"Rafting the Agile Wateifall" - value baseu Conflicts of agile

Softwaie Bevelopment


}0Ru PECBA0, 0niveisity of Bambuig
Agile softwaie uevelopment piojects executeu in laigei pioject enviionments often stiuggle to succeeu, uespite oveiall fiamewoik
conuitions being consiueieu goou. This often can be ielateu to agile cultuies clashing with nonagile cultuies, thus leauing agile anu non-
agile value systems into conflict. This papeiis a iesult of my ieseaich iegaiuing patteins of value baseu conflicts of agile softwaie
uevelopment piojects. The patteins shall help to iuentify afoiementioneu conflicts anu pioviue a shoit-teim appioach to aim foi shoit-
teim impiovements anu a long-teim appioach, to auuiess the value conflicts themselfes when using Agile appioaches.
Categoiies anu Subject Besciiptois: !"#"! %&'(()*+ ,)-./+0(0.+1: 2"3"4 %5'+'/)6)+(1, 7"8"9 %:.;(<'*) 5'+'/)6)+(1: Softwaie
Piocess
ueneial Teims: Nanagement, Buman Factois
Auuitional Key Woius anu Phiases: Agile, Patteins, value Systems, Softwaie Bevelopment, Softwaie Pioject Nanagement
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Pechau, }. 2u12. "Rafting the Agile Wateifall" - value baseu Conflicts of agile Softwaie Bevelopment
1. INTR0B0CTI0N ANB 0vERvIEW
Agile software development projects executed in a non-trivial and generally non-agile project environment often
struggle to succeed, even if the framework conditions (stakeholders experiences, skills) are good. This is often related
to conflicts arising from agile values clashing with non agile cultures.

This article is a result of my research regarding patterns of value based conflicts of agile software development
projects in non-trivial project environments, e.g. as a sub project as part of larger project. The research question arose
form observations made in a number of case studies.

To introduce the terms: With agile software development projects I am referring to projects accomplished using agile
methods like XP [Bec05]) or Scrum [Sch01], hence methods referring to the agile Manifesto [Fow01]. Software
development projects are almost never free of a context. They will be conducted in project environments of varying
complexity. [DIN09] defines a project environment as: The environment in which the project begins and will be
accomplished A non trivial project environment is a context e.g. a project with many sub projects, or an
organization.

Values are the determining element of a culture. They define meaning and purpose within a group, community etc.
and define the measure, directing our actions and enabling us to evaluate different means of acting. [Cop04] writes:
Thus, the values of an organization are the foundation of not only what is done, but also how it is done. The choice
of methods and tools is an expression of the value systems of an individual, a team, an organization etc. This applies
to software development as well as to any other discipline. Opposing value systems are accountable for structural
conflicts. This might not always be obvious nor have an immediate solution. It means we have to take underlying
value systems into account when working in larger contexts.

Authoi's auuiess: }. Pechau, Authoi's auuiess: }. Pechau, 0niveisitt Bambuig, Fachbeieich Infoimatik, Softwaie-Technologie, vogt-Kolln-
Stiae Su, 22S27 Bambuig, ueimany }. Pechau, I.C.N.B umbB, Schauenbuigeistiae 111, B-24118 Kiel, ueimany; email:
jpechauacm.oig, jopicnh.ue

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1

Agile development has hit the mainstream [Wes10] and almost all agile projects are conducted in non-trivial project
environments. At this point different cultures meet and interact thus different value systems faces each other. These
interactions can refer to economical, technological, functional, organizational or communicational aspects.

Agile methods are self-referential (and so are typical project management standards). The literature supposes an
enterprise to transform itself into an agile organisation as crucial factor of success. There is little help to be found in
the literature, what can be done, if an agile project cannot influence or change its project environment. There is little
guidance, what can be done to identify and handle aforementioned interactions and interferences.

Still, an agile project in such a context cannot avoid the described area of conflict.

My approach integrates agile software development, value based conflicts, and project environments, by describing
the identified problems and solutions as patterns. My point of view is that of an agile software development project,
working in a non-trivial project environment, which I cannot influence or change in a significant way. Part of this
environment are the value systems of other person and organizations, which makes it imperative to examine the agile
values as well.

2. A0BIENCE
The intended audience of this article and of the described pattern approach are people who apply agile methods within
non trivial project environments as well as people who want to introduce agile methods in non agile organizations. It
addresses people who are working in a non-agile context and who have to interact with agile teams or to integrate
agile methodology into their set of methodologies, and who want to understand potential conflicts arising out of this.
In terms of roles the pattern should be of interest to agile team members in general, project managers, managers
concerned with projects.

3. TBE PATTERNS
So fai I have founu a numbei of patteins of value-baseu conflicts, anu I am woiking on auuitional patteins
about value conflicts of agile piojects in non-agile enviionments. Foi this papei I have pickeu thiee pattein:
,0sing Planning Constiaints", ,Consiuei Pioject Nanagement as Asset", anu ,0pen 0p Communication". These
thiee covei thiee typical aieas of afoie mentioneu conflicts: Planning, Nonitoiing & Contiol, anu
Communication within in a pioject. These patteins aie pait of a pattein language as woik in piogiess to be
publisheu in futuie publications.

