1. Dr. Klaus Leopold web: www.LEANability.com blog: www.klausleopold.com mail: klaus.leopold@LEANability.com twitter: @klausleopold Blockers - Treasures of Improvement Lean Kanban North Amerika - LKNA15, June 9, 2015, Miami Beach, FL 2. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. UAT READY 2 DEPLOY () ?? What could we do? > increase WIP limit in DEV -> solve problems 3. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com 4. www.LEANability.com@klausleopold 5. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com collect blockers Text and photos for reservation page missing (Customer X) [DEV] DAYS BLOCKEDACTIVITY SOUND REASON 6. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com others test env. not ready reviewer X not available 47 days 11 days 32 days waiting for backend 87 days content missing waiting for UX 109 days 22 days no pictures customer A waiting for texts customer B missing pictures customer D UX for app x not ready waiting for backend backend not ready no test environment cluster blockers 7. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com content missing 109 days ?- WHY is content missing? !- The customers dont send it. ?- WHY dont they send it? !- Often they dont know what we need. ?- WHY dont they know what we need?!- We dont tell them always. > Maybe itd be smart to tell them ALWAYS Add an item to the Definition of Done checklist in the ANALYSIS activity: > INFORM CUSTOMER ABOUT CONTENT DELIVERIES understand problem find solution 8. www.LEANability.com@klausleopold 9. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (3) DEVELOP (3) TEST (6) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY () Features > Rework > payment module payment module payment user profile search A large percentage ofSUPPORT REQUESTSis actually rework! REWORK and SUPPORT are blocking you from doing valuable stuff! 10. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com collect blockers payment module 24 days 11. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (3) DEVELOP (3) TEST (6) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY () Features > Rework > defect! 12. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (3) DEVELOP (3) TEST (6) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY () Features > defect! dont allow return traffic BUG FIXING IS NO NEW WORK Rework > 13. (3) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (3) DEVELOP (3) TEST (6) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY () Features > DEFECTS ARE BLOCKERS! Rework > 14. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com collect blockers 15. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com collect blockers CLUSTER BLOCKERS UAT not passed 92 days 16. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com ?- WHY are we blocked by UAT? !- Customers are not satisfied with what we deliver. ?- WHY arent they satisfied? !- Theres a mismatch on what they want and what we deliver. ?- WHY is this mismatch? !- UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM FIND A SOLUTION -introduce review activity after analysis -participants: customer, BAs, DEVs & Testers UAT not passed 92 days 17. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com whats worth collecting & analyzing? BLOCKERS - anything that prevents flow of work items BUGS & DEFECTS - anything you have to spend additional effort on because of bad quality (bugs, defects, etc.) CONSCIOUS POLICY VIOLATIONS - write the reason of the violation on a sticky and attach it to the work item - collect & cluster policy violations - understand & improve REWORK & SUPPORT REQUESTS - defects in the live environment - queries from customers 18. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com Were often fooled by biases -The ones with the highest delay -The ones we own because were in control -The simple ones because we want to see quick results -The most recent ones theyre fresh in memory - What cluster should you solve first? test env. not ready reviewer X not available 47 days 11 days waiting for backend 87 days content missing waiting for UX 109 days 22 days UAT not passed 92 days 19. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com 1. Fix clusters that constrain the system content missing 109 days test env. not ready 47 days waiting for UX 22 days Text and photos for reservation page missing (Customer X) [DEV] ACTIVITY (4) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (4) DEVELOP (4) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. UAT READY TO DEPLOY () 20. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com 1. Fix clusters that constrain the system (4) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (4) DEVELOP (4) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. UAT READY TO DEPLOY () content missingwaiting for UX test env. not ready 109 days 47 days 22 days 21. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com (4) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (4) DEVELOP (4) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. UAT READY TO DEPLOY () content missingwaiting for UX test env. not ready 109 days 47 days 22 days 1. Fix clusters that constrain the system 22. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com hard to solve moderate easy to solve lowmediumhigh time blocked solvability 3 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 2. Weight resolution effort against blocker impact content missing 109 days solution: DoD-Item to inform customer about content waiting for backend 87 days solution: merge/restructure back-end and front-end teams reviewer X not available 11 days solution: talk to reviewer X and find a solution with him 23. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com (3) ANALYZE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY (3) REVIEW Is it economically meaningful to implement solution? SOLUTION -introduce review activity after analysis -participants: customer, BAs, DEVs & Testers UAT not passed 92 days PROBLEM 3. Think about economics 24. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com (3) ANALYZE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (4) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY (3) REVIEW Is it economically meaningful to implement solution? LETS THINK ABOUT IT - additional review increases lead time for all work items * higher lead time > worse TTM & pot. higher CoD - lower lead times for items with potential defects * lower lead times > improved TTM & less CoD - less effort for defect fixing - 25. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com ECONOMIC SIMULATION download it for free: www.focusobjective.com 26. @klausleopold www.LEANability.comdownload it for free: www.focusobjective.com Completes Days Staff Cost Cost of Delay Days Late Total Cost Total Saving Baseline 20.Feb.15 79 79,000 35,714 50 114,714 - Halved 13.Feb.15 74 74,000 30,714 43 104,714 10,000 Eliminated 30.Jn.15 64 64,000 20,714 29 84,714 30,000 27. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com 0 5.000 10.000 15.000 20.000 25.000 30.000 Baseline Halved Eliminated + + + Completes Days Staff Cost Cost of Delay Days Late Total Cost Total Saving Baseline 20.Feb.15 79 79,000 35,714 50 114,714 - Halved 13.Feb.15 74 74,000 30,714 43 104,714 10,000 Eliminated 30.Jn.15 64 64,000 20,714 29 84,714 30,000 28. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com BLOCKER HANDLING - collect & cluster blockers - understand problem - find solution - evaluate clusters * think about constraints * weight effort against impact * economics is your friend 29. @klausleopold www.LEANability.com performance time CADENCE - trade-off: quantity of blockers vs. narrow time frame - 4-weekly cadence is a good start - adapt cadence to your needs MEETING FORMAT - Use established improvement meetings for it - participants: * on team level - the team * on higher flight levels, multi-tier systems - work with delegates WHAT ELSE TO CONSIDER? fucked-up performance time j-curve 30. (2) ANALYZE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE (2) DEVELOP (2) TEST (3) DEV READY VERIF. ACC. READY 2 DEPLOY () DEV-WORK > IMPROVEMENTS > (2) PREPARE (1) REALIZE (2) VALIDATE IN PROG. DONE IN PROG. DONE SUCCESS FAILED (1) READY 31. order at http://bit.ly/kcl-wiley 25% off promo code VBJ24 Thanks to Troy Magennis for working with me on this topic! Using Blocker Clustering, Defect Clustering, and Prioritization for Process Improvement, Klaus Leopold and Troy Magennis, InfoQ, http://bit.ly/InfoQblocker