Is your Portfolio Kanban Board Busy? Do you feel like almost any outcome of any significance needs to be managed at the Portfolio level because it involves several of your product/development groups? One solution would be to invest in better portfolio management, coordination mechanisms, etc. A better solution would be to descale. To find ways …
They tell us a story of slow, centralized decision-making, often related to classic program management culture combined with an iron spaghetti portfolio where delivering product outcomes often requires wide collaboration across teams and even teams of teams. An agile, product-oriented portfolio relies mainly on providing strategic guidance and alignment, not managing every Portfolio Kanban board …
So you have a Portfolio Kanban board managing your biggest investments. You’re actively managing the flow by using this kanban board in your conversations about the portfolio. Kanban/Flow Metrics can help sharpen your flow focus even further. The four flow metrics described in the Kanban Guide for Scrum Teams / Kanban Guide are Work in …
Reader Mary shared an inspiring story of introducing modern flow metrics in parallel to classic agile metrics, such as Velocity, to improve flow on her team. If you haven’t guessed so far, introducing Flow is one of my favorite patterns for moving from mindless mechanical agile (Agile Theater) towards intent-driven principle-aware agility. There’s something about …
As we wrap up 2024, I thought I’d drop by and share what I see in the agile/agility world and my thoughts about the future. Is Agile Dead? No, but mechanical Agile Theater is undoubtedly out of favor. While organizations still need to be more agile, more leaders understand that agility requires focusing on intent …
Here’s one major reason why your OKRs are enabling waterfall projects and not product orientation. And its related to the common advice to focus on Outcome OKRs … We constantly talk about moving from outputs to outcome OKRs. Providing alignment to the real goal and enabling flexibility and discovery. What we should talk about more …
Seeing the swamp is the first step in shaping it into a river. You’ve established a Portfolio Kanban – a flow-based view of the significant work taking place in your organization. (also known as your portfolio). More likely than not, there are a lot of cards on that board, like a traffic jam in rush …
Following SAFe Lean Portfolio Management? your cards will reflect Epics. And you’ll probably use Epic hypothesis statements and Lean Business Cases as the artifacts supporting these cards. Focused on Outcomes? Your cards might represent OKRs – meaning each card will include an Objective and a small set of Key Results. Serious Lean shop? Your cards …
“Don’t tell me to implement this new process.“ “I don’t have time to discuss process.“ Many change agents I work with struggle with engaging senior leaders who don’t have time for dialogues around systems and ways of working. They also don’t appreciate being prescribed a new process. They rarely have time to learn about principles. …
You can’t improve what you can’t see. Improving flow at the portfolio level requires seeing it first. How do you see? A Portfolio-level Kanban is a common way to start seeing. Let’s explore what that looks like Let’s discuss how work flows at this level (Definition of Workflow as described in the Kanban Guide) The …