Implementing LPM in the real world, getting frameworks to work

Agile speaks of value as a key outcome we seek, yet we haven’t provided any framework to help identify it. OKRs are a start, but they are misused and rarely provide quantifiable outcomes. OKRs are often just another box we tick in the grand scheme of make-believe value delivery.

Real change in how we deliver value with our technology investments starts with a clear intake process that provides a disciplined way to evaluate and then decide on which large technology initiatives you need to invest in. And we know there are also additional avenues to bring work to teams, that being production support/maintenance type work along with small feature enhancements that emanate from a team’s Product Backlog. However, all these workstreams require a disciplined intake process that informs the organization of the capacity to accommodate all the work that teams are taking in. It’s this disconnect with workstreams that forces the team to over-commit and a loss of attention to value delivery, we get wrapped up in the act of delivery, we forget to track the value we deliver with these efforts.

One way to align your intake workstream flows is to understand you have a dual track intake process which looks something like this (NOTE this was done at a client under SAFe 4.0, it may not represent exactly how LPM was designed to work, but this view resonated with the client and this approach to managing intake worked for this organization):

At the top of our intake model is the Product Steering committee that ensures that work coming from both intake streams is aligned and balanced with available capacity. We apply Strategic Ideation that occurs at the Business and Architectural Enabler side of our work intake, large investments are worthy of time to evaluate and consider if the initiative aligns strategically with the organization’s value objectives. On the right side, we have a fast valuation process to ensure that the work that we are doing, either to identify the MVP value of large initiatives or the value of smaller enhancements the Product Owner identifies with the team.

I leveraged the Portfolio level concept to convey that we needed a way to visualize all of the work an ART/team would be taking on, I believe this is something that organizations have trouble understanding as it is not just about approving the big initiatives but also balancing that work against all of the other work.

This model works when we establish stable funding at the ART/Team level as it is the combination of funding and capacity that provides effective guardrails to the flow of work. Large initiatives will be associated with large funding decisions by leadership, and work on the right side of the intake funnel, is provided a budget guardrail to work with, in this example each Product team was provided the ability to consider work that would not exceed one PI. Tracking was implemented so that if the operational enhancement the Product Owner initiated was expected to exceed the 5-sprint budget, then the PO would be required to create a Lean Business Case and go through a lightweight review and approval process prior to continuing with the work.

You will notice that before any work is started both intake avenues will go through the valuation process, which leveraged my QValue scoring model. This is an easy-to-use model, that is designed to align the organizations’ strategic objectives to quantifiable value outcomes. This means we are expressly committing to specific outcomes that will be tracked. This model delivers both value identification and value tracking capabilities. Since we are quantifying the outcomes we can track the progress towards value delivery, this change in focus means we no longer need to be concerned with dates, we stop when we decide we have delivered enough value, or we decide there is even more value, and we continue. Either way, we are making informed investment decisions.

Though this view was created to align with SAFe LPM approaches, it can be applied to any organization’s planning cycles, be it agile or waterfall. The QValue Portfolio scoring model is designed to not only identify, and quantify value, it also places a focus on creating a smooth flow of work to teams so that they can deliver high-quality code and products to our customers.

If you would like to learn more about how QValue can transform your intake and technology delivery capabilities contact me at michael@soundagile.com or www.soundagile.com