The patteins themselves can be categoiizeu as oiganizational |Copu4j oi piocess pattein |Amb98j. Ny
pattein foimat auuiesses the immeuiate solution appioach in a section calleu ,Solution". Since these conflicts
have theii ioot causes in unueilying conflicting value systems, I split the solution into "Shoit Teim Solution" to
captuie what can be uone foi impiovement of the pioblem at hanu anu ,Long Teim Solution" to auuiess the
pioblems coie itself: The "Long Teim Solutions" section uesciibes how to woik on the unueilying value
conflicts.


4. 0SINu PLANNINu C0NSTRAINTS



Fig. 1. "At a certain point, waterfall project development models force us to stop becoming smarter.
Jesper Rnn-Jensen

4.1 Context
An agile team has to woik in a classical phase oiienteu pioject enviionment. This enviionment wants to
impose theii phase oiienteu pioject management stanuaiu on the agile pioject.

4.2 Example
In a well known laige meuia company the opeiating uepaitment outsouiceu paits of theii web site ielaunch to
an exteinal contiactoi. The uepaitment askeu the pioject to be iun with Scium anu XP as pait of the oveiall
ielaunch pioject. Still the company pioject management stanuaiu as uesciibeu in the PNBoK (Pioject
Nanagement Bouy of Knowleuge |PNIu4j) hau to be applieu.
In a fiist appioach the uepaitment issueu a ,pio foima" pioject plan foi the agile pioject, to satisfy the
company uemanu to follow theii pioject management stanuaiu. This plan then was ignoieu happily evei aftei
by the agile team anu the uepaitment. The uepaitment was happy with the piogiess, nevei the less this
appioach leu to a couple of pioblems: Bepenuencies to the oveiall pioject weie foigotten, the uepaitment was
unable to communicate piogiess to the management, the status of the agile pioject iemaineu unknown outsiue
the pioject cieating mistiust.
As a ieaction senioi management assigneu a pioject managei ceitifieu in phase oiienteu pioject management
Stanuaius (PNI, PRINCE2 |PiiuSj) to the agile pioject. Be implementeu a stiict phase oiienteu pioject
management, making change iequests a challenging enueavoi. Be effectively put a stop to any means of self
oiganizeu woik. As a consequence the foimeily agile team acteu in a ,You saiu it, you got it." mannei, but not in
the best customei inteiest.

4.S Pioblem
Imposing the phase oiienteu toolkit ,as is" on an agile pioject, effectively puts a stop to agile woik, theiefoie:
Bow can a ,classical" phase oiienteu pioject plan be cieateu, which enables pioject management to uelivei
meaningful piognosis of time, cost, anu uepenuencies, without taking away an agile piojects leeway, which is
neeueu, to woik customei centiic anu to embiace changes.

4.4 Foices

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A Scium team neeus to focus in uetail on the next spiint. What goes beyonu that is pait of the ielease planning
anu usually less uetaileu. But: Pioject management uepenus on long-teim planing to pieuict the time anu cost
neeu to execute a pioject.
In classical pioject management appioaches, a pioject plan is the key aitifact foi pioject managei when
executing, monitoiing anu contiolling a pioject. The pioject plan plays a cential iole in communication with
stakeholueis. In most cases majoi stakeholueis aie awaie of basic classical pioject management techniques,
anu theiefoie expecting a tiauitional pioject plan.
The geneial appioach of phase oiienteu pioject management is to upfiont cieate a uetaileu pioject plan. This is
baseu on a so calleu woik bieakuown stiuctuie |BINu9j useu to piecisely estimate the effoit of each woik
item. Finally to iuentify the uepenuencies between them anu to aiiange the woik items accoiuing to piojects
goals anu time line.
Agile methous uo not iely on uetaileu long-teim pioject plans. Inteiaction with the customei is at the heait of
theii appioach. This way they tiiggei fiequent change on puipose. A uetaileu upfiont plan pioves of little value
to the agile team: Theie is an oveiall goal foi the pioject, but the uetails how to achieve it, will be uefineu in a
constant uialog between team anu customei.
This uoes not imply the absence of planning when using agile appioaches: 0n aveiage the planning effoit in
agile anu non agile piojects aie the same. Theie is less uetaileu upfiont planning. 0n the othei siue moie effoit
is put into a continuous shoit teim planning.

