Beer Miles!A Product Owner Simulation Game Robin DymondDavid DouglasInnovel LLC : Beer Miles!A Product Owner Simulation Game Robin DymondDavid DouglasInnovel LLC Agile 2008
Released under the Creative Commons License
Beginner’s Mind : Beginner’s Mind One of the most profound secrets of learning anything new is keeping what has been called a "Beginner's Mind".
To begin, we should empty our thoughts of all the preconceived ideas, concepts, techniques and methods that prevent us from receiving the new. This seems like a simple thing to do, but can be quite difficult in practice.
At first we think we are being open, but as we drink from the new knowledge we detect residual tastes of the "old". Sometimes this new mixture can be sweet, like adding honey to tea, but sometimes even a little residue can curdle the whole mix, like adding lemon juice to milk.
Another important part of developing the beginners mind concerns getting rid of the "Been There, Done That" concept that seems so prevalent in today's society. It may be true that you have been there, and you may have done that, but perhaps your conception of reality was not the whole concept, "the big picture" if you will.
Room setup : Room setup Rounds/pods
4-6 per table
Projector for powerpoint
Printed business case (2 pg.) for each person
Printed A6 index cards, a 39 card set per table
Slide 4 : Where are you?
Product Owner Training Agenda : Product Owner Training Agenda Where are you?
Why this exercise? The trainer’s goals.
Setup: Thinking about value.
BeerMiles! From Business Case to Product Backlog
Facilitation Notes
Why this exercise? : Why this exercise? Product Ownership is a different role from traditional product management
The skills required for a good Product Owner (PO) are different
A key stumbling block is re-planning based on new information
Can we show that releasing in a few iterations really is possible?
Moving from business case to product backlog and first release
The Trainer’s Goals : The Trainer’s Goals Shift the mindset from:
Planning to delivery
From we can’t release to we must release
Shift the focus from guessing at value to testing for value
Focus on customer value not features.
The Product Owner’s World : The Product Owner’s World
The Value Conversation : The Value Conversation How do the best companies in the world think about value?
The Research… : The Research… Good To Great by Jim Collins
Found and researched over 6 years 15 companies that went from mediocre to great performance.
The Hedgehog Concept : The Hedgehog Concept “The Hedgehog concept is a simple, crystalline concept that flows from deep understanding about the intersection of the three circles.”
What are your three circles? : What are your three circles?
The Hedgehog Concept : The Hedgehog Concept “If you could pick only one ratio, profit per x to systematically improve over time, what “x” would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine?”
Example: Walgreens : Example: Walgreens Key Metric: Profit per customer visit
Drove decisions regarding:
Store location
Store layout
Product mix
Supply chain requirements, etc.
"Walgreens' hedgehog concept is to run the best, most convenient drug stores with high profit per customer visit"
Example: Nucor Steel : Example: Nucor Steel Profit per ton of steel produced
Drove decisions including:
Getting into the foundry business
Small distributed mills
High level of innovation, new technology
Shared performance based compensation strategy
ZARA: World’s Fastest Mass Fashion Retailer : ZARA: World’s Fastest Mass Fashion Retailer EU’s largest fashion retailer with over 1100 stores.
Concept to clothing in 1100 stores in 4 weeks, small batches, rarely have sales
New items entering stores twice per week
11,000 designs per year vs. 4000 at Gap
EU wages up to 20 times more expensive
Air ship clothes on hangers for fast stocking in stores
Spend 0.3% revenue on advertising vs. 3.5% at competitors,
Invest in locations
“Fashion is like bread, you need to change it often” - Chairman
The Hedgehog Concept : “A Hedge Hog concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at.” The Hedgehog Concept
The Business Case : The Business Case Business Case
Undertaking a project needs to make economic sense. The return required to achieve a tangible output must justify the investment made.
Like all other things Agile, the business case is a living document that will adjust as the situation changes. Product Owner Responsibilities
Craft and update the business case
Ensure all parties are continually aware of overarching goals
Ensure alignment of project to corporate strategic goals
The Business Case : The Business Case The effort to create a business case is usually commensurate with the level of investment and the perceived risk.
There are no format or effort level rules as this is often a function of standard and acceptable practices within a company. Don’t fall into the trap of analysis paralysis
If you go beyond two weeks of effort you have probably done too much
Product Ownership Framework : Business case
Examine the business case, looking for key elements of value creation.
Look for opportunities to deliver value incrementally
Business Drivers
Find the categories of value creation “Why do this project”, “What kind of value are we creating and for whom”, “What do I really care about”, “What do our customers really care about”
Prioritization
With input from your stakeholders, prioritize the business drivers
Don’t allow everything to be a number one priority Business
Case Business
Drivers Prioritization Categorize
Capabilities Backlog &
Release
Plan Product Ownership Framework
Framework #2 : Framework #2 Create and Categorize capabilities
Create high level capabilities based on customer value, with the help from the business. User stories provide a good approach.
Categorize the capabilities into which business driver they support.
Some capabilities may support more than one driver, pick the most relevant capability Business
Case Business
Drivers Prioritization Categorize
Capabilities Backlog &
Release
Plan
Framework #3 : Framework #3 Create Product Backlog and Release plan
Use your prioritized business drivers and list of capabilities to build the product backlog.
