Professional Documents
Culture Documents
www.cspfastpass.com
1
EXERCISE
Instructions: read the statements below and mark with an “X” how closely your
personal experience matches the statements along a continuum of No, Somewhat or
Yes.
No Somewhat Yes
Now take a moment to watch two short videos which will share some ideas about
how to improve the liftoff process and how to design a liftoff meeting.
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APPLY YOUR LEARNING
Instructions: draw a line matching the liftoff elements with the benefits provided to
the Scrum Team members. After that is complete, circle the most important element of
liftoff.
Liftoff
Benefits Provided
Element
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Instructions: complete this short quiz based on the videos about liftoff and designing
the liftoff experience.
3. Why is it important to spend time establishing the core team during liftoff?
(a) Define each person’s responsibilities and any limits to their authority.
(b) Develop a list of assets required to successfully deliver the product.
(c) Clarify how the group’s collective work contributes to the larger goal.
(d) Identify who will give their undivided attention to the work.
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6. What are the two elements essential for EVERY successful liftoff?
(a) Passionate Product Owner with a clear vision and a skilled Development
Team committed to delivering value.
(b) Excellent facilitator who understands Scrum and Agile and a compelling
business need.
(c) Executive sponsor who actively supports liftoff and an understanding by
the organization that liftoff is not an empty ceremony.
(d) Engaged customers who care about the product and committed resources
to solve the problem.
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CONCLUSIONS
Instructions: as preparation for your next liftoff, take a few moments to identify,
analyze and map your stakeholders. Use the following definition of a stakeholder for
this activity.
Stakeholder: any person who is affected by the actions of the Scrum Team or has
influence over the way they work.
1. Who are the people who really care about this product (or service) under
development? Make a list of eight to twelve key stakeholders for this work effort.
Be sure you identify both specific people and groups.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Which of your stakeholders are the part of the Crowd, the Subjects and the
Context Setters? Who are the Players? Neatly and legibly map each of your
stakeholders from question #1 to one of the four quadrants in the Stakeholder
Mapping Worksheet. Upload your completed worksheet to the CSP Fast Pass site
for your instructor to review and give you feedback.
3. How will you interact with each of these stakeholders during the development
process? For each stakeholder you identified in question #1, neatly and legibly
write two to three short bullet points describing how you plan to interact with the
stakeholder in the Stakeholder Engagement Worksheet. Upload your completed
worksheet(s) to the CSP Fast Pass site for your instructor to review and give you
feedback.
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Interest
Stakeholder Mapping Worksheet
Subjects Players
Power
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Stakeholder Engagement Worksheet
Proposed Proposed
Stakeholder Stakeholder
Interactions Interactions
1 of _____
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
BOOKS
• Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams by Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies
• The New Why Teams Don’t Work: What Goes Wrong & How to Make it Right by
Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley
• Making Strategy: Mapping Out Strategic Success by Fran Ackermann and Colin
Eden
BLOGS
• Agile Team Charters - The Basics
https://www.alexandercowan.com/agile-team-charters-the-basics/
• Agile Chartering: A Summary of Key Activities Teams Can Use from Liftoff
http://www.codegenesys.com/agile-chartering-summary-key-activities-
teams-can-use-liftoff/
• Keys to Chartering an Agile Project
https://www.jrothman.com/articles_/2014/03/keys-to-chartering-an-agile-
project/
• 10 Tips for Product Owners on Stakeholder Management [or ScrumMasters!]
https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/10-tips-product-owners-stakeholder-
management
• Getting Stakeholder Engagement Right
https://www.romanpichler.com/blog/stakeholder-engagement-analysis-
power-interest-grid/
• Designing the Liftoff Experience Checklist
h t t p s : / / c s p f a s t p a s s . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 018 / 0 6 /
DesigningLiftoffChecklist.pdf
• Plans for Retrospectives (a resource for activities to use during liftoff)
https://plans-for-retrospectives.com/
• Trading Cards
http://gamestorming.com/trading-cards/
• Liftoff Visioning Techniques
h t t p s : / / c s p f a s t p a s s . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 018 / 0 6 /
VisioningTechniques.pdf
• Five Steps to Working Agreements for Scrum Teams
https://cspfastpass.com/2018/02/16/five-steps-to-working-agreements-for-a-
scrum-team/
• Two Quick & Easy Techniques for a Retrospective
h t t p s : / / c s p f a s t p a s s . c o m / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 018 / 0 6 /
TwoSimpleTechniques.pdf
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VIDEOS
• Project Liftoff (interview with both Diana Larsen & Ainsley Nies)
https://vimeo.com/176691516
• Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams (keynote by Diana Larsen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl_QxSCeIuU
• Agile Chartering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC5BaYmTmbw
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TECHNIQUE
Impact vs. Probability Chart
What are the most likely risks and opportunities before a group and their potential
impact on their shared work.