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Woiking agile, an agile team embiaces change. Eaily customei involvement makes suie, that iequiiements aie
aujusteu to customei neeus an a iegulai basis. This makes it uifficult to come up with uetaileu long teim
pieuictions. AB(@ In spite of possibly changing iequiiements, pioject management has to make suie, that a
pioject is executeu within given time anu cost constiaints anu has to come up with a woiking long time plan.
A company has to hanule cost anu iisk, but theie is no such thing as ,agile contiolling". Pioject management
stanuaius focus on economics anu on ways to measuie piogiess anu to take actions. Classical appioaches aie
supposeu to pioviue an eaily anu exact statement of cost anu uuiation of a pioject, to minimize iisk, by
iuentifying upfiont what to come. 0pon execution, it is the pioject plan which uefines what to uo when anu in
which oiuei. Theiefoie changes to the plan shoulu be the exception anu aie hanuleu by special foimal
piocesses.
Agile appioaches aim to optimize the customei value anu taking change as a chance foi impiovement anu not a
iisk to the plan. In most cases it is time boxeu woik, meaning it will be as much woik completeu as can be uone
in a piojects time fiame. The goal of an agile pioject is cleai, but the scope can be volatile. This makes it haiu to
tiack it in a classical way.

4.S Shoit Teim Solution
Stay abstiact when integiating agile anu oveiall planning. Befine constiaints foi the agile pioject, by agieeing
with the agile team on the goals of the agile pioject anu captuiing exteinal uepenuencies. That is uepenuencies
to othei piojects, teams, oi oveiall milestones. Auu the agile piojects scope to the oveiall scope. Leave the
uetaileu planning to the agile team.
In uetail:
Captuie the agile piojects goals as usei stoiies, oi moie abstiact e.g. as epics if using Scium.
The agile teams anu pioject management neeus to iuentify uepenuencies to the pioject enviionment
with iegaius to content anu timing. 0veiall piojects availability of iesouices, piioiities, anu
uepenuencies will become invaiiants of the agile piojects ielease plan.
All agile piojects goals without exteinal uepenuencies can ,float" fieely in theii ielease plan.
The agile team neeus to pioviue an oveiall iough assessment of theii piojects goals, if they consiuei
them feasible given oveiall piojects constiaints, without going into a uetaileu planning.
0veiall pioject management tiacks the agile piojects goals with exteinal uepenuencies since it is the
planning inteiface between the agile pioject anu its pioject enviionment.
0veiall pioject management tiacks the scope of the agile piojects. This can be uone by using ielease
buinuowns as measuie anu paiticipating in ieviews. Fiom an outsiue view it is not impoitant when
anu in what oiuei goals without any exteinal uepenuency aie achieveu. It is only impoitant that they
aie uone in a way, that customei satisfaction can be achieveu anu the agile pioject stays within the
oveiall pioject plans constiaints.
Foi classical pioject management this means, oveiall planning iemains with iegaius to the agile
pioject on a moie abstiact level as useu to in classical pioject management.
The pioject managei has to be involveu as one auuitional agile piojects stakeholuei. Be is iesponsible
to negotiate the invaiiants with the agile team anu to finu out about the feasibility.
The agile team woiks as useu to. It's hishei task to uiscuss changes with the pioject managei if
pioject constiaints might be enuangeieu.
Shoit-teim planning will be hanuleu by the agile team.

4.6 Long Teim Solution
At fiist hanu this might seem to be a conflict of methous like Scium vs. PNBoK, which have not been uesigneu
to play along nicely. Since the choice of tools anu piocesses aie an expiession of the unueilying value system of
an oiganization |Copu4j, it boils uown to this conflicting value sets:

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With the shoit teim solution, we uefineu constiaints, so the agile pioject knows its bounuaiies anu inteifaces
to the oveiall pioject, but still has enough ioom to woik agile. To make this woik in the long teim we neeu to
builu up tiust into this appioach. As an agile team we have to take into account stakeholueis who aie useu to
plans to be followeu anu seeking foi stability.
To auuiess this, the agile team continuously pioviues measuies to show that the oveiall pioject plan cieateu,
left enough cleaiance to woik agile foi the agile pioject, but still piojects constiaints weie kept anu how much
piogiess was maue.
If woiking with Scium (if not, similai measuies neeu to be uefineu) the team shaies its velocity anu its
buinuown chaits to show piogiess on a spiint anu on a ielease level. Knowing the teams velocity allows a
piognosis if the scope still is feasible. Shaiing the piouuct backlog gives an impiession about the uegiee of
completion. At the enu of each spiint, constiaints can be ievieweu anu checkeu if they have been met, if anu
how much change in the oveiall pioject weie causeu by the agile pioject.
To auuiess the neeus of the agile team, at the enu of each iteiation iesults will be ievieweu anu appioveu by
the customei. The pioject managei shoulu be inviteu to this. The outcome of the ieview might cause change,
but uoes not automatically enuangeis pioject milestones, if pioject constiaints uo not concein the intenueu
change. Seconuly the agile team shoulu peifoim some means of ietiospective, to check if they hau enough
cleaiance to woik agile.
Baving agieeu to oveiall pioject constiaints as an agile team, we ,follow" these constiaints without having to
follow a uetaileu plan. We can show, even woiking agile, the pioject to be kept stable, as long as we uo not have
to touch the essentials.

