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Simple Test for Every Agile Team

November 19th: The Simple, Rapid Test That Every Agile Team Should be Doing

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some thoughts around the concept of leading a team of agile craftsmen and how all of us were practitioners in a living lab. Agile product development, by definition, requires that we fail fast, learn from our mistakes and develop processes that maximize efficiency. Agile values also require that we put the emphasis on people ahead of process.


That sounds incongruous. How do you do both in parallel? It seems like it would be impossible to put people first yet adhere to the rigor required by following a process. However, there is a way. It’s called the Agile Litmus Test. Although there is no standardized template for it, the basic concept is that each team member thinks about why s/he/they is doing what they’re doing towards the goal of assessing whether or not the individual, team or corporate effort meets the values and principles as defined by the Agile Manifesto.

Many of you may recall the litmus test from your chemistry classes. The Litmus Test is a simple, low-tech, low-cost way of determining the pH (acidity) of a given solution. It’s been around for centuries and it’s still in use today both as a physical test as well as a metaphor for describing a quick method for testing out a concept. The fact that it’s been around so long illustrates how effective it is which, in turn, underscores the value of the Agile Litmus Test. One thing that surprised me is how search results returned for this test seem to drop off after 2015 – have agile developers lost sight of its importance?

Within the context of agile product development, the Agile Litmus Test is a rapid means of straddling the duality of putting people ahead of process  (Agile Value #1) yet still adhering to it. There are several versions of what it should be, but there are only a few basic rules regarding the application of the Agile Litmus Test. In short, keep asking yourself if you’re doing the right thing. Given that we’re all agile craftsmen, we should be encouraged to use a little latitude to make the “rules” work for each of us given our own scenarios. At InRhythm, we apply it to meet our needs.

Quite simply, the Agile Litmus Test is the act of asking practical, meaningful questions to assess our priorities. Which questions you ask and which order you ask them in are not critical. What is critical is that you ask some flavor of these questions regarding everything that you do. It’s less about the rigor of the questions asked and more about accepting the personal responsibility of asking them. Whatever you’re doing, which includes posting on social media, writing content, coding, documenting, how you conduct yourself at a meeting and what you say there, etc. should all be subjected to the Agile Litmus Test. 

Consider questions along the following lines:

  • Why am I doing X this way?
  • How is doing X going to help me meet my goal(s)?
  • Should I be doing X right now?
  • Is there something else that I should be doing instead of X?
  • How will my team or project be impacted if I do X?

The idea is to self-assign a mental speedbump, not a big hurdle. You want that little bump to be big enough to get noticed but small enough to accelerate through. Take the time to pause and think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Each of our actions as agile software engineers who are part of high velocity teams has consequences for us as individuals, as a team, as a client and as a vendor. We need to consider the bigger picture for all that we do and not gloss over our own accountability for using our time in a way that advances our personal and professional goals. 

In my years of experience onsite at clients and working with 10x teams, I’ve seen people get caught up in their own agendas. Somehow, they lose track of the bigger picture or their leaders have not communicated it effectively to them. Regardless of how or why it happened, they are not invested in how their efforts tie into the collective efforts of the project. So, you’re thinking, well, if one individual has lost sight of the vision and the shared end-goal, that’s probably not going to have an effect on the overall outcome. Or, if you’re that individual, you may be thinking the same thing. 

Not so, because there is rarely just one individual on an agile project that loses sight of the priorities. Typically, it’s more than one which can have dire consequences on hitting the milestones and timeline that only some people are tracking to. If you were to apply the Agile Litmus Test right now, what is the question that you ask yourself?

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

16 Quick Poll – a Litmus Test for Agile Product Development
Scrum Breakfast
“I want a litmus test, i.e. a short list of questions for challenging developers and their managers on their engineering practices.”

How to Test for Agility with the Agile Litmus Test
Dummies
“To be agile, you need to be able to ask, ‘Is this agile?’”

Taking the Agile Litmus Test
O’Reilly Safari
“When you understand these values and principles, you’ll be able to ask, “Is this agile?” and be confident in your answer.”

The Principles of Agile Manifesto
Educba
“Collectively, these principles are used to like a litmus test to identify if a project is being run on agile or not.”


