SCRUM + UX + LEAN philosophy + Engineering practices = SUCCESS

Posted by jc-Qualitystreet on 2009/02/13

Forget SCRUM failure debate for a minute…

What is really working on Agile projects ?
What kind of activities enable your team to deliver as fast as possible an outstanding product ?
Well, I’d say SCRUM; I’d say SCRUM practices but not only…

SCRUM is (too) popular now: latest statistics (2008) from Version One  show that 71 % of agile teams are using it, with or without XP.
Great ! SCRUM is the best framework for project collaboration. It is also a simple process based on feedback and adaptation, ensuring high visibility and velocity.
SCRUM respects people and seeks to provide the highest value to the customer through powerful and mature practices: Integrated Team, Daily Scrum, Retrospective, Iteration planning, Short Iterations, Information radiators…

SCRUM is for sure the agile foundation of your projects, but this fantastic framework doesn’t cover everything :

• No recommendations on User Experience, Agile testing, Development practices, all so crucial on IT projects
• Partial and insufficient recommendations on Process Improvements and Cultural Changes (organization level)

My conviction : ADDITIONAL KEY ELEMENTS are required to succeed (their relative importance is contextual and depends on the nature of the project):

• User Experience activities (Interaction Design, Usability, Information architecture have proved their efficiency to support Team work and to facilitate project progress); and UX is directly linked to business value !
• Appropriate Agile Testing strategy, based for example on Brian Marick,  Agile testing Quadrants (a great model)
• Lean thinking  (Long term Philosophy and other management principles from the TPS or LSD, eliminate waste, amplify learning, deliver fast, …) applied to processes and organization
• XP Development best practices (still extreme in 2009?)

Anything else for you ?

Return on Time Invested … A ROTI for your meetings !

Posted by jc-Qualitystreet on 2009/01/09

More than ever focus on value and waste elimination are organizations’ high priorities : lean thinking, feedback and adaptation must drive our projects. And it starts by your meetings !

ROTI (Return on Time Investment) is a quick and easy method to gauge the time spent on meetings or workshops, and to improve their effectiveness.

How does it work ?
Take 5 minutes at the end of the meeting to ask participants to rate their return on time invested, using the Fist of Five technique and this 1-5 scale:

5 fingers: Excellent. A really useful meeting that worth more than the time spent on it. High value.
4 fingers : Above average. I gained more than the time I spent.Good value
3 fingers: Average. I gained enough to justify the time spent on. I have not lost my time, no more. Value
2 fingers: Useful but it wasn’t worth 100% of the time spent on it. So I lost time.
1 finger: Useless.I gained nothing. I really lost 2 hours! No value at all.

If you receive a majority of 1 or 2 fingers votes, you know there is a problem. Anyway, discuss with the participants who rated 1 or 2, discover why and react, plan to do something else, better, the next time.

I use the Return On Time Invested technique intensively (meetings, workshops), and really appreciate it.  Immediate feedback (but are you ready to receive it ?); commitment, empowerment, transparency, continuous Improvement are the key benefits I notice.

ROTI is quick, easy, sometimes funny, and works very well, even with top management.

Two good referrences (article and book):

• Esher Derby The ROTI Method for Gauging Meeting Effectiveness
• Esther Derby, Diana Larsen Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great

Agile UX: a new blog dedicated to User experience and Agile methods

Posted by jc-Qualitystreet on 2009/01/07

My name is Jean Claude Grosjean. I am a consultant and an Agile coach.

User Experience and Agile methods are my interests, those I want to promote through this blog.

French readers can still folow me on Qualitystreet.fr (Ergonomie, Experience Utilisateur et Methodes Agiles) and Ux-mobile.com (Pour une expèrience Mobile réussie).