Unlocking Productivity: Embracing Agile Principles for Efficient Development
As an Agile coach, I frequently come across a common complaint from development teams:
“I don’t have time to write code because of these endless meetings!”
I’m sure many of you have faced similar situations. Concurrently, management raises their concerns:
“We implemented Agile to speed up development, but now our programmers spend a significant amount of time on retrospectives, sprint reviews, and other planning activities. When will they have time to write code?”
It seems like these two perspectives represent opposite ends of a problem, but in reality, the situation is more nuanced.
Engineering tasks ≠ value.
Developers always have tasks they can work on; this is an undeniable fact. Most developers dislike being idle, and managers strongly discourage it as well. Particularly, those managers who solely see their role as assigning tasks to developers struggle when faced with idle teams.
Frequently, managers distribute tasks among team members to optimize resource utilization, resulting in everyone being actively engaged. This leaves little room for discussions. However, upon closer examination of the team’s work, you may discover developers engaging in peculiar refactoring, reengineering efforts in preparation for great future growth (that probably never comes), or legacy tasks initiated by an unknown manager who left us six months ago—among other instances. If you assume that these activities yield little to no value or that their value approaches zero, you would be mistaken!
Maximizing Value: A Shift in Perspective
Through my personal mentoring program for managers and team leaders, I frequently come across scenarios that exemplify this conundrum. Consider this common situation: “You have John and Peter in your team. They currently have no assigned product-related tasks. John is working on his open-source solution, while Peter has taken on the task of API refactoring.” When asked who would cause more harm in this case, the immediate response may be John, since he is not directly contributing to the company’s work. However, let’s delve deeper into this matter.
Peter’s changes to the shared codebase, although initiated with good intentions, can result in zero business value. These changes, requiring testing, documentation, and deployment to production, incur additional costs. Moreover, the presence of these modifications affects the entire team, requiring them to navigate the consequences of Peter’s low-priority endeavor. Thus, the position of “I don’t have any tasks, so I’ll focus on self-improvement” carries less harm than “I don’t have any tasks, so I’ll start something low-priority.”
In many instances, the unyielding desire to constantly write code can result in losses, ultimately yielding negative value.
Shifting our perspective is key to understanding the broader implications. While it’s natural for developers to seek self-improvement and engage in activities that align with their personal interests, it’s crucial to evaluate the impact of such choices within the team and organizational context. Instead of solely fixating on individual coding efforts, we must prioritize the creation of value and optimize the utilization of available resources.
Unleashing The Potential: Understanding The True Power of Agile
It’s time to address a crucial truth: Agile alone will not magically accelerate your development process, contrary to the expectations of many managers. Developers won’t write code faster, testers won’t test faster, and so on. However, the implementation of Agile practices and approaches holds the key to delivering value faster. To unlock this potential, we must embark on two essential steps.
Firstly, we need to develop the ability to discern between valuable and useless work. This means continuously assessing the impact and relevance of our tasks. As we progress, we must question whether external factors have changed, potentially rendering our current focus less valuable. Timely identification of diminishing value is critical. It is better to redirect our efforts promptly than to persist in completing something that no longer serves a purpose.
Secondly, we must recognize the importance of embracing adaptability. Agile thrives on the principle of continuous adaptation. As circumstances shift and new insights emerge, we must be agile in our decision-making. Riding a dead horse—investing time and resources into finishing something that is no longer valuable—must be avoided. Prioritizing value over completion is the cornerstone of achieving true agility.
Now, let’s revisit the issue that sparked our discussion: the perception that meetings, discussions, and communication overhead hinder fast coding. Within the context of Agile approaches, it is the short feedback loops and rapid communication that empower us to identify and focus on the most crucial tasks. By consistently analyzing and adapting our current tasks through the lens of maximizing value, we break free from unproductive routines and propel ourselves towards meaningful outcomes.
However, our exploration of this topic remains incomplete. While we have predominantly examined the problem from the perspective of managers, product owners, and team leaders, it is essential to understand how developers experience the challenges posed by these seemingly hindering meetings. In the second part of this series, we will delve into the developers’ point of view, shedding light on their experiences and exploring strategies to overcome these obstacles. Stay tuned as we continue our journey towards a holistic understanding of the dynamics at play.
In conclusion, Agile is not a magic wand for accomplishing more work with the same number of staff members. Its true power lies in enabling us to deliver more valuable results. By differentiating between valuable and useless work, adapting to changing circumstances, and embracing the principles of Agile, we can unleash our full potential and create a future where value creation thrives.
The second part you can read here