1. Post-it notes
2. Sharpies or pens
3. White board or chart paper
HOW TO DO THIS
In their desire to get started with the actual work, many teams just get started doing
the work without taking time to consider the risks (and opportunities) before them. In
the case of small, isolated products with small teams, that approach could work.
When teams work on large, complex, legacy products with many dependencies, that
approach is often misguided. Taking a few moments to survey the landscape often
reveals interesting obstacles and assumptions.
Begin this activity by handing each person (or each pair) a sharpies (or pen) and
some post-it notes. Ask the group this question, “What are the all the project-related
events that could occur in the next three to six months?” Provide the group three to
four minutes to write down everything they can think of that could impact their work.
At this stage, it is common for people to have a hard time to identify positive impacts,
so encourage everyone to write down at least one positive idea or event. Be sure to
remind everyone to put one idea\event per post-it note.
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While the participants are writing down their ideas, create the diagram in Figure 1 on
a sheet of chart paper or on the whiteboard. The y-axis represents the impact an
event with have on the team and their work with the large positive numbers
representing a large positive impact (a benefit) and the large negative numbers
representing a large negative impact (a drawback). The x-axis represents the
probability the event occurs in the next three to six months from it won’t happen at all
to it definitely will happen on this team.
+3
+2
+1
Impact
Probability
0
-1
-2
-3
Won’t Will
50/50
Happen Happen
Next, ask the participants to post their ideas\events on the matrix based on their
understanding of the impact and probability. Encourage the participants to keep their
explanations brief at this stage since a deeper discussion will occur shortly. Ask the
participants to share two or three ideas at a time to keep this round of sharing lively
and quick. Finally, we recommend a timebox of six to eight minutes for posting the
ideas into the matrix.
Once all the ideas\events have been placed into the matrix, now take time to discuss
the following topics. Timebox the discussion to no more than twenty-five minutes.
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1. Any idea\event that was duplicated, but put into a different location, i.e.
different probability and\or different impact.
2. How to mitigate any event that “will happen” and has “-3” impact. These are
the key risks to avoid for the team. Depending on the nature of the event(s),
extend this discussion to event(s) that “will happen” and have a “-2” impact.
3. How to bring about any event that “will happen” and has “+3” impact. These
are key opportunities for the team. Again, depending on the nature of the
event(s), extend this discussion to event(s) that “will happen” and have a “+2”
impact.
4. Any other event(s) in the matrix that seems reasonable to discuss given their
impact to the team’s shared work and probability of occurance.
If action items were not identified in the previous discussions, then allow up to ten
minutes for identifying action items and owners.
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CHALLENGE1
For this Challenge, we asking you to launch (or relaunch) your team using the liftoff
process described in the videos. Since this will be your first liftoff using this process,
we recommend planning a liftoff for a single, co-located team2. Also, because we
have crafted what we are calling a “mega Challenge", there are a few options
available to you.
• Option #1: organize and facilitate the entire one-day liftoff described here.
We recommend this option if you feel confident in your skills as a facilitator,
you have organizational support for a one-day liftoff and\or you are
launching a new team.
• Option #2: organize and facilitate a partial liftoff. For this option, you will
facilitate a two to four hour liftoff in one area that will most help your time with
their current (or upcoming) work: clear Purpose, better interpersonal Alignment
or improved understanding of the business Context. We recommend this
option when you lack organizational support for a complete one-day liftoff or
you are working with an existing team.
• Option #3: create your own one-day, liftoff agenda for Purpose, Alignment
and Context based on the model provided here and using activities from the
Retromat website. For this option, at least two-thirds of the activities in your
agenda must be different than what is provided here. We recommend this
option if you lack a team or there is zero interest in liftoff.
