The value creation structure of the organization

This section of the portal is for supporting the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant Workshop (DAVSC), currently under development. Discussions on the pages here will take place on the Disciplined Agile LinkedIn group.

 

Back to Dealing with Complexity by Creating a Bias For Simplicity 

Why look at this

The value creation structure has a major impact on the flow of value st

How people are organized has a

When batch sizes are too large:

  • it causes people to be less effective
  • it causes delays in the workflow and in getting feedback which creates waste
  • it delays the realization of value
  • it makes it difficult to collaborate

Desired batch size by level:

  • being worked on by an individual (e.g., story) – less than three days
  • work in process for a team (e.g., team backlog) – less than 2 weeks
  • work in process for an organization – 1-3 months, the smaller the better

Symptoms that your batches are too large

  • People working on too many projects
  • Work taking much longer than it should
  • Projects being worked on by many people part time

What causes this

Common causes are:

  • not using minimum Business Increments
  • not developing in small increments
  • not managing dependencies between teams making it difficult to decompose what needs to be built

What we want to achieve

Working on small batches at the different parts of the value stream. At the intake part of the value stream we should be using MVPs and MBIs. At the program level, we should be having small components that can be built and validated. At the team level we should have as little work in process as possible while keeping people productive.

Common solutions

  • use MBIs to have smaller batches coming in
  • decouple teams so the total work in process can be lowered
  • have cross-functional and dedicated product teams so fewer items so batches coming in can be completed quickly
  • An essential one is using MBIs.
  • Create visibility on all work in the system
  • Right-size the work waiting to be started using MVPs, MBIs, and MVRs appropriately
  • Sequence work to be pulled
  • Create a focus on finishing (see Manage Work-in-Process (WIP) by Focusing on Finishing  for more

Other simplicity factors that are directly related to this one

  1. Batch size of work
  2. The value density of the items being worked on
  3. How workload relates to capacity
  4. The value creation structure of the organization
  5. Effectiveness/efficiency of the value streams
  6. Visibility of work and workflow 
  7. Quality of the product
  8. Culture of the organization

This chapter was an excerpt from FLEX for the Disciplined Agilist: FLow for Enterprise Transformation (online book). It has been edited to fit into the Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant workshop. The Table of Contents for the book is here.