4.7 Example Resolveu
As a iesult of completing the pioject almost in time anu buuget, but not having been accepteu by the
uepaitment, the companies senioi management, pioject management togethei with an expeit in agile anu non
agile pioject management cieateu a planning piocess as uesciibeu above. Senioi management ueciueu to give
it at tiy foi a numbei of thiee spiints.
The agile piojects scope was tiackeu on a level of usei stoiies. A tool was useu to captuie the agile piojects
planning anu monitoiing aitifacts to giant pioject management easy access to the agile piojects state. The
ielease plans itself was integiateu into the oveiall pioject plan by auuing the impoitant milestones to it. The
scope was tiackeu on a epic level. This pioviueu an inteiface to the pioject managei to focus on uepenuencies
anu to tiack scope. The Piouuct ownei fiom the uepaitment hau to get useu to incoipoiate exteinal
uepenuencies, but the scium mastei was a constant ieminuei foi him to uo so. Eveiy two weeks piouuct
ownei anu pioject managei checkeu the uepenuencies anu scope anu uiscusseu actions. The pioject managei
attenueu the ieview meetings so he got a fiist hanu iuea of customei satisfaction anu the quality of piogiess.
Buiing that time, only one uepenuency coulu not be met in time. This was uetecteu within the fiist spiint anu 4
weeks befoie uue uate. Bue to the appioach of ,floating" stoiies, the ielease plan coulu be aujusteu without
fuithei implications to the oveiall plan. The management paiticipateu in agile piojects ieviews. Customei
satisfaction was high again. The pioject managei became one of the biggest piomotei of this appioach, since he
goat bettei iesults with less woik.

4.8 Consequences
A)+);0(C@ This appioach enables pioject managei to execute anu tiack a pioject plan anu the agile team to be
customei centiic. Change management is an integial pait of this. The pioject plan itself is stable, since changes
only occui if pioject constiaints aie violateu. The pioject scope might change in uetail, but since the customei
is pait of the appioach, he will be awaie of it, as well as of the consequences. In piinciple a typical agile
appioach like Scium can be inteifaceu with a phase oiienteu appioach, on the cost of anothei stakeholuei to be
incluueu, anu shaiing of infoimation.
D0'E0F0(0)C@ This appioach neeus mutual tiust. Tiust fiom pioject management to keep out of uetails but
tiusting that still the woik will be uone. Tiust fiom the agile team, that the pioject managei will let them woik
self ueteimineu. To gain tiust, it can help to tiy this combineu appioach foi a numbei of iteiations at fiist. If it
uoes not woik, foi what ieason evei, the pioject coulu be continueu in a phase oiienteu appioach, without
having wasteu effoit.
Agile expeits might aigue, that this is not agile any moie. This uepenus on the abstiaction level chosen, anu
amount of uepenuencies to be consiueieu by the agile pioject. A high level of abstiaction anu a small numbei of
uepenuencies cieates the most leeway foi an agile team.


5. C0NSIBER PR0}ECT NANAuENENT AN ASSET



Fig. 2. [..] it is that by allowing the team to self-organize, they are encouraged to fully own the problem.
Succeeding with Agile, Mike Cohn

S.1 Context
An agile team has to woik with an expeiienceu pioject management who feels the neeu to manage the team
although the team is capable anu wants to be self-oiganizeu.

S.2 Example
In meuium sizeu softwaie company foi a softwaie stanuaiu piouuct a veiy expeiienceu anu so fai successful
senioi pioject managei was iesponsible foi a poitfolio of paiallel piojects. 0ne of them was using XP anu
Scium. The team alieauy woikeu agile foi almost two yeais anu successfully ueliveieu seveial piojects. Agile
team anu senioi pioject managei woikeu togethei the fiist time.

Buiing stanuup, planning anu ieview meetings the senioi pioject managei was always piesent anu even if he
hau no iole in the agile team, he influenceu anu enfoiceu uecisions ovei the heau of the piouuct ownei, scium
mastei anu the agile team.

This leau to a team, that hesitateu to woik in a self oiganizeu mannei, since they expecteu the senioi pioject
managei to inteivene anyway. At the enu, the senioi pioject managei complaineu about incieaseu woikloau,
since pioblems weie not solveu within the pioject but ielayeu to him. The level of fiustiation was high on both
siues, the amount of woik completeu was small.

In ieaction to this, the senioi pioject managei began to micio manage the foimeily agile team. Since eveiy
small uecision neeueu appioval by the senioi pioject managei, each uecision took incieasingly longei, slowing
uown the pioject even fuithei. In ieaction to this the agile team flooueu the senioi pioject managei with moie
uecisions neeueu anu inquiiies about penuing uecisions thus shaipening the situation even moie.

At the enu, the pioject enueu up in a total stanustill. Some uevelopeis even left the company, since they weie
not able to woik agile. Both paities complaineu about each othei at senioi management.

S.S Pioblem
Bow uo we ensuie a pioject managei lets go of uiiectly managing an agile team anu lets them woik in a self-
oiganizeu way.

