Ravi Verma

In this blog post, PST Ravi Verma shares tips on how to manage outcomes with Evidence-Based Agility

Around 14 years ago, my Coach - Peggy Reed changed my life by sending me to Scrum Training. I fell in love with Scrum and chose to become a Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer with the support of Ken Schwaber.

Of late, I've been noticing an interpretation of the Scrum Master role - the Scrum Master as An FFFCDO for Developers - a Fierce, Ferocious, Fearsome Chief Defense Officer!

Are you too busy doing real work to bother about this new fad called "Evidence Based Management"? Are you tired of beating yourself up because you just don't have the time, money or energy to get on this bandwagon with the other cool kids? Well, fear not. I have a simple 8 step process to put your mind at ease and help you realize why you should NOT waste time and money on Evidence Based Management. SIMPLE, 8 STEP PROCESS TOTAL MONTHLY BUDGET: Calculate the total number of hours human beings (not "resources") spend on delivering and supporting your solutions each month. Calculate the total money your organization spends on delivering and supporting your solutions each month. (cost of people, servers, licenses, marketing, sales, support, etc. etc.) TARGET BURN-DOWN: Now define your target burn-down - what is your budget for the number of person hours and money you are willing to burn down each month in the avoidable destruction of value for your customers, users and your business? Note: Remember in the complex domain some waste is inevitable and unavoidable. Being in the complex domain implies that there is uncertainty and you don't know what you don't know. When you do complex work, failure is guaranteed. The challenge is not to avoid failure. The challenge is to minimize the amount of failure, to rapidly learn from it and to rapidly course-correct based on the learning and to avoid repeating the same failure over and over again. ACTUAL BURN-DOWN: Now start measuring your actual burn-down - how many person hours and how much money are you actually burning down each month in the avoidable destruction of value for your customers, users and your business? TARGET DELIGHT: Now answer this question...On a scale of 0 to 10, how delighted would you like to be with the amount of money and time you burn down each month in the avoidable destruction of value for your customers, users and your business? ACTUAL DELIGHT: Now answer this question...On a scale of 0 to 10, how delighted are you with the amount of money and time you have actually burned down each month in the avoidable destruction of value for your customers, users and your business? TARGETS vs. ACTUALS: Now compare your monthly burn-down targets (#2 & #4) with your monthly burn-down actuals (#3 & #5). TARGETS(#2 & #4) ARE MORE THAN ACTUALS(#3 & #5): If your targets are more than your actuals, YIPPEEEE!!! You don't need no stinking Evidence Based Management!!! You don't need to beat yourself up or feel inadequate in front of those cool kids. Your tolerance for wasting time and money is greater than your exposure to wasting time and money. Keep doing what you've always been doing. You'll keep getting what you've always been getting. You're fine. You'll be fine. It's all good. TARGETS(#2 & #4) ARE LESS THAN ACTUALS(#3 & #5): If, on the other hand, your targets are less than your actuals and you have a longing to reduce the amount of money and time you burn down each month in the avoidable destruction of value for your customers, users and your business, maybe you could consider Evidence Based Management. WHAT NEXT OK, so if you found yourself in the second category and are curious to learn more about Evidence Based Management, what do you do next? Where do you get started...? Watch this video... {"preview_thumbnail":"/drupal/s3fs-public/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/vPfJG96Sdnw.jpg?itok=SM2zz8XK","video_url":"https://youtu.be/vPfJG96Sdnw","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]} If these ideas resonate and you want help to implement them, contact us for a free consultation. Either way, I wish you good luck!

I interviewed a Scrum Master candidate last week. This blog is inspired by him.

