Actionable Agile Metrics for Predictability


Book Description

"When will it be done?" That is probably the first question your customers ask you once you start working on something for them. Think about how many times you have been asked that question. How many times have you ever actually been right? We can debate all we want whether this is a fair question to ask given the tremendous amount of uncertainty in knowledge work, but the truth of the matter is that our customers are going to inquire about completion time whether we like it or not. Which means we need to come up with an accurate way to answer them. The problem is that the forecasting tools that we currently utilize have made us ill-equipped to provide accurate answers to reasonable customer questions. Until now. Topics Include Why managing for flow is the best strategy for predictability-including an introduction to Little's Law and its implications for flow. A definition of the basic metrics of flow and how to properly visualize those metrics in analytics like Cumulative Flow Diagrams and Scatterplots. Why your process policies are the potentially the biggest reason that you are unpredictable.







Agile Metrics in Action


Book Description

Summary Agile Metrics in Action is a rich resource for agile teams that aim to use metrics to objectively measure performance. You'll learn how to gather data that really counts, along with how to effectively analyze and act upon the results. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Book The iterative nature of agile development is perfect for experience-based, continuous improvement. Tracking systems, test and build tools, source control, continuous integration, and other built-in parts of a project lifecycle throw off a wealth of data you can use to improve your products, processes, and teams. The question is, how to do it? Agile Metrics in Action teaches you how. This practical book is a rich resource for an agile team that aims to use metrics to objectively measure performance. You'll learn how to gather the data that really count, along with how to effectively analyze and act upon the results. Along the way, you'll discover techniques all team members can use for better individual accountability and team performance. Practices in this book will work with any development process or tool stack. For code-based examples, this book uses Groovy, Grails, and MongoDB. What's Inside Use the data you generate every day from CI and Scrum Improve communication, productivity, transparency, and morale Objectively measure performance Make metrics a natural byproduct of your development process About the Author Christopher Davis has been a software engineer and team leader for over 15 years. He has led numerous teams to successful delivery using agile methodologies. Table of Contents PART 1 MEASURING AGILE TEAMS Measuring agile performance Observing a live project PART 2 COLLECTING AND ANALYZING YOUR TEAM'S DATA Trends and data from project-tracking systems Trends and data from source control Trends and data from CI and deployment servers Data from your production systems PART 3 APPLYING METRICS TO YOUR TEAMS, PROCESSES, AND SOFTWARE Working with the data you're collecting: the sum of the parts Measuring the technical quality of your software Publishing metrics Measuring your team against the agile principles




Escape Velocity: Better Metrics for Agile Teams


Book Description

Velocity is the most commonly used metric in agile software delivery. It is also perhaps the least effective metrics in agile software delivery. In "Escape Velocity", Doc Norton walks the reader through common issues with metrics and how to avoid them, altermative metrics that not only help agile teams perform better, but enable them to continuously improve, and techniques for forecasting that vastly outperform the use of velocity. In a quirky, casual, and information dense style, Doc Norton makes the topic of tracking data entertaining and shows us how to be more effective in the pursuit of excellent software.




The Agile Mind


Book Description

In this book, Wilma Koutstaal covers all aspects of agile thought, and how it emerges from and interacts with memory, perception, emotion, executive control, motivation, and action, as well as how it is related to creativity, mediated by learning and environmental input, enhanced by plasticity, and destroyed by rigidity. The Agile Mind brings together much theory and work in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology, so will be a valuable resource for researchers in those fields.




Kanban from the Inside


Book Description

"I set myself the task of describing the 'humane, start with what you do now approach to change' not as a productivity tool, but as a management method built around a strong framework of values-a way to help organizations work better for their people, their customers, and other stakeholders." - Mike Burrows, author Kanban from the Inside takes a distinctive approach to the Kanban Method-using a system of nine values to explain what it is, to give insight into how its practitioners think, and to offer practical advice on how to apply it. Readers new to Kanban will understand why and how it works, while those with experience will appreciate its fresh perspective and the connections it makes with a range of related models. Part I draws on real-world experience to explain the Kanban Method through nine values: transparency, balance, collaboration, customer focus, flow, leadership, understanding, agreement, and respect. It also introduces Kanban's three Agendas and the Kanban Lens. Part II describes other models useful to understanding and applying the Kanban Method more effectively. It is a tour through related bodies of knowledge, including Systems Thinking, Lean, Agile, and Theory of Constraints. Part III is a step-by-step implementation guide that brings up to date the Systems Thinking Approach to Introducing Kanban (STATIK). It offers practical ways to capture and address in your Kanban implementation the needs of your organization, your colleagues, and your customers. --------------------------- "This book is the new standard that I will recommend to anyone getting started with Kanban." -Wolfgang Wiedenroth, Kanban Trainer/Coach, it-agile "It is not focused just on the mechanics of the kanban board; rather it explains everything you need around it to keep a Kanban initiative moving." -Klaus Leopold, Kanban Trainer/Coach, LEANability "This gave me a deeper understanding of familiar concepts and introduced concepts new to me." -Kevin Murray, Delivery Director, Valtech UK