S.4 Foices

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Agile softwaie uevelopment iequiies a lot of shoit teim planning anu aujustment. Agile planning woiks best
when uone by people with ieasonable goou uomain knowleuge anu a goou unueistanuing of the unueilying
technology. AB(@ In a laigei context agile piojects aie opeiating in a complex enviionment, which cieates
constiaints beyonu scope anu knowleuge of the agile team. It is the pioject managements job to be awaie of it.

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Agile appioaches ask foi a high level of self oiganization. Agile teams woik best if they have a high level of self
ueteimineu woik, anu usually have a haiu time to accept being steeieu exteinally. AB(@ In a laigei pioject theie
aie moie things to consiuei, which a self oiganizeu agile team can fail to see. It neeus a lot of pioject
management expeiience to manage anu synchionize all stakeholueis anu sub piojects of a laige pioject.

Pioject manageis aie tiaineu to to manage. In classical pioject management stanuaius. Nanaging the oveiall
pioject means, they aie iesponsible foi the agile pioject as well. If not managing the agile pioject uiiectly, they
usually establish something like a sub pioject managei. This way oiientation can be pioviueu to the whole
pioject anu enfoice alignment. A stiict hieiaichy can be veiy effective anu fast instiument, e.g. uuiing a ciisis
when uecision have to maue fast.

0n the othei hanu, agile teams woiking in a self oiganizeu way, uon't neeu a pioject managei in the classical
meaning. They only neeu ,the powei" of a pioject managei, if uecisions have to be maue, outsiue the agile
piojects context. Self oiganizeu teams aie fault toleiant anu flexibly can ieact flexibly to changes. Since all team
membeis aie iesponsible foi the teams success, it's in eveiybouy's best inteiest to act autonomously anu not to
wait to be tolu what to be uone. Theiefoie self oiganizeu team can be moie successful, since the team can act
uiiectly baseu on knowleuge the pioject managei might not be awaie of, without the neeu to wait foi the
,chain of commanu".

S.S Shoit Teim Solution

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In uetail:
Agile team anu oveiall pioject management neeu to claiify fiamewoik conuitions like uepenuencies,
time oi buuget constiaints etc. foi the agile pioject.
Both neeu to agiee on agile pioject goals, basically piioiitizeu iequiiements within given fiamewoik
conuitions. Bow these goals can be founu oi agieeu upon see pievious pattein.
Agiee on SNART
1
goals, measuies anu checkpoints, how to monitoi anu contiol the piojects.
Pioject management obseives anu acts moie as coach, than like ,commanuing officei".
Pioject management ueciues if askeu to oi if it becomes necessaiy, uue to ieasons coming fiom the
pioject enviionment, outsiue the line of sight of the agile pioject.
If the pioject managei inteivenes, he explains - if possible - the neeu foi it.
The agile team woiks against the negotiateu anu shaieu goals on which it has committeu itself.
The agile team will call pioject management to ueciue on cases beyonu theii pioject.
To enable the pioject management to monitoi the agile pioject so it has chance to inteivene when
neeueu, the agile team woiks tianspaiently anu infoims pioactively.

1

1
:pecific 5easuiable =ccepteu ,ealistic Gimely |Boi81j

This ieaus similai to ,Nanagement by 0bjectives" |BiuS4j, but in this case it is useu, to uefine a woiking
ielationship with iights anu obligations between a team anu pioject management.

S.6 Long Teim Solution
Noving fiom exteinal- to self-ueteimineu woik as uesciibeu in the shoit-teim solution, only woiks in long
teim, if the unueilying value conflict aie auuiesseu:

>.15-"+(2'&F2,&"' 3%4 <"+@&'( ," .%,271&%* ,*. *&.+2+#*9

The agile team might neeu to change its unueistanuing of pioject management fiom being the outsiue
managei, often inteifeiing anu being iestiictive with self oiganization, to being a valuable ally, which not only
uefines the agile piojects fiamewoik conuitions but is capable to change it.

The agile team neeus to point out, that the hieiaichy anu thus the authoiity of the pioject managei is not
challengeu if a team woiks self oiganizeu. The hieiaichy will not enu in itself, but becomes a helpful asset:
Pioject management will be actively accesseu, if the agile team neeus uecisions to be taken, the team cannot
make on theii own. Pioject management takes caie of the fiamewoik conuitions, theii teams aie woiking in.
They enable the teams to woik piouuctive. At the enu, pioject management still has the final woiu, but iueally
iaiely neeus to use it.

Nanaging a team in a hieiaichical way pievents a team fiom woiking self oiganizeu, thus taking them out of
the iesponsibility to ieach the piojects goals. The unueistanuing of leaueiship neeus to be changeu to
uelegation anu team enablei. It is not the pioject manageis job, to plan anu think foi agile team. If the agile
team woiks self oiganizeu, the pioject managei gains auuitional cleaiance itself, since his uiiect involvement
will be calleu foi less often.