When we introduce Scrum to some companies, sometimes the question arises - "Why are there so many meetings in Scrum? When do you do 'real work'?" I've been answering this question verbally for so many years, I thought it was time to write a blog. So here's my answer - don't use Scrum! It has too many darned meetings. Try this instead for the next 3 months. It won't cost you a dime in training, coaching, consulting, tools, whatchamacallit... At the start of each work week... Take a print out of your calendar for the current week Make a list of all the meetings Total up all the durations of the meeting At the end of each work week... Take a print out of your calendar for the week that just got over Make a list of all the meetings Total up all the durations of the meeting Were there other meetings that did not show up on the calendar? Great! Add them to the list and the total durations. Compare the print-outs of the meeting calendar at the start of the week and the end of the week. What can you learn? For instance, how did this list of meetings that actually happened by the end of the week compare to the meetings you expected at the start of the work week? At the end of each work week, fill out this self-assessment Total # of minutes spent in planned meetings Total # of minutes spent in un-planned meetings On a scaled of 0 to 10, how effective was your team in making progress towards your team goal? What the heck was the team goal, anyway? On a scaled of 0 to 10, how effective was your team in maximizing sustainable, measurable value? On a scaled of 0 to 10, how effective was your team in minimizing time spent on meetings? On a scaled of 0 to 10, how effective was your team in maximizing time spent on doing 'real work'? Plot the survey results as trend lines At the end of 3 months... Look back at all the print-outs of before and after weekly calendars, look at all the meetings you had, and draw out your team process on one single page Name all the meetings, the intent of the meetings, participants, durations Try to explain this to an unsuspecting guinea pig. Don't forget to show them the self-assessment. trend lines. Now ask them to explain it back to you. Now, tell them to look at the Scrum Guide and have them explain Scrum to you. How did they react? What questions did they ask? What made sense? What didn't? What did you learn from the interaction? Now, compare / contrast your process to Scrum and answer these questions... Which of these has more meetings? Which of these has more real work? Which of these might be most effective in making progress towards your team goal? Which of these might be most effective in maximizing sustainable, measurable value? My life coach - Joy Perkins often reminded me that the quality of life is determined by the quality of questions we ask. Learn to ask the right question. What is the reason for your team's existence? Minimize meetings? Scrum might not be for you. Maximize real work? Scrum might not be for you. Make regular progress towards your team goal? Scrum might be for you. Maximize sustainable, measurable value? Scrum might be for you. My wish for you is not that you read this blog and get convinced Scrum is right for you. Just that you shift from asking questions that are irrelevant to your team's existence to questions that are more meaningful to your team's existence. Good luck!

When we introduce Scrum to an organization, many people are skeptical of the monetary benefits and ROI of the Scrum Master position. The question I am often asked is - "How do you justify the salary of the Scrum Master?"

1. I did not clarify up front to my prospects how important their ROI is to me 2. After closing the deal, I did not educate my clients on the definition of ROI 3. I did not educate them in the research backed approach from the ROI Institute that helps organizations manage the ROI of Learning 4. I did not ask them to quantify their target ROI 5. I did not co-create quantified targets for the 14 key lead indicators of learning ROI Learners complete pre-work Learners stay engaged Learners complete learning Learners complete feedback Learners find the learning environment helpful Learners find the trainer effective Learners find the learning relevant Learners find that their knowledge increased Learners find the learning impactful Learners find the learning actionable Learners find the learning recommendable Learners pass exam to validate their learning Learners change their behaviors and habits by applying the learning Learners make a visible, measurable business impact by applying the learning 6. I did not help us visualize our targets for lead and lag indicators using an approach similar to the one below Targets for Lead Indicators of Learning ROI 7. I did not ask my client, executives, managers and students - 'What might get in our way?' of effectively implementing this approach to achieve our ROI target 8. I did not ask them - 'How might we overcome these impediments?' 9. I did not get their buy-in to measure every step of the way 10. I did not get their buy-in to review the actuals, compare against targets, learn and course correct every step of the way 11. I did not manage the 14 lead indicators of ROI like an ROI funnel the way a disciplined sales force manages their sales funnel... 12. I did not facilitate regular, frequent ROI reviews to help us inspect and adapt the ROI of learning OK, so this is only 12 reasons. And I promised 13. So maybe I lied. Or if you include each of the 14 indicators as a reason, then I under-promised and over-delivered and gave you 26! How do you manage the ROI of your Agile Training? If you want to learn more about how we learned from our mistakes and course corrected, check out these resources... Case Study: Real Estate Software Provider Uses Evidence-Based Management to Drive Its Largest Revenue Growth in 10 Years White Paper: Designing Agile Training & Coaching for Maximum Impact & Results Case Study: WWT Apprentices get 828% ROI From SmoothApps Agile Training Webinar - Designing Agile Training Courses for Maximum Impact and Results

More than 10 years of helping organizations travel on the path to Agility have taught me some hard lessons about what differentiates the organizations that practice self-defeating pseudo agility from those who practice authentic, evidence based agility.

As you walk this path, remember that just like Scaled Professional Scrum is Scrum, Co-Active Scrum Coaching is Co-Active Coaching. All the cornerstones, contexts, principles and practices of Co-Active Coaching must be upheld in Co-Actives Scrum Coaching.