Being Agile


Book Description

Being Agile is your roadmap to successfully transforming your organization to an Agile culture. Veteran agile coach Mario Moreira teaches new adopters how to implement a robust Agile framework to derive from it the maximum business benefit in terms of customer value, revenue, and employee engagement. Agile is a ubiquitous watchword in the corporate world, but only a minority of companies understand and practice what they pay lip service to. Too many content themselves with half-baked approximations such as Fragile (fragile Agile), ScrumBut (Scrum but not the practices), and Scrum Fall (mini-waterfalls in the sprints). Moreira shows maturing early adopters how to bridge the chasm between going through the motions of doing Agile and genuinely being Agile. After a high-level synopsis of Agile’s values and principles, methodologies (including Scrum, Kanban, DSDM, Leam, VFQ, and XP), and roles, Moreira plunges into the nitty-gritty of how to apply the ready, implement, coach, and hone (RICH) deployment model to all phases of a project in such a way as to embody and inculcate agile values and principles at the team level and promote agile transformation across your organization's culture. What you’ll learn Agile professionals, project managers, and middle, senior, and executive management in software engineering and development divisions and enterprises who read this book will learn how to: Evaluate team candidates for traits, skills, behavior, and attitudes diagnostic of an Agile mindset Set up Agile planning tools and framework Map stakeholder engagement Validate ongoing application of Agile best practices Adapt Scrum teams and techniques for various needs and conditions Who this book is for The primary readership for this book comprises Agile professionals, product managers, and middle, senior, and executive management in software engineering and development divisions and enterprises. The secondary readership includes business analysts agile and software configuration managers. Table of Contents Getting Started Crossing the Agile Chasm Business Benefits of Being Agile Importance of Customer Engagement Importance of Employee Engagement Foundations of Agile Ready, Implement, Coach, Hone (RICH) Deployment Framework Motivations for Moving to an Agile Culture Achieving an Agile Mindset Evaluating Executive Support and Team Willingness Treating Agile as a Transformation Project Adapting to Agile Roles and Responsibilities Evaluating Agile, Engineering, and Team Capability Establishing Agile Measures of Success Constructing a Scalable Agile Framework Establishing an Agile Education Program Creating a Customer Validation Vision Writing User Stories and Grooming the Backlog Working with Story Points, Velocity, and Burndowns Constructing Done Criteria to Promote Quality Considering Agile Tools within an ALM Framework Implementing, Coaching, and Honing Activities Adapting Governance and Performance Reviews Three Case Studies in Adopting Agile




Gaming the Metrics


Book Description

How the increasing reliance on metrics to evaluate scholarly publications has produced new forms of academic fraud and misconduct. The traditional academic imperative to “publish or perish” is increasingly coupled with the newer necessity of “impact or perish”—the requirement that a publication have “impact,” as measured by a variety of metrics, including citations, views, and downloads. Gaming the Metrics examines how the increasing reliance on metrics to evaluate scholarly publications has produced radically new forms of academic fraud and misconduct. The contributors show that the metrics-based “audit culture” has changed the ecology of research, fostering the gaming and manipulation of quantitative indicators, which lead to the invention of such novel forms of misconduct as citation rings and variously rigged peer reviews. The chapters, written by both scholars and those in the trenches of academic publication, provide a map of academic fraud and misconduct today. They consider such topics as the shortcomings of metrics, the gaming of impact factors, the emergence of so-called predatory journals, the “salami slicing” of scientific findings, the rigging of global university rankings, and the creation of new watchdogs and forensic practices.




The Scrumban [R]Evolution


Book Description

Create Thriving, High-Performing Teams and Organizations with Scrumban Scrumban allows you to use Kanban as a catalyst for increasingly valuable changes to your existing software development processes, amplifying and expanding upon Scrum’s benefits. Now, there’s a definitive guide to Scrumban that explains what it is (and isn’t), how and why it works, and how to use it to improve both team and organizational performance. Comprehensive, coherent, and practical, The Scrumban [R]Evolution will help you incrementally apply proven Lean/Agile principles to get what matters most: pragmatic, bottom-line results. Pioneering Scrumban coach Ajay Reddy clarifies Scrumban’s core concepts and principles, and illuminates their application through real-life examples. He takes you from the absolute basics through sustainable adoption, and from choosing metrics to advanced forecasting and adaptive management. Whatever your role in the organization, this essential guide liberates you to tailor Kanban systems based on your unique challenges–and to solve delivery problems and improvement stagnation you haven’t been able to solve with Scrum alone. Discover how Scrumban can help you reignite stalled Agile initiatives Clarify crucial relationships between purpose, values, and performance Quickly develop shared understanding in and across teams Use Scrumban to better manage Product Owner/Customer expectations Improve the rollout of Scrum in any team using Scrumban Use Scrumban and let real improvements spread with least resistance Use the right metrics to gain insight, track progress, and improve forecasting Take advantage of Scrumban’s advanced capabilities as you gain experience Develop leaders to successfully guide your Agile initiatives Integrate modeling to reliably refine your forecasting and decision-making




Agile Project Management with Kanban


Book Description

"With Kanban, every minute you spend on a software project can add value for customers. One book can help you achieve this goal: Agile Project Management with Kanban. Author Eric Brechner pioneered Kanban within the Xbox engineering team at Microsoft. Now he shows you exactly how to make it work for your team. Think of this book as {28}Kanban in a box.