This is not easy to achieve anu it most likely neeus exteinal coaching. The team anu pioject management neeus
someone neutial obseiving them anu pointing out, wheie the obseiveu behavioi contiauicts the intenueu
change. Foi this a woiking feeuback cultuie neeus to be achieveu, which in piinciple shoulu be familiai to the
agile team. Still giving mutual feeuback spanning hieiaichy levels usually is unfamiliai anu neeus tiaining anu
coaching as well.

S.7 Example Resolveu
Aftei escalation to senioi management it was ueciueu not to simply change peisonal but to woik on impioving
the unueistanuing of self-oiganization, since they valueu the employees involveu, but iecognizeu the benefits
of self oiganization.

Theiefoie a coach was involveu to woik on a mutual unueistanuing of the concepts of self oiganization anu the
unueistanuing of agile appioaches. To ieach bioau acceptance, the whole uevelopment uepaitment
paiticipateu in agile euucation, with a stiong focus on self oiganization. The whole company was tiaineu in
giving anu ieceiving feeuback at eye level.

Foi the pioject at hanu, senioi pioject managei togethei with senioi management anu some uevelopeis
expeiienceu in agile methous, agieeu on joineu pioject goals. The senioi pioject managei useu his expeiience
in management by objectives, anu auopteu it to steei the agile pioject. Theiefoie he uefineu the measuies
when anu how he will tiack piogiess, but kept out of the uetails. Since the senioi pioject managei was a stiong
chaiactei anu olu habits take long to change, an inuepenuent anu expeiienceu scium mastei was establisheu,
coming fiom a uiffeient iepoiting line, who was able to achieve uiscipline in following this appioach on both
siues.

In the enu this leau to a uecieaseu woikloau foi the senioi pioject managei, since the team took caie of its
agile piojects pioblems. Aftei half a yeai, the iecognition of the senioi pioject managei changeu fiom being
hieiaichical anu iestiictive to being suppoitive anu a welcome mentoi.

S.8 Consequences
A)+);0(C@ It is possible to make self oiganizeu woik in a hieiaichical enviionment. Self oiganizeu woik
incieases the chance of piojects goals to be achieveu, since it is not the goal of few, but in the iesponsibility of
many.

D0'E0F0(0)C@ This appioach only woiks, when paiticipants act voluntaiily. Theie is little to no chance to change
a peisons attituue against theii will. Wheie ietaining powei anu uiiect influence ovei as many teams oi people
as possible aie uiiving factois, theie will be no motivation to change.

6. 0PEN 0P C0NN0NICATI0N



Fig. 3. "I need to know everything! How else can I judge whether or not I need to know it?
Sir Humphrey, Yes, Prime Minister, Episode: Man Overboard

6.1 Context
An agile team woiks in an enviionment wheie the flow of infoimation geneially is contiolleu.

6.2 Example
In a laige-scale pioject to implement haiu- anu softwaie to be useu in a health caie scenaiio in Austiia, a
softwaie uevelopment team wanteu to woik accoiuing to XP, in which they hau a positive tiack iecoiu.

Since this pioject hau to take caie of sensible infoimation anu intellectual piopeity which hau to be kept
confiuential the oveiall pioject management hau a veiy iigoious communication plan establisheu, to contiol
the flow of infoimation. The communication plan geneially stipulateu to ask foi pioject management appioval
befoie contacting customei oi customei uepaitments uiiectly oi even some othei sub piojects. In geneial
almost all piojects paiticipants woikeu on a stiict ,neeu to know" basis.

This effectively sloweu uown the agile team, since they weie not able to establish shoit feeuback cycles by
having an onsite customei foi constant appioval.

To ciicumvent this, the communication plan was ignoieu by the agile team. Foi a biief peiiou of time it speu up
the agile team. At the enu it leau into tiouble, although no haim weie uone, when pioject management became
awaie of it anu ieacteu haishly.
6.S Pioblem
Bow can an agile team be pioviueu with infoimation anu communication channels neeueu to be self oiganizeu,
whilst auuiessing the neeu foi infoimation anu contiol by the oveiall pioject management.

6.4 Foices

G$,"'"/"$% 8.#&%&"' /2@&'( 3%4 #"',+"1 &'5"+/2,&"'

Woiking as self oiganizeu agile team neeus fast anu open access to infoimation, to be able to autonomously
ueciue quickly how to achieve the agile piojects goals best. If a spiint only takes two weeks, waiting foi uays
foi infoimation coulu jeopaiuize the agile piojects success. AB(@ Pioject management often tiies to contiol
infoimation oi the flow of it. The ieason foi contiol can be manifolu: To ensuie confiuentiality, to contiol cost,
since communication can be expensive, to assuie the uistiibution of infoimation he neeus, oi even to ietain
powei.

Classical pioject management stanuaius like |PNBoK, PRINCE 2j ,plan" communication anu the oiganization of
infoimation. Communication anu the flow of communication iauiates fiom anu to pioject management. The
goal is to enable the pioject management to manage the pioject on a basis of up to uate infoimation anu to act
on it.

