S T O R Y B O A R D
Introduction
This is a storyboard for a game suggested to the members of the DanishAgileUserGroup.
Everyone is invited to enter comments or suggestions.
The idea of conducting a game is to activate all members of our user group meetings instead of having one member present a business case while the rest listens passively. We believe that having the whole group participate in this kind of exercise will be more work, but also more mind-expanding.
The goal of the game is to let the participants solve a complex problem in an environment that is governed by quality management (or any protocol that the surroundings imposes on the project team). This, I hope, will lead the participants to reflect on how to deliver excellent software rapidly while managing quality, and possibly come up with new ideas and solutions.
HenrikThomsen
Players
The Customer:
- Needs a “Quality Management Tool”
The Quality Inspector:
- Wants to see the Process Description
- Wants to inspect the Audit Trail
The Project Teams:
- 2-4 teams of 4-6 people
- Needs to build the “Quality Management Tool”
- Needs to define a software process for doing so
The Facilitator:
- Helps out if the teams get stuck using the development environment
Requirements For The Quality Management Tool
- It shall be possible to enter information about a Software Process (i.e. Process, Roles, Activities, Techniques, Tools, Work Products (deliverables), Standards, etc.)
- Information shall be brief; referrals can be made to detailed protocols (i.e. a book describing a technique or a document describing a coding standard)
- It shall be possible to print a Process Description for the Quality Inspector
- Reviews and Approval Procedures must be stated clearly in the Process Description
- It shall be possible to print a Job Description for each defined role in the Software Process (i.e. Customer, Project Manager, Analyst, Developer, Test Engineer, etc.)
Defining A Software Process
As a minimum, the software process must deal with the following activities:
- Philosophy
- Goal
- Requirements (and Customer Involvement)
- Planning (and Team Organisation)
- Design – Implementation – Test
Rules
Preparations
Duration
In order to complete the game the teams must:
- Build a Quality Management Tool
- The tool must pass Acceptance Test with the Customer
- The team must pass an Audit with the Quality Inspector
Acceptance Test
- The Customer must be able to enter the Software Process that the team has defined into the Quality Management Tool. The Customer must be able to print a Process Description and Job Descriptions.
Audit
- The Quality Inspector must approve the Process Description and verify that the team has followed the Process. Reviews / Approval Procedures and Deliverables must be documented and marked with author and time.
And the winner is...
- If more than one team completes the tool and passes both Acceptance Test and Audit, the Customer will decide on the winning product.
Tips
- It is more likely that the team will complete the task in time using a simple (lightweight) process rather than a high-ceremony process
- The team must keep the product very simple in order to complete the task in time
- An overly simplistic solution may be out-competed by one of the other teams
- Be careful to build exactly what to customer is looking for. Building more than is required will work against you
- Remember that every work product defined in the chosen software process is under Quality Management. Missing even one document or a signature and time on the document means that the team doesn’t pass the audit
The Agile Quality Management Game