Balance of PO Priorities when there is an established Engineering Process
Morning all,
I'd be interested to hear some opinions. Our situation is that I (PO) would like to do vertical slice delivery of a number of functions which will create our product.
However the delivery team are insistent that each "thing" (design, architecture etc) needs to be done completely in a very defined order (ie ALL customer reqs derived, then ALL system design done, then ALL etc etc). They also tell me that their approach is agile.
We're at an impass, and getting nowhere except generating lists in excel of open points & competitive Gantt-Charting. Any thoughts or experiences would be welcome!
Most agile philosophies consider incremental delivery as the way to go. Your approach will allow for the stakeholder to see usable increments and provide feedback on how to proceed arriving at the solution needed when the solution is delivered. The delivery team's approach will provide the stakeholder with what they want now but not what they may need when it is finally delivered. That is why waterfall project planning has been in the decline for agile thinking.
This is a classic example of an organization that is not committed to the ability to adapt constantly based upon new information. You do not mention if there are claims of using the Scrum framework or any other agile philosophies outside of yourself. In my experience, the organization is going to push back on things that do not fit their strategic directions or go against how they will be "evaluated" for advancement. I applaud your thinking but without some support in the organization, especially at some of the higher levels, you are going to be in a difficult situation to further your efforts.
Is there anyone in the organization, other than yourself, that shares your thoughts? Is there a Scrum Master involved or someone that is responsible for the implementation of agile practices? They will be your best advocate and should be able to help you educate the rest of the organization.
However the delivery team are insistent that each "thing" (design, architecture etc) needs to be done completely in a very defined order (ie ALL customer reqs derived, then ALL system design done, then ALL etc etc).
It's one thing to have a very defined workflow. That doesn't mean taking the whole bolus of work through stage gates.
They also tell me that their approach is agile.
Never mind the approach, what about the outcomes? Can they commit to getting all of that work Done in one month or less? Most teams would need to limit their work in progress and apply far greater focus.