“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. – Page 2

September 2, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Value-Based Analysis (continued)

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Value-Driven Planning

Based on the outcome of your Value-Based Analysis, you put together a Value-Driven Plan.

A Value-Driven Plan encourages you do the most valuable things with your resources and of those valuable things doing the most valuable first.

The purpose of this plan is to identify what resources you have available to achieve your goal and which tasks should be done first, based on their value.

In turn, the items on this list become your Value Drivers such as: cash flow, new products, technology advancements, sales momentum, earnings, etc.

Then, strive to constantly improve your performance while reaching the goal, instead of simply focusing on reaching the planned goal.

And upon learning how to achieve your stated goal faster, the steps you followed can be standardized into a repeatable process. This results in multiple opportunities to create valuable outcomes, thereby making perfection of your performance more valuable than reaching the goal.

September 2, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Value-Based Analysis

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Value-Based Analysis

Let’s get start by first asking What is it?

Value-Based Analysis (VBA) is a decision process that relates the needs of the customer with the specific resources available in the marketplace. It asks a set of Critical to Quality (CTQ) questions to determine what the customer needs and what resources are available to meet those needs.

In Agile, it is the systematic analysis that identifies and selects the best value alternatives for:

Process designs
Processes
Systems

In short, it is accomplished by repeatedly asking, “Can the cost of this item or step be reduced or eliminated without diminishing the effectiveness, required quality, or customer satisfaction?”

September 1, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Project Chartering (continued)

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Chartering

Since Agile methods are often used on projects where uncertainty around requirements and high rates of change exist, there is typically less certainty around scope.

In other words, Agile charters have less detail, and elements of Agile change should be clearly outlined in the charter.

To avoid confusion, it is important that everyone understands the project charter.

Keep in mind that a charter can also be used to provide structure to something as basic as a small research initiative assigned to a team member. The purpose of creating a charter for smaller initiatives is to keep members focused on the objective of what they have been tasked to accomplish, just as the project charter is used to keep everyone on the project focused.

September 1, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Project Chartering

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Chartering

Charting synchronizes the project team and customer at a high level on the project’s value and goals.

This is accomplished by gaining agreement into the 5 Ws.

Chartering happens prior to release planning. It provides an opportunity to address any special needs or considerations that may need to be accounted for and monitored during the project.

The customer, product owner, or business sponsors begin the chartering session by explaining in a few statements (elevator pitch) what the product is and why it is valuable. The purpose is to gain the support of the stakeholders and team members in understanding What, Why, Who, When, Where, and How the product is going to be delivered.

1. What is the value?

2. Why does it add value?

3. Who it is for?

4. When does it need to be completed?

5. Where are we going to look for information to get it completed?

And all though not officially part of the 5 Ws ask HOW, will we know when it’s done and if it was a success?

Answering these questions invokes a higher level of engagement for the team members and establishes a deeper level of commitment for all involved.

September 1, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Maximizing Value and Minimizing Waste

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Maximizing Value and Minimizing Waste

Thinking Lean Centers on 5 Basic Principles:
First, you must identify value from the standpoint of the end customer.

Second, identify the sequence of steps in the value stream for each product and eliminate steps that do not create value.

Third, you isolate and tighten each value-creating step that occurs in the sequence to achieve a continuously smooth flow of product toward the customer.

Fourth, you develop a pull system to allow customers to pull value from upstream activity.

Lastly, you must continuously strive to improve the process by actively removing waste and defects until perfect value is created with no waste, and perfection is achieved.

The purpose of Lean is to create more value for customers with fewer resources. Every action one takes during a process should be focused on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.

Providing a perfect stream of value to the customer through the creation of processes that have zero waste is the ultimate goal. Organizations that strive to understand the needs of their customers and that focus on continuously increasing value to them are the epitome of a Lean organization.

September 1, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Quality Control Processes

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

Quality Control Processes

Let’s begin by taking a look at Verification.

Verification is a quality control process that is used to evaluate whether a product, service, or system complies with regulations, specifications, or conditions imposed at the start of a development phase; it can also take place during development, scale-up, or production. It is often an internal process.

Then we have Validation.

Validation is a quality assurance process use to establish a high degree of evidence that a product, service, or system accomplishes its intended requirements.

It often involves acceptance of fitness for purpose with end users and other product stakeholders.

September 1, 2020September 8, 2020

Agile: Value Driven Delivery – Learning Objectives

This Agile AudioCast is brought to you by:
“Agile” Al Smith, Jr. from AgiLean.ai

In this Section…

We are going to assess ways to maximize value and minimize waste, and as we are doing that, it will enable us to discuss how to increase value through quality.

From there, we will explain customer valued prioritization, and compare value to anti-value

We will then interpret what release early and release often means on Agile projects.

Then we will describe value stream analysis, and, how to optimize the value stream

We will demonstrate the benefits of value-based prioritization

And wrap up the module by illustrating how Agile tools can be employed to achieve financial operational efficiency