Library Big programme design and the willing suspension of disbelief involved Whenever I have been involved either as part of the delivery or an observer of Big Programmes – usually in local government – I have been struck by the willing suspension of disbelief that participants have to sign up for. The first suspicion of disbelief is the idea that you can plan a two or three year programme and deliver certainty of process and outputs from the start.
Library Everyone loves a roadmap In agile programmes people prefer to talk about roadmaps rather than plans. This post is about the reasons behind this and the benefits of using a roadmap rather than a gantt chart to manage pure agile, or mixed methodology programmes.
Library Governance – there is a better way Teams using lean and agile ways of working often rub up against traditional modes of governance which can slow them down or demoralise them. Governance can become a blocker.
Library Experiments in roadmapping at GOV.UK Roadmaps can be a powerful tool to communicate the vision for a product’s development, unite teams of makers around common goals and let stakeholders know (roughly) when they can expect the improvements they care about.
Library Delivering digital services: this much I have learned Matt Edgar shares the things he has learned delivering digital services, so that you don't need to learn them the hard way yourself.
Library How we use OKRs on GOV.UK "Objectives and key results (OKRs) is a simple tool to create measurable goals for agile teams. It provides a framework for defining objectives, how teams will achieve those outcomes, and tracking their progress. It’s a light-touch way of setting goals and focus.
Library Funding product teams, not projects Over the last year Defra has started making the transition from focussing on projects to focussing on teams. The results of this have been great. More stability has meant work gets done more quickly, meaning we can deliver more great services for our users. “Focus on teams, not projects” even made it to the top of our list of digital principles.
Library The Importance of Product Management in Government ...the approach taken to build and deliver digital products needs to evolve to take advantage of modern software development methods including agile iterative development, human centered design, and continuous delivery.
Library What’s wrong with business cases Business cases are lies. Not wilful lies usually, but they end up with the same results: misleading, misinforming and hiding reality.
