Here are some simple techniques that can help a software delivery form a better working relationship with their stakeholders. I like to call it keeping the grown-ups happy!
One of the biggest problems that we have in application delivery is that the key stakeholders do not always have the detailed knowledge of software delivery that we have. Consequently it is difficult for them to appreciate the difficulties of delivering working software of high quality on budget and on time. Also because we work with something intangible the level of effort and complexity in building a software solution is often underestimated (even by ourselves).
This is where involving those stakeholders in a truly transparent process helps. Even if it just means that we disappoint them a little all the time rather than a lot at the end. The following are really useful ways to do this:
- Provide access to the project story wall or other planning tools so that they can see progress being made and appreciate the number of tasks that it takes to complete what might be considered a small change.
- Provide regular feedback to the stakeholders of progress with show and tells where the latest version of the software can be demonstrated.
- Invite the stakeholders to the retrospectives so that they can understand the issues that the team faces and how the team are constantly applying change to their processes to improve efficiency.
- