Agile productivity unleashed : proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organisation

Agile Principles Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organisation introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. The bookclearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in any organisation. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high quality results on time and to budget. Contents 13 Introduction 18 Agile: an executive summary 22 SECTION 1: A CASE STUDY 26 A Case Study: Traditional versus Agile Approaches 27 Website building in a competitive marketplace 27 Product marketing in a competitive marketplace 49 Order fulfillment in a competitive marketplace 72 But what about my organization? 95 The path forward 101 SECTION 2: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AGILE 103 Chapter 1: Agile in a Nutshell 104 Understanding Agile principles 104 Agile in action 112 Popular Agile methods 121 Who uses Agile? 128 Chapter 2: Why is Agile So Effective? 133 Management of controllable risk 133 Minimal start-up costs 140 Initial and ongoing returns 142 Chapter 3: Why Don’t More Organizations Use Agile? 143 Chapter 4: Agile Sounds Good, But ... 147 SECTION 3: 12 AGILE PRINCIPLES THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR ORGANIZATION 149 Chapter 5: Responsive Planning 150 Why every upfront plan fails 150 Apply, Inspect, Adapt 153 Defining (and refining) your goals 157 Paving the pathway 160 Empowering the delivery team 161 The critical decision points 163 When to walk away 164 Publicizing your success 166 Chapter 6: Business-value-driven Work 168 Real productivity 168 Dancing around the budget bonfire 170 Over-delivery is wasted money 172 Measuring cost/benefit 173 Communicating actionable goals and priorities 175 Drawing the line 178 When priorities change 179 It’s more than the baton 182 Chapter 7: Hands-on Business Outputs 184 The “try before you buy” power position 184 There is no substitute for reality 186 Mitigating risk 190 Continuous delivery of valuable outputs 194 When the end does not justify the means 195 Chapter 8: Real-time Customer Feedback 198 Every audience is a customer 198 The false security of market testing 200 Intrinsic customer satisfaction 201 The “expert by proxy” myth 203 Hiring a customer 206 Using the customer to manage your budget 208 Chapter 9: Immovable Deadlines 212 Why you should never move a deadline 212 The power of imminent timeframes 217 Early delivery means early payback 220 Setting the next deadline 223 Chapter 10: Management by Self-motivation 226 “I’m not going to do it – and you can’t make me” 226 The top-down and bottom-up management myths 227 The power of self-organized teams 230 Giving the team a higher purpose 232 In my estimation ... 233 Trusting the team 234 Why shorter deadlines lead to happier employees 236 The end of overtime 237 Success breeds motivation 239 Chapter 11: “Just-in-time” Communication 240 When was the last time you attended a valuable meeting? 240 Redefining the corporate meeting 243 What can you do in five minutes? 245 Knowledge transfer through pairing, co-location and cross-training 248 Documentation is no substitute 250 The most valuable meeting of all 253 Chapter 12: Immediate Status Tracking 254 The end of the monthly report 254 Measuring productivity by outputs 258 Tracking overall progress in the requirements backlog 261 Tracking day-to-day work in the delivery backlog 263 The power of the “burndown” chart 266 The real-time executive dashboard 268 Early and continuous delivery tracking 273 Redefining risk management 273 Chapter 13: Waste Management 277 What is waste management? 277 It’s what you don’t do that matters 279 The power and peril of the value stream 281 The waiting game 282 Movement without added value 286 Task-switching and time leakage 288 Doing it right the first time 289 “Just-in-time” versus “just-in-case” 291 Maximizing your resources 294 Chapter 14: Constantly Measurable Quality 301 How much does quality cost? 301 Weight control and the bathroom scale 304 True quality requires a culture change 304 The impact of high communication 305 Quality by design 308 Fit-for-purpose outputs 310 The (almost) real-time measuring stick 313 Exponential returns on your quality investment 316 Chapter 15: Rearview Mirror Checking 319 Slight imperfections 319 You only need to glance at the mirror ... 321 What a retrospective is – and is not 321 The self-correcting team 323 Changing your travel plans 325 Chapter 16: Continuous Improvement 327 Become better – or become obsolete 327 One step back – five steps forward 329 Regular review and adjustment 331 Quantifying and measuring improvement 332 Bringing it all together 334 SECTION 4: MAKING AGILE WORK IN YOUR ORGANIZATION 335 Chapter 17: Selecting Agile Approaches That Best Meet Your Needs 336 The five fundamental questions 336 The Agile approaches selection tool 341 Chapter 18: Introducing Agile Within Your Organization 347 Dip your toes or dive right in? 347 Choosing the right kick-off point 349 Agile-by-stealth 351 A shared understanding of Agile 353 Chapter 19: Using Agile Tools 355 Responsive budgeting 355 Expected business-value calculation 357 The requirements