What's a great elevator pitch for Agile?

Let's say you got into an elevator with a senior executive and you had 30 seconds to sell Agile to them, what would you say?

B.T.W. This is commonly referred to as an elevator pitch and here's a good intro from Business Week.


Here are some answers I got back from the LinkedIn community:

Carolyn Sanders wrote:

"I actually do get asked this one by execs. This is what I usually say: Agile delivery is about two things: you usually don't know what you want until you see something, so deliver something real as early as you can; and if you're going to fail, fail fast. Agile in general is about being fundamentally honest with each other, about money, about technical delivery and quality, about requirements andtime - that's why it's so scary for some people."

Matt Richards wrote:

"Agile software development practices will give you more control over the cost and feature set of your software than traditional methods. You are also likely to have usable software sooner."

PJ Srivastava wrote:

"Are you at all worried that your project might go over-budget, that it might run behind schedule, that the customer might not like the end result, or that someone will change the project requirements on you in the middle of it? That's where Agile comes in. Its as simple as this: the more complex, the more challenging, and the more uncertain your project, the more you have to inspect it frequently and the better you have to control your process to be successful with it. Agile is simply a more intense, but tried-and-true process for reducing risk and better controlling your results. Give me 10 minutes of your time and I'll explain why some of the most recognized companies in the world are turning to Agile..."

What is the most important characteristic in an e-shop's web page?

When you visit an e-shop's website, what is the most important characteristic(ex.: customer reviews, wizard tool, security, many payment methods, etc.), according to you? What is the one thing that will make you trust and buy, or come back to that specific e-shop, or what you are searching for?

This was selected as Best Answer

Great question! You would be surprised how many outfits set-out without considering this topic first so you're already at the head of the pack!

Here's my two cents worth:

Walk a mile in your customer's shoes... create a few persona's that model your typical target audience... bring them to life (like soap opera characters) and role play their experience when using your site. Better yet use these personas to look at your competitors sites. The objective being to uncover deeper insights into the design features that are most likely to win your target audience. The next and arguably most important step is to implement your e-shop with the intention of changing it in response to customer feedback. Get your site into a low-burn experimental state... as you discover what really works invest those parts.

Your e-shop should evolve really quickly and effectively this way.

oh and one other thing... as your question suggested that you want to differentiate I would suggest you use the persona's to try out new features or user experiences... This way you can home in on the differentiations that really work!

Best Answers in: Business Analytics (1)... see more

The many modes of a Business Analyst

These days, business analysts are plying their trade in increasingly diverse settings and are being pushed more than ever to add value at strategic levels.

Good analysts are showing their mettle by adopting a range of operating modes. Here's a list of the operating modes I've applied myself and observed in others:

1) Orientation Mode

This is where the analyst (or analytical team) gets familiar with the domain and the stakeholders. We expect to see a great deal of relationship building here paying particular attention to the 'agenda setters' within that domain.

What it looks like:

• Relationship building.
  
• Coffee meetings.
• Taking a passive role in meetings.
• Conversations over the drinks cooler.
• Conversations with the movers (and the shakers).
  

2) Description Mode

An analyst in description mode is focused on describing the current state and the end game and ensuring this is communicated to everyone involved. This is where the vision is captured from the leaders and communicated in as many ways as possible. The aim being to prompt discussion at the tactical/operational level and help the implementers understand how the vision is different from the status quo.

What it looks like:

• Taking an active role in meetings.
• Relationship building.
  
• Generating descriptions (proposals, business cases, high level conceptual states, GAP Analysis).
• Presentations & workshops aimed at understanding.
  

3) Analysis Mode

This mode comes into effect when the analyst has a substantial amount of data to digest. This may be information captured from users, stakeholders, subject matter expects or even simply from themselves which needs to be analyzed and developed to address key questions.

What it looks like:

• Taking a more active role during meetings.
• Analytical Modeling, requirements analysis, gap analysis, impact analysis
  
• Cogitating, thinking, mulling over...
• Discussing with other analytical peers
• Researching analytical methods
• Testing of theories
• Recreational activities (e.g. playing online games or lots of breaks)

4) Prescription Mode

Here the analyst has developed a strong sense of direction and needs to communicate this to the implementers (whether that be directly to the developers or the people who manage them).