62+19 5..872#@ 3%4 .A0.#,2,&"' /2'2(./.',

Feeuback uiiven uevelopment ielies on a high uegiee of customei collaboiation anu theiefoie communication.
Communication is key foi eaily feeuback to be able to claiify implementation uetails on shoit teim to assuie
the agile pioject is heauing in the iight uiiection. AB(@ Communication foi intense customei collaboiation
iequiies a ceitain cultuie in the pioject enviionment: the willingness to collaboiate, to communicate anu to
shaie infoimation. Being willing anu able to offei honest feeuback, even on eaily stages of woik. If theie is only
limiteu willingness, open communication finus it limits. If this cultuie is not given, communication becomes a
uifficult piocess focussing on managing expectations.

6.S Shoit Teim Solution

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In uetail:
0veiall Pioject Nanagement neeus to issue above giounu iules.
Pioject Nanagement neeus to pioviue guiuelines, what shoulu be tieateu confiuentially anu how
confiuential infoimation shoulu be maikeu anu hanuleu, e.h. how to tieat copies, how to uocument
access, wheie to stoie uata etc.
Pioject Nanagement neeus to uefine simple iules, when anu how they want to be infoimeu.
Pioject Nanagement shoulu pioviue contact peison, if infoimation has to be channeleu e.g. uue to cost
oi secuiity constiaints.
Agiee on funuamental iules like ,What's not maikeu confiuentially, can be hanuleu fieely."
The agile teams neeus to pioviue tianspaiency about ongoing uiscussions, by inviting pioject
management to obseive oi even paiticipate.
To avoiu an infoimation oveiloau on pioject management siue the agile team shoulu cleaily maik
which infoimation is ,FYI" only anu foi which the agile team expects a ieaction
The agile team neeus to inteinalize the giounu iules anu check if all team membeis aie awaie of it,
since they aie tiusteu to behave accoiuingly when in fiequent uiscussions with theii customeis.
Both neeu to assess the communication plan on a iegulai basis, if still valiu.

6.6 Long Teim Solution
0n a top level, this is simply a mattei of how to oiganize communication within a pioject. 0n a ueepei level, it
auuiesses a value conflict: Agile appioaches aie asking foi tianspaiency in classical pioject management
appioaches the contiol paiauigm applies:

I+2'%02+.'#9 3%4 ;"',+"1

To solve this, both paities neeu to open up theii communication.

To fiee pioject management of the feai of losing contiol, the agile team neeus to communicate fiequently anu
compiehensive. Even if it is not ieally neeueu, it shoulu incoipoiate oi at least offei pioject management
oppoitunities to be infoimeu to show, that nothing ,uangeious" oi ,mysteiious" is happening.

This active communication shall show, that communication happens with othei pioject stakeholueis mainly
anu is neeueu. Paits of the planning effoit, which happens upfiont in classical appioaches, now takes place
uuiing the ongoing pioject anu theiefoie neeus communication. This way it can be shown, that theie is not a
loss of contiol but a gain in qualifieu infoimation, which usually cannot be achieveu by common means of
classical pioject iepoiting piocesses anu tools.

The agile team neeus to unueistanu, that tianspaiency of the agile team towaius pioject management is
neeueu, to enable the pioject management to jump into uiscussion oi act on uecisions maue by the team, in
geneial to enable them to inteiact, inteivene, oi suppoit the agile team.

The pioject management has to get iiu of theii feai of losing contiol. Establishing simple guiuelines anu taking
caie of a positive list of contacts anu infoimation uefines a smallei numbei of objects to be monitoieu.
Pioviuing some giounu iules anu guiuelines, makes the communication plan a shaieu iesponsibility. This can
be uone in small obseivables steps, so it can be monitoieu if the new giounu iules aie woiking.

If the agile team communicates tianspaiently anu pioactively towaius pioject management, e.g. by pioviuing
access to actual chaits as pait of the oveiall piojects iepoiting anu inviting them to iegulai meetings, it
auuiesses the feai of not knowing what is going on.

6.7 Example Resolveu
The situation was uiscusseu by the pioject management team. Aftei unueistanuing, what agile uevelopment
was about, at fiist foi the agile pioject the communication iules weie changeu. They pioviueu a simple set of
examples, how to assess the level of confiuentiality anu how much effoit spent into communication woulu be
acceptable. They establisheu a simple filing solution incluuing an access contiol, so eveiybouy knew how to
hanule the infoimation.

Aftei two month of monitoiing communication veiy closely anu leaining, that the teams hanuleu infoimation
in a iesponsible way, the communication plan of the oveiall pioject was auopteu. In uoing this all teams weie
enableu anu took a huge woikloau of lots of supeifluous uecisions fiom the oveiall pioject management. At the
enu only few uocuments neeueu to be kept secuie, making it easy to contiol the access anu no bieach of
secuiity was uetecteu. The iules how much effoit to be spent in communication simply was uioppeu.

Aftei all, the oveiall pioject management felt moie in contiol then befoie anu the the agile uevelopment team
was able to woik in customei centeieu way.