Say Thank You Now: Don’t Wait for Employee Appreciation Day

November 13th: Say Thank You Now: Don’t Wait for Employee Appreciation Day

Having a dedicated holiday or annual occasion to formally celebrate someone sounds like a good idea on the surface, however, it doesn’t reflect the first value of agile product development. Why do we need to wait for a special day to tell someone that we appreciate them for who they are, for what they do and how they impact our lives? In fact, it seems a little disingenuous to share a message or token of appreciation on that given day because society obligates us to do so.

Let’s turn this around and refocus on the first value of agile methodology. We need to routinely take a moment to pause and communicate our appreciation. “Value 1 = individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” We could just as easily add “… over formalized events or occasions or annual performance reviews.” What this agile value is essentially saying is that expressing appreciation, gratitude or human decency and kindness to another human doesn’t have to be prescriptive. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. It should flow freely, be a natural expression and happen in the moment. 

When you’re building high velocity teams, you need to make daily investments in your people, processes and infrastructure. Waiting for a full 364 days or 90 days (or whatever your performance review cadence is) to tell someone that they are doing a good job and that you sincerely applaud and value all their late nights and extra effort is too long to wait. Telling them how valuable they are to your company and client as often as they deserve to be told (without being overly expressive as that has a similar negative outcome through the dilution of the message) is the best way to bolster your team. 

Do you want a high velocity team who is loyal, dedicated to the needs of your customers and proud of the work they do? I’m sure that you do. And, assuming that you do want your agile craftsmen to remain “your” agile craftsmen, then go one step further and acknowledge that person’s efforts in front of others.

The pace of software development is best described like that multi-movie franchise, “Fast and Furious.” It can be relentless. Many projects are inherently complex requiring sophisticated engineering. As if that wasn’t already challenging enough, layered on top of the work itself are the difficulties associated with logistics, managing international and remote teams, coordinating individual efforts, and keeping your teams motivated. These factors compound the burden carried by practice leads and executives. 

Just as the agile value mandates, we must put people ahead of processes and tools. The ones doing the work are human. They have human needs: they want to be with their families, spouses, and friends. Missing a night out or birthday or some other event can be tough, but manageable if it’s once in a while. However, repeatedly missing every social outing with friends and family month after month during an extended project sprint is not going to have a positive outcome. Nor will missing even one of the “big rocks” milestones like a graduation or wedding. These losses will have lasting repercussions on employee morale and taint corporate culture.

People are human. We need to belong and we long to be part of a community that values our membership. Agile leaders must reinforce appreciation of these “extra efforts” through grace, gratitude and occasionally, through special dispensation. This is how to build trusted and long-term relationships, as well as high velocity, agile teams. 

Leaders of agile craftsmen, particularly of those who are placed onsite at a client and disconnected from the “mothership HQ” must take time to pause and recognize the importance of showing appreciation. Yes, these sprints are fast and furious but they will never be successful if you don’t show your people that you care. Not to mention how one sprint flows into another, then another, and then the epic wraps up as another begins. As a leader, you must also impress upon your clients who are hosting your agile craftsmen that they also express appreciation for a job well done. Doing so fosters a sense of community and helps the onsite workers feel like they belong and are playing a valuable role alongside the client’s employees.

Staying strong on execution and adhering to process is critical for success. Yet there must be time deliberately factored in to pause, however briefly, to recognize the efforts of one individual at a time. In so doing, it won’t be long before everyone has been recognized for their contribution and be made to feel that they are indeed, an important part of a special community. Remember, as per agile Value #1 –  if you put people first, ahead of processes and tools, you will have a high velocity 10x team.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

10 Creative Ways to Show Employees Appreciation
Business News Daily
“There’s no better time of year to brush up on your employee appreciation best practices than right now.”

The Importance of Saying “Thank You” in the Workplace
Forbes
“In fact, companies that spend a mere 1% of their payroll budget on thanking and recognizing their employees ‘are more likely to perceive greater impacts on retention and financial outcomes.’”

If Bosses Want Happier Employees, Start by Saying “Tank You”
CNBC
“In fact, 75% of U.S. employees surveyed agreed that motivation and company morale would improve if managers simply thanked workers in real-time for a job well done.”

16 Best Practices for Conducting Employee Reviews
PrimePay
“Be sure to highlight good performance and explain why it was good and how it helped the team and the company as a whole. Recognition is key in making your employees feel valued for the hard work they put in.”