What it looks like:

• Thought Leadership
• Setting the agenda
  
• Influencing
• Providing constant reminding of the destination
  
• Monitoring progress
• Isolating and correcting misalignment

5) Prediction Mode

This mode is underpinned by a significant application of analytical skill-set, estimation. Here the analyst aims to predict the outcome of various conceptual (or committed) paths. It is important to note that the quality of this activity plays a major part in supporting good quality decisions. Often projects live or die by the quality of estimation at the outset.

What it looks like:

• Estimation workshops
• Wideband delphi
• Creating estimation models
  
• Trend analysis
• Data analysis
• Impact analysis
  
• Workshops
  

6) Validation Mode

In this mode the analyst aims to independently compare actual outcomes with the outcomes envisaged to validate progress or delivery. This mode also aims to test the usefulness of what's been delivered as perceived by the user or customer.

What it looks like:

• Test strategy formulation
• Test design
• Testing
• Quality Assurance activities
  
• User Acceptance Testing
  
• User Calibration Testing
  

Plan to succeed on projects (Part 2)

Now that you've planned the flight... Fly the plan.

If you've taken the advice given in Part 1 you should be set up to drive your projects by result rather than activity... you'll find your team responds best to this approach...

I posed a question on LinkedIn recently to see what advice the professionals would give a budding PM:

"What are the top 5 tips you would give a PM to improve their luck on projects?"

I chose a couple of these answers as they sum up the basic principles of flying the plan nicely:

Here's the answer offered by Gianluca Bacca:

1) Define the scope of you project as clear and as soon as possible and formalize it … a project doesn’t exists without a Project Charter and a WBS!

2) Be realistic and pragmatic, don’t forget that generally available resources are limited … a request or change coming from a stakeholder, generally, involves a trade-off between different elements of the “triple constraint” (time, cost & quality) … think always in terms of trade off between the elements of the “triple constraint”.

3) Manage ALL your stakeholders with care being proactive: to do this you need to identify ALL of them and constantly communicate with ALL of them

4) Identify all risk of your project and constantly looking for their evolution along the entire lifecycle of your project … don’t forget risk! In Project Management luck and bad luck doesn’t exist (more or less) … there are mainly identified and unidentified risks! Identifying risks you can build your luck by yourself ;)

5) Don’t forget to collect lessons learned after each project … you cannot improve your ability to manage your future projects without lessons learned from your past projects ;)


This is my favourite answer from an old colleague, Gunveer Mahandru:

1. Show leadership (strong vision, direction. take risks, manage them)
2. Develop a backbone (back up what you say, don't wilt and wimp)
3. Work the team dynamic (manage the form/storm/norm/perform phases)
4. Engage stakeholders and keep buy-in (politics with a small 'p')
5. Inject entrepreneurship (excite, motivate, innovate)

Short, sharp and very effective...

Here are a few more useful little project tips:

Derive a burndown chart and use it to generate momentum and track progress.
- use Mike Cohn's estimation technique, planning poker.
- derive the ordered stack and begin plotting this over the time line.
- You may want to include checkpoints (or iterations) in the plan. (Step towards Agile)
- use these checkpoints as opportunities to deliver value (no matter how small) and plot your position on the burndown chart.
- Remove products from the stack when considered 'done'.
- 'Done' = when someone other than the developer (preferably the recipient) says it is... i.e. it meets the predetermined acceptance criteria.

In fact, I'd heartily recommend you watch Mike's YouTube clips on Agile Estimation: Part 1 and Part 2

A short note on lightweight reporting:
Agree a '5 minute emergency channel' with the sponsor... As you become aware of an issue which significantly affects the project, present what you know to the sponsor (no interpretation) along with a few proposed next steps. Aim to present and get a decision within 5 minutes... Even if the next step is to have a longer meeting. This way you keep your sponsor in touch.

Good luck!!

Plan to succeed on projects! (Part 1)

You've heard the old saying: "Plan the flight then fly the plan..." well I'd like to apply this approach to project management in this article and offer an formula that will ensure you're driving the project by result rather than activity.




