Flow

Hey there,

I'm Dimitrije, a Scrum Master, Lean-Agile Consultant, and Professional Kanban Trainer.

Over the past few years, I've assisted numerous teams and organizations in optimizing their value delivery process, making them more effective, efficient, and predictable.

What do these teams have in common?

They have abandoned:

• Story points for estimation
• Average velocity for sprint planning

Despite this, they:

• Deliver flawlessly on their promises
• Earn the trust of their stakeholders
• Receive feedback quickly and frequently
• Avoid working overtime
• Are not under pressure

It might sound like a fairy tale...

Because it is!

Now, you're probably wondering how we managed to achieve this?

Let's take a look:

My colleagues often tell me, "Dimi, you're Superman!"

However, I would disagree.

I am just an ordinary man.

A hardworking professional who loves his job and cares about his colleagues' success.

Just like you.

What sets me apart (at this point) is that I've learned some incredibly powerful things and strategies that have significantly enhanced the performance of my teams.

And I want to share them with you.

For free.

Because knowledge is the only entity that grows when shared.

These insights have been a game-changer for me and my teams, and I would be the happiest person if I could assist you in achieving the same in your environment.

If I had to pinpoint one thing essential to your journey to excellence, it would be: flow.

Always prioritize flow.

What is flow?

Flow, simply put, refers to the movement and delivery of customer value through a process.

In knowledge work, our primary objective is to deliver value to the customer.

Therefore, it follows that our entire process should be geared towards optimizing flow.

If your process is unpredictable, the first issue to explore is likely poor flow.

A clear indicator of suboptimal flow is a significant accumulation of work within your process, often referred to as a "queue." Large queues typically indicate a lack of flow.

Queues form when work items that have been initiated become stuck somewhere in your process without completion.

Items may become stuck due to various reasons:

• Insufficient resources available to continue working on them.
• Mandates from management to start new work before completing current tasks.
• Resources responsible for the work being pulled in multiple directions, hindering focus.
• Dependency on external teams or vendors.

Work may become stuck for these reasons and more.

Effective flow management often begins by addressing stuck work.

Unfortunately, your framework may overlook queues because you're not prompted to search for them initially.

If you're practicing Agile, you might assume that iterations or sprints shield you from large queues.

Although you may not directly observe these queues, you consistently experience their effects.

The most noticeable consequence is prolonged completion times.

Traditional project management responses to extended completion times may involve frequent project plan revisions, continuous resource reallocation, and imposing overtime on teams.

However, these actions not only fail to address the core issue but often exacerbate it.

What if we could identify these problems before they arise?

What if we could proactively prevent them?

This is where actionable metrics play a crucial role.

That wraps up this week's session.

In our next lesson, we'll delve into flow metrics and their correlations.

In the meantime, reflect on your flow process and share with me your primary challenge when it comes to delivering value.

I carefully review each email, and your input will greatly aid me in tailoring the most beneficial content for you.

Until our next interaction, warm regards,

Dimitrije