- people are correct about the problems.
- Use the rule of three for each potential solution. That is, for each problem, develop three potential reasonable solutions to that problem. That way, everyone understands the problem well enough. If you only have one potential solution, chances are quite good no one understands the problem well enough to solve it.
- Involve the communities of practice in generating the solutions to these problems. That’s what they are there for. Use them.
- Ask for project or feature team volunteers to try a solution before committing the program to it. Never impose a solution on the entire program. If no one is willing to volunteer to try a solution, it’s not reasonable. Go back to the drawing board.
Some of the teams will need different initial solutions. Some teams will need help making their stories smaller. Some teams will need help learning to swarm around their features, so they finish features earlier in the iteration. That sets each team up for success for continuous integration. Remember my story back when I was at university? We might have succeeded on that small project if we had worked together on the features, instead of working by ourselves.
But those impediments might be just the tip of the iceberg for your teams. Once you start generating some options, you can start to see what the costs are, and you can start comparing the value.
I will have some options in my next post.
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About the author
Johanna Rothman, known as the “Pragmatic Manager,” helps organizational leaders see problems and risks in their product development. She helps them recognize potential “gotchas,” seize opportunities, and remove impediments. Johanna was the Agile 2009 conference chair. She is the technical editor for Agile Connection and the author of these books:
- Manage Your Job Search
- Hiring Geeks That Fit
- Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects
- The 2008 Jolt Productivity award-winning Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management
- Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management
- Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People
Johanna is working on a book about agile program management. She writes columns for Stickyminds.com and projectmanagementcom and blogs on her website, jrothman.com, as well on createadaptablelife.com.
