Resource Pools - How is This Still a Thing? at LAST Conf 2016 in Sydney, Australia

But I’m an Individual!

LAST Conference SydneyHow is This Still a Thing?

Bernd Schiffer

25/07/2016Resource Pools

Core MessageIf you want to reach your business goals with Agile*, a resource pool is the root-cause problem to a lot of your Agile journey impediments. Instead, strive for stable teams.* A mindset to deliver value to customers, to deliver regularly,

and to become better at that over time.

Agile with Stable Teams

Agile with Resource Pool

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Resource Pool Stable Teams

1. someone creates strategic goal

2. project manager creates project plan(s)*

3. project manager selects resources

4. project manager assigns work

5. resources deliver output milestone* after milestone

* fixed time, scope, and budget

How’s that working?1. someone creates product

vision2. team signs up for product

vision3. team creates product

backlog4. team delivers increment

iteration* after iteration

* fixed time and budget, flexible scope

Fishtank“Imagine installing a fish tank to be

stocked with a wide variety of tropical fish. The fish come from a specialist supplier who has many pools, each

containing a different species. So an assortment is chosen subject to the

supplier having enough fish of each type to meet the demand and the customer having enough money to pay for them.”

Source: "The Economist Guide to Project Management 2nd Edition" by Paul Roberts (24.01.2013)

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Resources People

• no respect• interchangeability

• respect• individualisation

Individuals and Interactions

Source: https://xkcd.com/1562/

Resource Pool Stable Teams

team member (n %)

project team

1

*

team member (100 %)

team

1

1

component

1

*product

1

*

We don’t do projects!

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Work in Progress (WIP)

• WIP high• transaction costs high• utilisation

• WIP low• flow high• focus

This is all my work. I’m tired!

Please don’t interrupt

me on this!

Resource Pool Stable Teams

People Shaped for Work

Work Shaped for People

I’m a block and I’m gonna be shaped!

Blocks are our work, which

we choose and shape!

• push• order• Theory X

• pull• development• Theory Y

5th Agile Principle

Source: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need,

and trust them to get the job done.

Can we say “products”, please?

!!

Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development

Source: https://xkcd.com/1562/

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing

By Bruce Tuckman in 1965

• going up: one step at a time• going down: up to three steps at once• from bottom to top: 3-9 months

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Forming

Storming

Norming

Performing3-9 months for that?

Sorry, mate, I have no

time for that.

Okay, it’ll take time, but it’s worth it. Let’s give it a try.

Rare Performance High Performance

members hand- shakes

1 02 13 34 65 106 157 218 289 3610 4511 5512 66 0

17.5

35

52.5

70

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Handshakes in a Team7±2

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Becoming a team is…

• constant reconfiguration• what are the odds to find a

good configuration?• if you do, it won’t last for

long

• configure until win• then stabilise

This becomes better and better!Everything

was better in the old days.

…unlikely …is Doable

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Short-term Long-term

• avoiding conflicts• retrospectives

seem boring• no contact with

customer

• facing conflicts• engage in

retrospectives• rapport with

customer

Why invest in future? Future of what?

Future investments pay off!

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Component Product

• efficiency/quantity• responsible for part of

value stream• part of technology stack• part of product life cycle

• effectiveness/quality• responsible for complete

value stream• full technology stack• whole product life cycle

Resource Pool Stable Teams

Feature Factory Working Software

I’m part of an assembly line, a cog in a wheel.

I’m a craftsman, honing my skills.

Agile with Stable TeamsHow to Get There?

Characteristics of a Team 1/5

has dev team, e.g. Product Development Team

has a team coach, e.g. ScrumMaster

has a business representative, e.g. Product Owner

owns one or more products

team member (100 %)

team

1

1

product

1

*

! is dedicated (each person 100 % in team)

Characteristics of a Team 2/5

7±2 is smallis cross-functional (gets the job done end-to-end)

has rapport with users and customers

Characteristics of a Team 3/5

is aligned with organisation (understands and influences the Why)

HowWhat

+How

Why

has self-organised dev team (owns the How)

is self-managed (owns the What and How)

Characteristics of a Team 4/5

Already Part of Scrum

! 7±2

HowWhat

+How

Why

It’s a good set to start with.

is proactive (grows response-ability [sic])

is stable (membership 12+ months)

is self-selected (members choose their team-mates)

Characteristics of a Team 5/5This is beyond Scrum!

Core MessageIf you want to reach your business goals with Agile*, a resource pool is the root-cause problem to a lot of your Agile journey impediments. Instead, strive for stable teams.* A mindset to deliver value to customers, to deliver regularly,

and to become better at that over time.

But I’m an Individual!

LAST Conference SydneyHow is This Still a Thing?

Bernd Schiffer

25/07/2016Resource Pools

Thank you!

‣@berndschiffer‣@bold_mover‣ [email protected]‣ http://slideshare.net/berndschiffer‣ http://berndschiffer.com‣ http://boldmover.com‣ http://agiletrail.com

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