If you choose to pursue Options #1 and #2 for this Challenge, they both require a
fair amount of pre-work and preparation on your part. In addition to the steps listed
below, we recommend that you review the Meeting Preparation Checklist Technique
from “No More Bad Meetings” course for general ideas on how to prepare the
sponsor and participants for collaborative meetings.
1 If you are a Product Owner, for this Challenge you will need to work closely with your
team’s ScrumMaster. Share with them the workbook and videos associated with this course
so they understand what you are trying to achieve with liftoff.
2 If your team is in multiple locations, contact your instructor for additional help with planning
this challenge.
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2) Create the “strawman” vision, mission and mission tests with the sponsor and
Product Owner. We recommend scheduling a discussion from forty-five to sixty
minutes.
3) Speak with each person who will be invited to the liftoff to ensure they understand
their role, the meeting agenda, how much time will be required of them and any
improvements that might make to the agenda and\or the list of invitees. Share
with them the “Proposed Liftoff Meeting Agenda” from this workbook.
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Detailed Liftoff Instructions (step-by-step guide)
Purpose: launch [or relaunch] our team with clear purpose, improved alignment and
greater understanding of the business context
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4. What is our team’s mission? How will we know we have been successful?
[Mission & Mission Tests]: ask the Product Owner to share with the participants
the “strawman” mission and mission tests and allow for five to ten minutes of
discussion between the Product Owner and participants to discuss the mission.
Repeat the activity used to create the vision to define the team’s mission.
Distribute index cards to all the participants and provide them with three minutes
to rewrite the “strawman” mission in their own words. When the three minutes
have expired, tape each of the index cards on the wall, allow everyone the
opportunity to read the various mission statements.
Using the Dot Voting technique, identify the most inspiring mission statements.
Taking the best elements from the top two (or three) mission statements with the
most votes, merge the various mission statements into a single mission. Using the
Roman Voting technique, confirm that the mission is GEFN.
To define the mission tests, divide the participants into three groups to identify two
or three candidate mission tests on index cards, one mission test per index card.
Participants can either reformulate the existing, “strawman” mission tests provided
by the Product Owner and\or create new, more relevant mission tests based on
their new understanding of the work and personal experience. Offer the
participants the following guidelines when writing their own mission tests.
• Are specific, measurable and binary.
• Speak to outcomes and results, not activities.
• Mixture of qualitative and quantitive measurement.
At the conclusion of a ten minute timebox, review all the candidate mission tests
followed by a round of Dot Voting to identify the top three to five mission tests with
the most votes. Close the section on mission tests with a round of Roman Voting to
confirm the mission tests are GEFN. Provide a short, five minute mini-break before
proceeding to the next activity.
Divide the participants into groups of two to four people and distribute the “Liftoff
Visioning Techniques” handout from the Resources section of your workbook to
everyone. Ask each group to select an activity, Product Box or Cover Story, that
will best allow them, as a group, to synthesize everything they have learned this
morning about the Purpose - vision, mission and mission tests - of their shared
work. Participants will need glue, tape, markers, scissors, sticker, magazines and
other craft supplies to complete this activity. Provide a timebox of twenty minutes
for this activity. [90 minutes]
5. What resources have been dedicated to our work? [Committed Resources]:
ScrumMaster begins this discussion by handing out a sheet of white paper to each
person and asks everyone to fold their sheet of paper down the middle. In the
right column, each person takes two minutes to write down their answers to this
question, “What do you personally need to be successful on this team?” In the
left column, the ScrumMaster offers each person to write down their answers to
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this question, “What does the team need to be successful on this project?” At the
end of the time box, allow neighbors up to four minutes to share what they wrote
in each column.