The Employer’s Guide for Boosting Employee Retention with Recognition
Workest
“One study polled over 1,500 workers, finding more than half were considering a job move. When asked what would motivate them to stay with their employer, 69% said recognition and rewards.”


We are the Living Lab: InRhythm’s Learning and Growth Newsletter

October 22nd: Agile Craftsman in a Living Lab

For more than 15 years, InRhythm has been in the business of practicing agile methodology, building high velocity teams and accelerating product development through a combination of staffing solutions, processes and tools. We’re agile craftsmen, constantly learning, testing new ideas and sharing what we’ve learned or developed with our partners. In essence, we are a living lab for agile best practices.

Going forward, our Learning & Growth newsletter and InRhythm blog will highlight agile values and principles through examples to demonstrate how we are putting each of the values and principles into action. As agile craftsmen, it is imperative that we assess every process and method with a lens designed to identify inefficiencies. When recognized, these opportunities for improvement must be raised and discussed as a team to uncover ways to address the inefficiencies.

Within our own walls at InRhythm, we analyze processes to learn why they work – and why they don’t. Learning by doing is often the best form of instruction. Agile craftsmen must recognize that there is the potential to fail and “feel the fear but do it anyway” in the words of Coach Jeffers. 

Our practice leads scrutinize each effort at each partner and bring back new ideas and best practices. Internally, we test these new concepts, practice implementing and executing them then review what we did with a lens on how to make it better. By first testing new ideas ourselves, we can assure our partners that we are bringing vetted concepts forward to make their high velocity teams even stronger. As a living lab of agile craftsmen, we cannot be afraid to pivot.

Inherent in our success is learning, learning through observation, application and implementation. What doesn’t work within our own walls is unlikely to work at a partner site. Recognizing the difference between an agile concept that has the potential to be beneficial once artfully defined and practiced versus a concept that is flawed in its conception and will never work despite excellent execution can only be done through trial and error. 

A hallmark of agile product development and of high velocity teams is failing fast. However, in order to fail, you first need to try. Wayne Gretzky, a hockey legend, masterfully articulated this his popularized quotation, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Over the weeks and months ahead, we look forward to sharing some of our “experiments” as agile craftsmen practicing new concepts to make the available to you and our partners.

I’m interested to learn how have you been able to apply internal learnings to your business success, and create your own living lab? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

What is Agile Testing?
Guru99
“Agile Testing can begin at the start of the project with continuous integration between development and testing.”

Engineering Higher Quality Through Agile Testing
Atlassian
“Project owners face an unwelcome choice: delay the release, or skimp on testing. (I’ll give you one guess as to which option wins 99% of the time.)”W

Agile Testing, Principles & Advantages
ReQtest
“Agile testing not only facilitates the early detection of defects but also reduces the cost of bugs by fixing them early.”

Agile Methodology: The Complete Guide to Understanding Agile Testing
RTricentis
“This frequency has forced testers to shift when they conduct testing, how they work with developers and BAs and even what tests they conduct, all while maintaining quality standards.”


Achieving High Performance Cultures: InRhythm’s Learning and Growth Newsletter

October 8th: How to Achieve High Performance Cultures

Everyone wants a high performance culture. Here’s why it matters. Research shows that high performance organizations have a 14% job turnover rate compared to 48% as seen in low performance organizations. 

Throughout nearly 20 years of management consulting, I’ve completed over 100 organizational assessments of companies ranging from startups like Yodel and Vimeo to great enterprises like Consumer Report and Amazon. These assessments revealed the reasons why companies struggle to attain high performance cultures. Additionally, these evaluations highlighted how investments in team culture enabled transformation into successful enterprises. 

The key message is that high performance cultures require what we refer to as “10x teams.” Success of 10x teams is not the result of a secret formula. Rather, it’s based on an approach that can be consistently repeated.

That said, one of the main roadblocks to developing 10x teams is the process itself. Furthermore, the obsession with process. There is a preconceived notion that adoption of a process, whether it be agile development, safe or lean mindset, or some other process, will solve every problem. Not so. 

Working with my clients has illustrated that it is the convergence of people, culture, process and business structure that spurs the magic. Ultimately, it is this convergence that creates 10x teams and high performance cultures. The adoption of key practices accelerates performance improvement. These practices include pulling group members together, propelling groups into action, encouraging groups to push boundaries as a team so that they can achieve an increasingly greater impact together over time.

