Proposal: Scaling Workshop

This is the first in a series on new ideas to make your practice of Agile more successful.

• Do a scaling workshop

The idea is a 2 day workshop with the right people in your company, focused on the scaling topic.

First, scaling can mean many different things, and in the workshop we like to discuss these different meanings.  Of course, your firm should focus on its most important issues, so it matters little how I like to define ‘scaling’.  For the record, I like to use that word for all the things we do to get 3 or more teams to work together on one product.

Gather the right people.  This should be a small group, probably not more than 10.  But the right people, to help everyone see the same elephant, and allow everyone to contribute to seeing the full problem.  Then, help key people with an action plan to make things better.

The Goal. The goal is to leave the workshop with an action plan for implementing what I call 2 to 5 new patterns, to improve your scaling.  Usually, these patterns are in addition to what you already do.   Sometimes the action plan is more about fine-tuning and  better executing  one or two patterns you already use.

How do we do the workshop?

First, we review some basic concepts.

Second, we have ‘you all’ describe and draw your current situation.  What are the biggest problems?  Not just the symptoms, but the root causes.

Third, we have ‘all of us’ propose solutions to your biggest current problems and sometimes alternate solutions.  Usually these are new patterns.

Fourth, we talk about implementing the new pattern.  It is fine to have a good idea, but if it is an idea that you cannot implement or get approval for, does not help much.  So, we talk through the implementation issues.

Fifth, we develop an action plan.  What are the actions, who will do them, ordering, measuring for success, etc?

Hopefully you, and the group, are now on the path to making things better over the next few months.

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If you would like to talk more about this, please contact us.

 

 

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