchas related to dependencies !   Maybe relieve some frustrations !   Walk away with some practical advice
  • 5. One of Our Favorite Agile Acronyms Independent Basically,  NO  dependencies   Negotiable Valuable Estimatable Small Testable
  • 6. First Speedbump !   Card as a placeholder for conversation !   1st day of 1st iteration - textbook IPM is conducted !   Developers want to commit to stories !   Requirements not fully thought out !   Result? •  Development delayed •  Product owner becomes a bottleneck •  Efficiency is diminished •  Velocity impeded
  • 7. Requirements Preparation !   Goal: Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration •  One iteration ahead planning •  Product Owners have a full iteration to prepare stories Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n - 1 Dev Iteration n Itera&on  Zero  
  • 8. UI Visioning !   Some feature sets need to be envisioned as a group !   Could require numerous iterations !   Could involve collecting external feedback
  • 9. UI Visioning !   Goal: Refine vision well ahead of iteration planning Rolling  Release  Planning   Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n
  • 11. UI Comps !   Developers don’t always have the skill or patience to create the final look and feel !   UI team may need to create the “comp” prior to development
  • 12. UI Comps !   Goal: Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration Rolling  Release  Planning   Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   UI  Comps   Dev Iteration n
  • 13. Dependencies Gone Wild !   The more dependencies you have, the more planning nonsense you will have to put up with
  • 15. Velocity Impacts !   The more dependencies you have, the more developer overhead you will have, and the less velocity Workshop   Estimation Planning  MeeNng   Analysis  for  IteraNon  n   IteraNon  Kickoff   UI  Comps   Dev Iteration n
  • 16. Velocity Impacts Story  2  (8)   Story  3  (3)   Story  4  (3)   Story  3  (3)   Story  2  (8)   Story  4  (3)   Story  5  (8)   3 11 ?
  • 17. Inter-Story Dependency Planning Total  Story  Points  /  Raw  Velocity  Per  Itera5on  =  Rough  Number  of  IteraNons?   Story  1   Story  2   Story  3   Story  4   Story  5  
  • 19. Best Case – Both Teams Agile !   Align iteration/release schedules !   Cross-team planning !   “Scrum of Scrums” to keep on top of issues (or standup visitors) !   Shared codebase? !   Cross-team retrospectives (or partial attendance) !   Shared tech huddles
  • 20. Cross-Team Dependencies !   Goal: Have dependencies ready by the time we want our team to work on stories Rolling  Release  Planning   Cross–Planning   IteraNon  Planning   Other  Dev  IteraNon n   Analysis  for  IteraNon     IteraNon  Kickoff   Dev Iteration n
  • 21. Is Separation Necessary? Java C++ C++ India
  • 24. Other Team is Not Agile !  Beg them to change! !  Force the issue
  • 25. Potential to Change Behavior Program Project OurTeam Team 2 3rd Party Product Partner Vendor Team 3
  • 26. Agile/Waterfall Mismatch WATERFALL PREDICTIVE PLANNING Req & planning Design Code Integrate UAT Deploy Timeline ADAPTIVE PLANNING Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration Iteration
  • 27. What Can You Do? WATERFALL PREDICTIVE PLANNING Req & planning Req & Design planning Code Design Integrate Code UAT Integrate Deploy UAT Deploy Timeline ADAPTIVE PLANNING Estimates Iteration Iteration Velocity Iteration Iteration Iteration Testing Iteration Iteration Iteration Analysis Development
  • 28. Not Negotiable !   Frequent communication •  Participation in planning meetings •  Participation in retrospectives •  Illustrate the blockers/pain to management •  Standups? Probably not likely Manage the risks associated with lack of communication
  • 29. Stealth Method !   Mocks or stub out interfaces, real integration later !   “Preview” or “Alpha” versions !   Absorb into team !   In-Team Pilot !   Separate code branch Chip away at the resistance
  • 30. Is The Dependency Worth It? !   Does the benefit of using the interface outweigh the cost of doing it yourself (ex: accessing the data)? !   Does the separation of teams justify the overhead?
  • 31. Face It, Some Stuff is Waterfall-ish !   Hardware !   Network !   Training !   User documentation
  • 32. Tracking Dependencies !   Predecessors on cards !   Blocked stickers on cards, or blocked status on card in tracking tool !   Expose in planning meetings, standups !   Visibility in metrics !   Plan level visibility
  • 33. Why Independence is Important !   Dependencies limit flexibility in planning !   Dependencies cause overhead !   Dependencies may ultimately increase your cost !   Dependencies can mess up your velocity !   Dependencies can mess up your plan !   Dependencies can cause rework !   Dependencies can make you want to quit software development
  • 34. Work Towards These Goals !   Have stories ready for development on the first day of the iteration !   Refine vision well ahead of iteration planning !   Have dependencies ready by the time we want our team to work on stories !   Revisit your release plan frequently !   Be ever vigilant of things which will block progress