6.8 Consequences
A)+);0(C@ With establishing this giounu iules agile teams aie enableu to ueciue on theii own, how to hanule
infoimation. It speeus up uecision making. Baving only few iules to be monitoieu, ieuuces effoit foi pioject
management. Same applies if an agile team knows can ueciue on its own when anu how to communicate anu
what infoimation coulu be shaieu.

D0'E0F0(0)C@ This appioach only woiks if theie is a willingness to communicate at all.

7. S0NNARY ANB NEXT STEPS
value baseu conflicts aie challenging, because iesolution iequiies a change of attituue of all paiticipants. This
takes time anu asks foi an intense change management. In geneial, most long teim solution at least as one
aspect aie tiying to builu up tiust into the shoit teim solution. Tiust is the funuamental value.The patteins aim
to show agile teams woiking piofessionally with enough flexibility to woik agile. Auuiessing only the
supeificial most obvious conflicts, e.g. conflicting stanuaius oi conflict ovei iesouices pioviues only a
tempoiaiy solution. Bowevei foi us as agile uevelopei in laigei anu complex enviionments it is not always
possible to have sustainable influence on the ioot causes of the value conflicts expeiienceu.

The uesciibeu appioach can help on thiee level: Fiistly in iecognizing anu unueistanuing the ioot causes of the
conflicts expeiienceu, to involve this unueistanuing in oui actions. Seconuly, to pioviue au hoc solutions, to
tackle the conflicts unueistanuing the ioot cause. Anu finally to point out what neeu to be changeu foi a
sustainable solution - if possible.

Futuie woik will investigate, if anu how value conflicts, which cannot be solveu in a ,win-win" way, can be
auuiesseu. Fuitheimoie I have not yet captuieu all obseiveu conflicts as pattein canuiuates anu evaluateu
accoiuing the ,iule of thiee".

Finally I will continue the ieseaich foi auuitional value baseu conflicts. Baving saiu this, I am inteiesteu in any
feeuback iegaiuing the valiuity of the pattein founus, youi own expeiiences, oi known uses of the pattein you
might have encounteieu.

8. ACKN0WLEBuNENTS
Thanks to Anuieas Rping foi his gieat shepheiuing anu thanks to my woikshop gioup at EuioPLoP 2u11 foi
gieat feeuback.

REFERENCES
|Amb98j Amblei, S. 1998, =+"#.%% =2,,.+', Cambiiuge 0niveisity Piess
|BecuSj Beck, K., Anueis, C. 2uuS, 6A,+./. =+"(+2//&'( 6A012&'.8, 2nu Euition, Auuison-Wesley
|Copu4j Coplien, }., Baiiison N. 2uu4, J+(2'&F2,&"'21 =2,,.+'% "5 G(&1. >"5,<2+. ?.3.1"0/.',, Pientice Ball
|Copu4-1j Coplien, }., Baiiison, B. 2uu4, J+(2'&F2,&"'21 =2,,.+'% "5 G(&1. >"5,<2+. ?.3.1"0/.',, Pientice Ball, pp.S11
|BINu9j ?DK LMMNO-P =+"C.@,/2'2(./.',Q =+"C.@,/2'2(./.',%9%,./.Q R.(+&55., Beutsches Institut fi Noimung e. v., 1.2uu9, geiman
|Boi81j Boian, ueoige T. 1981, Theie's a S.N.A.R.T. way to wiite management's goals anu objectives. in S2'2(./.', :.3&.<E volume 7u,
Issue 11(ANA F0R0N), pp. SS-S6
|BiuS4j Biuckei P. 19S4, I*. =+2#,&#. "5 S2'2(./.',. Baipei & Row, New Yoik 19S4
|Fowu1j Fowlei N.,Bighsmith, }. 2uu1, The Agile Nanifesto. In >"5,<2+. ?.3.1"0/.',, August 2uu1
|PNIu4j G T$&8. ," ,*. =+"C.#, S2'2(./.', R"89 "5 U'"<1.8(. V=SRJUW T$&8.X Y I*&+8 68&,&"'. Pioject Nanagement Institute, 2uu4
|PiiuSj S2'2(&'( >$##.%%5$1 =+"C.#,% <&,* =:DK;6Z, TS0, 2uuS
|Schu1j Schwabei, K., Beeule, N. 2uu1, G(&1. >"5,<2+. ?.3.1"0/.', <&,* >#+$/4 Pientice Ball
|Wes1uj West, B., uiant, T., ueiush, N., B'Silva, B. 2u1u, G(&1. ?.3.1"0/.',[ S2&'%,+.2/ G8"0,&"' \2% ;*2'(.8 G(&1&,9, Foiiestei Reseaich

C0PYRIuBT N0TICES
Figuie 1: "iafting" by monikomau - flicki (no ieal name pioviueu) unuei a Cieative Commons License (CC AT SA 2.u)
Figuie 2: "Busy Spiint" by Biew Stephens (uiegstephens - flicki) unuei a Cieative Commons License (CC AT SA 2.u)
Figuie S: "Question Naik" by Kaien Eliot (flicki) unuei a Cieative Commons License (CC AT SA 2.u)