Here we go:


Step 1) Find a sponsor. Note: If you haven't got a sponsor... get one... don't give in to the temptation to implement your own vision. If you're the sponsor then ideally get someone else to deliver your vision ;-)
Step 2) Talk to the sponsor about their dream... replay your interpretation at every opportunity. Especially the benefits they expect.
Step 3) Once you've gained a bit of rapport start talking about: scope, success criteria, time scales.
Step 4) Go away and think about the objectives and resources you'll need.
Step 5) Propose the set of highlevel project objectives and negotiate for resources.
Step 6) Develop a product breakdown structure... Derive the Product Flow Chart that follows.
Step 7) Market this to the team and sponsor as the delivery roadmap, make sure the roadmap attacks the highest risk/reward items first.
Step 8) In closing, make sure you're set up to drive the project by result not activities!

By this stage, you should have enough to get a green light to proceed. So there you have it... the flight plan.

In part 2 we'll look more closely at flying the plan...

Vendor Selection Tips

What's a reasonable vendor selection process?

Selecting the right vendor starts with knowing what you want and then finding the supplier that will get you what you want. Here's a breakdown of what this might entail:

Step 1) Understanding the requirement
Step 2) Generating the options
Step 3) Analyzing the options
Step 4) Selecting the best option
Step 5) Getting the decision to proceed

Informal vendor selection (Fast track)

Use this approach if you need to turn around a decision really quickly and you have the remit or necessary sponsor support to keep it informal.

Step 1) Understanding the requirement

It's pretty important that you have an idea of the desired outcome before even considering vendors. A standard gap analysis is a great approach to getting to understanding the problem. Work out where you want to be (i.e. the end state) make sure it's ecologically sound. That is to say that the outcome is beneficial in some way to all concerned! Invest the time to articulate exactly what you want in the form of a problem statement(perhaps reinforced by a statement of what you don't want). The principle being that your chances of getting what you want dramatically increases if you know what you want ;-). It helps to use the problem statement to identify your selection criteria (see Step 3 below)

Try to have the target budget identified. This may need to be challenged later depending on the criticality of the desired outcome.

Step 2) Generating the options

Use your problem statement (created in Step 1) to identify possible vendors. You may want to contact your procurement department to check whether they have any preferred suppliers to hand. (Note: You may need to be sensitive to existing supplier relationships). The next stop should be your immediate professional network followed eventually by speculative internet search. Generate the list of potentials bearing in mind that time is of the essence.

Contact them by phone at first to weed out the obvious mismatches. Once you've got a short list together send them your problem statement via email (or mail). Follow this up with a phone call explaining your time constraints and openly request their support. Be sure to share any information fairly across your vendors. (e.g. an answer to a question may need to be shared with the other vendors)

Set-up a demo day for all your vendors.

Step 3) Analysing the options

Invest in getting a few key assessors together that will balance your judgement. The pay-off will be that your selection is less likely to be overturned later on. These additional perspective will ensure that your blind spots are covered.

Create a score card with the selection criteria down one side in rows and the vendor options in the columns for assessment. The intention is to score each criteria out of five for each vendor (where 5 = 'excellent fit for purpose' and 1 = 'unfit for purpose').

Apart from the usual logistics (meeting rooms, diaries etc.) make sure you have briefed your assessors on the problem and the instructions for filling in the score cards.

Step 4) Selecting an option

Make sure the vendor demonstrations focus on addressing the problem statement. Collate the score card results. Add the scores up for each vendor and calculate the percentage of the maximum available. You can express this percentage as 'the estimated percentage match to requirement'.

Offset these percentages against the cost profile for each vendor. Try to identify the vendor with both the highest percentage match and the lowest price.

Discuss your findings with the other assessors (make sure you have consensus).

Step 5) Getting a decision to proceed

Present your findings to the decision maker(s) along with your recommendation. Make sure the next steps are agreed (i.e. what you need from them to proceed) this could be an authorising email or Purchase Order. This will depend on the Inform your vendors of the outcome and try and provide as much feedback as possible.

In part two we'll look at fast tracking this with little more formality.