To close this activity, the ScrumMaster asks each pair to share one need from each
column and records the results in a spreadsheet. Each group shares their needs
until all relevant needs have been captured. [20 minutes]
6. Check-in & Review: after lunch, the executive sponsor and key stakeholders
return for a short review provided by the ScrumMaster, Product Owner and
Development Team. The vision, mission and mission tests are reviewed and the
participants complete step #4 from the Product Box and Cover Story activities
(make presentations). The spreadsheet of the Committed Resources, created just
before lunch, is shared with the executive sponsor. Once the check-in is complete,
the executive sponsor and stakeholders may be excused since the remaining
activities are for the Scrum Team. [25 minutes]
7. How do we want to work together as a team? [Simple Rules & Working
Agreements]: using the Simple Rules technique from the “Team Development and
Evolution” course, follow steps #2 to #4 in the Challenge to create a list of simple
rules for the Scrum Team. We recommend using the Scrum values or the values
from the Agile Manifesto for this activity. You can also use the “official” values of
your organization, if you feel they are relevant, useful and meaningful to the
group. We do NOT recommend asking the group to generate their own list of
values, especially if this is your first liftoff experience. This will create too much
divergent thinking within the group and consume too much time. When complete,
take a five minute mini-break. [35 minutes]
To create Working Agreements, follow the steps outlined in the article “Five Steps
to Working Agreements for Scrum Teams” in the Resources section of this
workbook. When complete, take a five minute mini-break. During this break, the
Product Owner or ScrumMaster will inform the key stakeholders their presence is
needed for the remainder of the day. [35 minutes]
8. What limits exist, if any, to this team’s authority to get the work done?
[Boundaries & Interactions]: review the results from the Stakeholder Mapping
and Stakeholder Engagement worksheets with the Development Team and key
stakeholders. The Scrum Team works with the key stakeholders to identify any
stakeholders, or interactions, that were overlooked in the initial analysis. If
information needs to be shared with stakeholder groups, the Scrum Team and key
stakeholders will identify what specific information needs to be shared, in what
format, how frequently and who has the responsibility to share the information.
[25 minutes]
9. What are the potential risks (and opportunities) that await us? [Prospective
Analysis]: using the Impact vs. Probability Chart technique from this course,
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complete the prospective analysis with the Scrum Team and key stakeholders. [30
minutes]
10.How do we improve the next liftoff?: the ScrumMaster facilitates a short
Retrospective of the liftoff process with the Scrum Team and the key stakeholders.
We recommend using one of the techniques from the article “Two Quick & Easy
Techniques for a Retrospective” in the Resources section of your workbook or your
favorite alternative. [20 minutes]
11. Final Review & Closing: after the Retrospective, the Executive Sponsor returns for
a final review of the prospective analysis and the discussion about boundaries and
interactions. [20 minutes]
If you choose option #2 for this Challenge, these are the steps in this agenda you will
need to follow to in order to facilitate Purpose, Alignment or Context for your team.
Instructions: now that your (mega) Challenge is done, you will need to provide an
after action report to your instructor on your liftoff experiences. In addition to your
after action report, upload the various liftoff artifacts to the CSP Fast Pass site for
your instructor to review and give you feedback.
As part of your after action report, write in your journal from three to five paragraphs
that answer the following questions.
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• What sort of feedback did the Executive Sponsor give you about the liftoff? Be
specific.
• What sort of feedback did the liftoff participants give you about the liftoff? Be
specific.
• If you were to run a liftoff again, how would you improve the experience?
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DETAILED LIFTOFF MEETING AGENDA TIMING
Purpose: launch [or relaunch] our team with clear purpose, improved interpersonal
alignment and greater understanding of our shared business context.
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7) How do we want to work together as a team? [70 minutes + 10 minute break]
ScrumMaster facilitates Simple Rules technique with Development Team and
Product Owner [~30 minutes]
BREAK [5 minutes]
ScrumMaster facilitates Working Agreements exercise with Development Team
and Product Owner [~30 minutes]
BREAK [5 minutes]
8) What limits exist, if any, to this team’s authority to get the work done? [25
minutes]
ScrumMaster and Product Owner share the Stakeholder Mapping and
Stakeholder Analysis results with the Development Team and key stakeholders
and discuss the results [~25 minutes]
9) What are the potential risks (and opportunities) that await us? [30 minutes + 10
minute break]
ScrumMaster facilitates Impact vs. Probability Chart technique with
Development Team, Product Owner and key stakeholders [~25 minutes]
BREAK [10 minutes]
10) How do we improve the next liftoff? [20 minutes]
ScrumMaster facilitates a short Retrospective with the Scrum Team and key
stakeholders. [~20 minutes]
11) Final Review & Closing [20 minutes]
Scrum Team and key stakeholders provide the Executive Sponsor a final review
of the afternoon’s work. [~15 minutes]
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PROPOSED LIFTOFF MEETING AGENDA
Purpose: launch [or relaunch] our team with clear purpose, improved
interpersonal alignment and greater understanding of our shared business
context.
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