Part Three: Setting the Stage
We left off with the engineering function tasked with further describing the transformation that needed to occur from the current state, waterfall / iterative to Agile. This presentation was given to the cross-functional leadership teamand consisted of the following agenda items:
Review progress-to-date on the Agile initiative
- Review proposals for the next level of rollout activities
- Have a dialogue among the product leaders on the call, regarding other next steps or approaches towards an effective rollout
- Receive guidance on the go-forward approaches.
The presentation kicked off by describing the essential elements required for a successful rollout. Engineering took the approach of presenting the material in a roadmap type of format (figure below) – stating, here is what we need to do and the timeline we need to do it in.
The bottom line was that we were going to be in a position to execute on the rollout plans by the end of the year (roughly 1 quarter or so to get everything in place). No one really questioned the timeline or the perceived aggressiveness of it. The initial feedback from leadership at this point was…”great, but show me the detail that supports this rollout”.
Next, a more detailed description of “where we are” was given to communicate all the work that had already been accomplished to date. Part of this description showed a maturity analysis across all the product teams. The analysis was conducted through a survey/questionnaire styled approach, allowing the teams to capture how proficient they thought they were with Agile development.
Overall, the analysis showed that coaching seemed to be working relative to teams that had not undergone any coaching type help. A product team paired with a coach achieved a greater understanding of how to execute through Agile then a team that didn’t.
Leadership seemed to understand the point that they were going to have to continue to invest in coaching if this Agile transformation was going to work. However, they needed more details around exactly what this transition was going to look like, to truly understand the cost…
We’ll discuss executive management’s other input in my next post (in two weeks)…