Don’t forget to consider items that require long lead times and infrastructure necessary to support the creation of value
Identify points where you think there has been enough value created to release capabilities to production
Slide 23 : Let’s apply the framework…….. Let’s Apply the Framework
Value Creation and Business Scenario : Value Creation and Business Scenario Part 1 -- Read the business case handout.
Exercise -- At your tables determine
what are the top 3 business drivers for this new business?
Business Drivers Discussion : Business Drivers Discussion What was your conclusion and how did you arrive at it?…..
What other data do you think you would need to make you feel confident about your decisions?
If you’re receiving internal and external pressures regarding business drivers/priorities, how would you handle that?
Business Drivers Discussion : Business Drivers Discussion Driver 1. Be first to market
Driver 2. Drive market share through convenience
Driver 3. Delight the customer to increase usage
Business Drivers and Priorities : Business Drivers and Priorities Part 2 - What are the high level capabilities for each of the 3 business drivers?
Exercise -- At your tables, group the high level capabilities provided with the Business Driver that they most directly support.
Capabilities Discussion : Capabilities Discussion Discussion questions:
Some capabilities weren’t called out in the business case, how did you deal with them?
Did you have trouble sorting any of the items?
If you had 150 detailed requirements, would it be easer or harder? How would you simplify?
What obstacles / hurdles did you encounter during this exercise?
How did you feel when having to make these decisions? Did you have enough, not enough, or more than enough to make a confident decision?
Who would you need to communicate the results to?
Agile PlanningPoints and Relative Estimates : Agile PlanningPoints and Relative Estimates Agile teams estimate work in using different techniques and levels of precision
Story Points or Ideal Hours/Days are used to estimate User Stories on the Product Backlog
Effort Points or Ideal engineering hours are used to estimate tasks on the Sprint Backlog
Considerations that the team uses to estimate
Difficulty, Time required, Organizational challenges, Uncertainty, Number of participants, and Dependencies
Point estimates are relative measures of size (1,2,3,5,8,13,)
Ideal Days/Hours are measures of effort
Agile Planning: Velocity : Agile Planning: Velocity The amount of work (Story Points/Ideal Hours), that an Agile team can complete in 1 iteration.
A fixed size team working on a project has a stable velocity.
Well functioning teams cannot influence their velocity much.
Ideally, Agile teams are fixed in size, and all resources should be at least 50% dedicated to the project, with no more than 2 projects at a time.
Velocity is impacted by:
changes to the team, removal or additions
uncertainty in requirements
product owner availability to the team
barriers – organizational, technological, SME availability, process overhead
command and control – disempowerment of team to self organize around the work
pushing too much work into the team (Mura)
Building the Product Backlog : Building the Product Backlog Part 3 - Building the Product Backlog for delivery of valuable features
Exercise -- Create a product backlog using the stories that you have been given. Consider the business drivers, priorities, and any infrastructure as you prioritize. Identify when you think you will have your 1st release. Determine when you might release additional features into production
Team’s projected velocity is 100 points
The iterations/sprints are 3 weeks long
Product Backlog Discussion : Product Backlog Discussion What was it like to plan with the information you had?
What looks risky to you?
When will you tackle it in your plan?
How would you communicate this plan?
Building the Product Backlog : Building the Product Backlog Part 4 – Dealing with changes to the plan!
Scenario 1: Team has completed the first iteration, the velocity is 50 points due to team learning about each other and the business domain, unplanned external dependencies, and on-boarding of new resources.
Exercise – At your tables, use the empirical data supplied to re-plan your product backlog and releases while still meeting the goals of your business case.
Product Backlog Discussion : Product Backlog Discussion How does this affect your release plan?
How might you increase the team’s velocity?
How would you manage your stakeholders/what would you communicate?
Is there any way you can make your date?
Building the Product Backlog : Building the Product Backlog Part 5 – Dealing with more changes to the plan!
Scenario 2: Line of business #1 wants their first partner to be Brinker, with 1600 upscale restaurants. Line of business #2 wants their first partner to be 7-11 and a “speed pass” card for beer points for use at POS.
Exercise – At your tables, use the empirical data supplied to re-plan your product backlog and releases while still meeting the goals of your business case.
Product Backlog Discussion : Product Backlog Discussion How would you resolve this conflict?
How would you ground your decision?
How often would you expect to go through this type of exercise on an Agile project?
A Final Exam! : A Final Exam! Is it OK for a project to have more than 1 product owner? Why?
What is the Product Owner’s primary responsibility?
The Punch Line : The Punch Line A large financial services company actually did this type of product (not beer)
A co-marketing agreement with the partner was put in place.
They added two fields the account management screens
They managed the rewards with a spreadsheet
When someone claimed rewards, they went to the partner, bought gift cards, and mailed them out.
No new applications, environments or hardware were required.
Facilitator Notes : Facilitator Notes What are the key take aways people should come away with?
How does the framework facilitate prioritization?
What are the “traps” that are setup for the participants?
Are there other issues you might use?
What are the issues you need to emphasize?
How does maximizing value play into this exercise?
How would you debrief this exercise?
Facilitator Notes : Facilitator Notes How does incremental increase in information change the prioritization?
What would you emphasize when doing this training?
How would you debrief this training?
Where Can I Get More Information? : Where Can I Get More Information? Find all the materials presented today at:
http://www.innovel.net/?page_id=65
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Do it Wrong Quickly by Mike Moran