Training was the next step. The leadership team was at very different levels of understanding of this new agile methodology - even though a lot of the lower level changes were already beginning to take root. Buzz words and phrases were used imprecisely and with mixed understanding. Basic definitions of iterations, user stories, releases were not yet fully understood and the ultimate goal was very grey. We spent many sessions discussing how the methodology could break down under specific instances and rehashing the problems we might encounter.
It was time to make the jump. Clearly. if we are going to move forward we must implement an Agile methodology. The first step was to train the team by bringing in an agile coach / scrum master to help us gain a basic consistent understanding of the methodology. The second step was to get the IT management and PMO on board. The Third step, ensure that this is rolled out at the grass root level and not top down, I have seen enough initiatives stall because it was solely a management push.
After a little research we decide on ASPE to come on site to hold a 3 day boot camp to get the leadership team grounded.
The team gathered on a Monday morning in the training room to begin the transition. The coach led us through the basic tenets of Agile, scrum and XP. We spent time examining the Agile manifesto and the various disciplines that are loosely bound to the Agile framework. Slowly light bulbs began to come on, the team was seeing a bigger picture not just the tasks and activities. Everyone had bad experience with Waterfall but now they could put that experience in to words and explain why it always seemed to create more problems than it solved.
A number of the team immediately saw how this was going to change the establish order and conversation developed on how this was going to impact the PMO and how we would engage them to break down the waterfall and gate review processes. The only people who began to have doubts were the dedicated project managers who were trying to understand the roll of a PM in the new Agile world. The structure of the teams and the fact that the teams would be dedicated to delivering software for their products made the project managers a little concerned on how they would fit in once this was rolled out.
At the end of the three days we had covered the core principles of the framework (modified scrum) and the team was enthused and ready to hit the ground and start running. There is still a lot of work to do and with a long transition road ahead of us, however, the team felt good about the initial steps and for the first time really saw the end game and the benefits it could bring.
