Agile in the Very Large

1
Agile in the Very Large

• (Agile Coaching in BT - Making Strawberry Jam)

Laura Waite, Exoftware laura_at_exoftware.comRoge
r Leaton, BT roger.leaton_at_bt.com
2
About BT

• Global provider of network-centric solutions,
  services and products
• (2004/05) 30 of revenues from ICT
• 6m Broadband users
• Company Stats
• 104,000 staff globally (25,000 outside UK)
• 20 million ( Res. Bus. Customers)
• Annual Turnover 19.5 bn (2005/6) Profit 2.2
  bn (up 5)
• 2.3 Billion NHS contracts signed in 2004
• IT Organisation OneIT
• 8000 People
• 4000 on customer facing IT
• 6000 subcontract staff in India

3
BT Reforming IT Capability

• One of the worlds largest IT transformation
  programmes
• New CEO, new approach
• Significant restructuring and simplification and
  tightening of cost structure
• JFDI Jobs for doing immediately
• Programmes, Hothouses, PIR, 90 Day cycles .
• The Challenge
• What happens next, not just software .
• The Issues .
• Culture, size, dispersed, change fatigue,
  blockers .

4
Introducing Agile Delivery

• It had to fit into the BT context
• Agile Cookbook
• Five Core Practices
• Customer Collaboration
• User Stories
• Iterative Development
• Automated Testing
• Continuous Integration
• Agile Coaches

5
The Laws of Raspberry Jam, Strawberry Jam, and
Grape Jelly
Gerald M. Weinberg
as applied to Agile Coaching in BT
6
Grape Jelly Nobody ever bothers to complain
about grape jelly
OR If you dont expect much, youll never be
disappointed
So we set our expectations high!
7
Raspberry Jam The wider you spread it, the
thinner it gets
We didnt want to dilute the Agile message
8
Strawberry Jam As long as it has lumps, you can
never spread it too thin
So we needed to make sure there were enough
people that got it
9
What is Agile?
Agile Manifesto
Values
Principles
Practices
10
Pair Coaching

• Pairing
• Self-Similarity - More than just software
• Internal BT and external industry experience
• i.e. will iPCP and Uplift make sense for 21C
  given TSR and 90/10 initiatives
• Theoretical versus practical experience
• Building internal capability
• Emphasis on the Values and Principles

11
Making More Lumpy Jam

• So were on the right course but we need more
  lumps
• We had to think about recruiting, training and
  supporting more coaches
• Looked to create coaches with subject matter
  expertise within the Programmes
• Moving the ownership of Agile into the Programmes
• We introduced Agile Boot Camps

12
Agile Boot Camps
Shawn Olson (http//www.shawnolson.net)
13
Apprentice Coaches
14
Supporting Apprentice Coaches

• Buddy system, visits
• Accepted Responsibility on level of commitment
• Open Space events
• Coaching Roundtable
• Agile in Action Workshops
• To teach is to learn twice Joseph Joubert

15
Agile Training Across BT Exact

• Agile e-learning
• Agile Common Understanding (1 day)
• Agile Immersion (2 days)
• Agile Planning and Estimating (2 days)
• Agile Story Writing (1 day)

• Agile Design (1 day)
• Agile Testing (1 day)
• Agile Engineering Skills (3 days)
• Agile Apprentice Coach Training (1 day)
• Scrum Master Training (1 day)

16
Where are we now?

• BT Agile Awards gt 100 nominees in 6 categories!!
• Lessons learned
• Its always more difficult than you think
• Senior management understanding is key
• Keep coaches motivated and supported
• Remember Baby Steps and celebrate them
• And then
• Planning to run a 2 day experience across IT,
  Business and Suppliers to introduce Agile with
  an emphasis on Values and Principles

17
Summary

• BT traditional telco, large organisation,
  needed new ways
• Using Agile Coaches but with lumps so we knew
  we could be effective
• Agile Values and Principles is the key
• Pair Coaching
• Agile BootCamps
• Grow your own Agile Apprentice Coaches
• Supporting the Apprentice Coaches
• Training for the wider organisation

18
Contacts

• Laura Waitelaura_at_exoftware.com 44 (0)77 9907
  4725
• Roger Leatonroger.leaton_at_bt.com
• Sean Hanlyshanly_at_exoftware.com