Off-the-shelf processes for 10x team transformation simply do not exist. Bespoke processes must be developed based on your people, culture, org structure, geography and so on. Efforts to design a process in the absence of these factors typically have the reverse effect: your business will slow down and you typically will not achieve the desired outcome. Additionally, unintended consequences include expectations for a transformed culture which is unattainable with a vanilla approach. Confusion and dissatisfaction often result.

Without a doubt, based on my experience, adopting a generic process that does not factor in the aspects unique to your business is the number one reason teams are prevented from becoming 10x. Another important consideration is that team transformations are dynamic processes which are either cumulatively additive or negative. Given that the long-term goal is a sustainable culture, continuous adaptation is required to keep your teams and company moving in the right direction. 

I’m curious. How has process limited your organization from growing and what barriers have you come across along the way? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog.

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi

CEO, InRhythm

What We’re Reading Around the Web

Why Some Rules are more likely to be Broken
Harvard Business Review 
“Our intuition was that rules that were high in either type of complexity would be harder to follow. Because organizations rely on routines for following rules, complex rules would require complex routines, which would be harder to execute reliably.”

5 Team Attributes that are Killing Your Creative Tension
WForbes
“Fear of failure can stifle the engagement, speaking up and risk taking that are hallmarks of creative thinking.”

Companies do Best when they Encourage this Kind of Culture
Forbes
“Businesses do best when they’re built around high-purpose cultures, which are equally focused on both employees and customers.”
 


Service Workers and PWAs: InRhythm’s Learning and Growth Newsletter

May 7th: How do Service Workers Work?

Only recently did designer Frances Berriman and Google Chrome engineer Alex Russell coin the term “progressive web apps.” In 2015 the pair introduced PWAs as a way to describe how apps will leverage new features supported by modern browsers, including service workers and web app manifests, which allow users to still use their native operating system (OS), but upgrade their web apps to progressive web applications.

In order to provide rich experiences and high performance, native mobile apps must sacrifice storage space, real-time updates and search engine visibility. Traditional web apps endure lack of native compile executable and dependence on unreliable web connectivity. Service workers attempt to give PWAs the best of both.

This week, InRhythm Engineer, Anna Brakowska dives deep into The Magic of Service Workers.

Are you passionate about PWAs? How has the implementation of service workers enhanced the way your users experience your product? Share your thoughts with @GetInRhythm or on the InRhythmU blog. 

Thanks and Keep Growing,

Gunjan Doshi
CEO, InRhythm

The Magic of Service Workers
(12 min. read)

“If you heard of PWAs, you also heard of service workers, but what are they, how do they work, and what does it have to with anything?””

What We’re Reading Around the Web

Service Workers and SEO
(5 min. read)
Search Engine Land
“”Did you know that browsers have had superpowers since about 1996? They have! When he was developing JavaScript for Netscape, Brendan Eich ‘invented the javascript: URL along with JavaScript in 1995, and intended that javascript: URLs could be used as any other kind of URL, including being bookmark-able.’ That means you could write a script into a link (e.g. Bookmark Me!), bookmark that script (put a little button on the browser’s bookmark bar, for instance), and run that code on any page you’re browsing. Check out this subreddit for some fun examples.”

Take UX to the Next Level for PWAs
(5 min. read)
Medium
“There were stand-alone web products and there were apps, but now there’s also the hybrid breed of progressive web apps (PWA) that’s getting more popular for their ability to deliver app-like experience but in the browser. Their platform independence is attractive for developers since it means less time and costs involved. They are also alluring to users since they don’t need to be downloaded, aren’t intensive on hardware resources, and can even be used offline while still offering sufficient functionality.”

Should Your Business Get a PWA?
(3 min. read)
TechHQ
“Thanks to help from ‘service workers’, PWAs work even if users are offline or on low-quality networks. A service worker is a snippet of code, a script that runs in the background and helps a PWA function. It’s one of its critical building blocks. Service workers help PWAs do things like send notifications to users and stay up-to-date.Service workers help provide an engaging experience while offline and ensure that your application loads quickly.”

Chrome 75 Beta Displays Service Workers
(2 min. read)
9to5Google
“Service workers are increasingly leveraged by today’s websites to create powerful experiences. This includes push notifications and background syncing, as well as offline apps. Given that they run in the background, and have no corresponding web page or user interaction, Chrome 75 will now display service workers in the Task Manager (Settings > More Tools).”