From overrunning by 400% to predictable delivery
The Situation
When I joined the software company, there was significant frustration with Product Development. Projects were typically running 3 – 4x the original estimate and no software had been released for over a year. This meant the business was investing £100,000’s a year and not gaining any return on that investment in the form of growth or retention.
The Task
I took on overall accountability for the Product, design and engineering teams. My objectives were to increase speed to market by reducing lead times, increase efficiency of development and get to a point of predictability, where we had a good understanding of how long work would take before it started.
The Action / Approach
I completed an assessment of the current ways of working. I used a combination of observation of team meeting and processes, interviewing and speaking to staff and stakeholders and running diagnostic workshops (for example, value stream mapping) to understand the root causes of the problem. By taking a collaborative approach, I ensured everyone grew to understand the problem and were bought into the need to take action to address the situation.
From this assessment, I put in place tools and processes pitched to the right level of governance needed for the size and context of the business. This included:
- Restructure of the team into a durable team model (from micro, component-based teams)
- Introducing a product pipeline using Kanban principles to improve the flow of work through the teams
- Improving the use of Agile ways of working (Scrum), ensuring the right agile ceremonies were in place and effective
- Definition and reset of the overall software process
- Introduction of probabilistic forecasting
- Improvements to the Jira implementation
- Initiatives to measure and reduce waste
- Technical Debt strategy
The Result
The lead time for epics / projects reduced from 15 months to 6 months during the course of a year. Delivery predictability improved from 10% of projects meeting their estimate to 95% of projects meeting their estimate. Greater predictability and visibility of work enabled the sales and marketing teams to go-to-market at the right time with the right propositions.
Anecdotally staff satisfaction improved.
Focus In On: Responsible for Digital Business Transformation
New Areas of Value:
Direct positive impact on internal and external customer satisfaction
More consistent and sustainable profitability and business growth
Driving a culture of innovation for easier and faster adoption of future digital trends
Increased customer acquisition, advocacy and lifetime value
More satisfied and engaged employees with increased retention and productivity
Effective delivery against financial targets
Successful, timely delivery of evidence-based digital transformational outcomes; beyond digitisation
Creating a culture of involvement, empowerment and connection to the business
Improved business agility and ability to rapidly respond to change and opportunity
Digital transformation that drives, moves and resets the organisation’s vision
Increased credibility, confidence and influence across the business
Enabling collaboration beyond the boundaries of an enterprise
Gain access to additional budget through success
Improvements around:
Budget availability affected by external change drivers and uncertain resource estimates
Lack of availability of the right people at the right time across both business and technology areas
Cynicism, lack of buy-in and resistance to change
Lack of exec sponsorship and ownership
Lack of process and technical integration strategy making the overall solution less efficient
Lack of agreement of transformation governance and stakeholder understanding leading to a fragmented approach
Lack of transformation, change and agility mindset in leadership
Unclear and siloed business strategy leading to misaligned goals across the organisation that conflict with transformation
Leaders mandating a change management and implementation approach that’s not appropriate to the organisation
Lack of clarity around existing operating model, internal business ecosystem or cross-functional teams
Lack of sufficient customer and market insight to inform digital transformation
Conflict between perception and reality of digital skills, tools, methods and talent required and available
The IT function is not aligned to the digital business strategy and vision
