LeSS Adoption Steps

Revision as of 18:35, 20 August 2015 by Clarman (talk | contribs)

What are the earliest steps in adopting LeSS? I recommend the following starting steps and points.

First, we recommend that the scope of the first LeSS adoption by no more than a medium-sized product group of "50 people." Do not widen the adoption! Keep focused in that 1 group for at least 6 months, and with lots of dedicated expert coaching, both organizational and technical. And in that group, really make the organizational design changes required by LeSS. No "fake Scrum" or "fake LeSS" that is often driven by Larman's Laws of Organizational Behavior.

I recommend starting with informed consent, and from the start explaining to the people involved in this consent that LeSS is an organizational design change, not a practice. And that is why informed consent and deep education amongst a senior management group is critical. And rather than trying to sell or push a LeSS adoption, I encourage a slow, deliberative education process in which the senior management stakeholders carefully and deeply learn the motivations, ideas, and organizational design change implications, all with a focus on why.

Some the activities I recommend during this phase include:

1. A set of particular readings that I advise.

2. (week-1 visit by me) Senior management (and other stakeholders) join with me in the Certified LeSS Practitioner or Certified LeSS for Executives course.

3. (week-1 visit by me) After the course, a 1-2 day workshop with me to exhaust all their specific questions about the implications, combined with advice on what product group to start with and some starting steps.

4. After I leave (to reduce bias and avoid rushing) the management team slow and deliberately discuss and then decide to go/stop with a first LeSS adoption for one group of "50" people. Combined with this, that the management team develop strong alignment, agreement, and support amongst themselves for this decision.

Next, for the first chosen medium-sized product group, we recommend lots of education, with a focus on why, before "flipping the system." And then we recommend applying volunteering as much as possible, so that the people that will participate in this first group are as much as possible enthusiastic and with energy for the change, rather than prisoners of the change.

There are several other adoption principles and steps that we recommend for the first LeSS adoption, but these outlined above are the key initial steps.