backlog 359 The burndown chart 364 The delivery backlog 365 Chapter 20: Expanding the Use of Agile in Your Organization 369 Bibliography 372 Agile resources 372 Cost/benefit calculation resources 374 Other industry resources 375 Author’s Note on Agile Resources 376 ITG Resources 377 In today's challenging economic climate, organizations faced with limited budgets and frozen staffing levels need proven, common-sense approaches to maximize their productivity. Agile approaches are business practices with a proven track record for helping organizations achieve greater efficiency, higher-quality outputs and increased customer satisfaction. They enable organizations to avoid the trappings of extensive up-front planning and up-front budget commitments by encouraging staff to regularly produce high-value business outputs; and by basing ongoing financial and resource commitments on the delivered outcomes. This focus on responsive planning based on tangible results is why Agile approaches have been successfully used in selected industries for over two decades. This book introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. The book clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in every business activity at your organization. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high-quality results on time and on budget. In today's challenging economic climate, organisations faced with limited budgets and frozen staffing levels need proven, common-sense approaches to maximise their productivity. Agile approaches are business practices with a proven track record for helping organisations achieve greater efficiency, higher-quality outputs and increased customer satisfaction. They enable organisations to avoid the trappings of extensive up-front planning and up-front budget commitments by encouraging staff to regularly produce high-value business outputs; and by basing ongoing financial and resource commitments on the delivered outcomes. This focus on responsive planning based on tangible outputs is why Agile approaches have been successfully used in selected industries for over two decades. In today's challenging economic climate, organizations faced with limited budgets and frozen staffing levels need proven, common-sense approaches to maximize their productivity. Agile approaches are business practices with a proven track record for helping organizations achieve greater efficiency, higher-quality outputs and increased customer satisfaction. They enable organizations to avoid the trappings of extensive up-front planning and up-front budget commitments by encouraging staff to regularly produce high-value business outputs; and by basing ongoing financial and resource commitments on the delivered outcomes. This focus on responsive planning based on tangible outputs is why Agile approaches have been successfully used in selected industries for over two decades. Agile Productivity Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organization introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. The book clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in every business activity at your organization. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high-quality results on time and on budget Agile Principles Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organisation introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. The book clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in every business activity at your organisation. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high-quality results on time and on budget Agile Productivity Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organization introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. Agile Productivity Unleashed clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in any organization. Written in nontechnical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver highquality results on time and on budget. Agile Principles Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organisation introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. Agile Principles Unleashed clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in any organisation. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high quality results on time and to budget. Agile Principles Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving real productivity gains in any organisation introduces every industry sector to the Agile approaches that have dramatically improved the IT, product development and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades. The book℗ clearly explains how the key principles of Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in any organisation. Written in non-technical language specifically for business professionals, this book is an essential tool for anyone whose job it is to deliver high q Agile Principles Unleashed introduces you to the Agile practices and techniques that have dramatically improved the information technology and manufacturing sectors over the past two decades - and demonstrates how Agile approaches can be used to significantly increase productivity, quality and customer satisfaction in every industry sector.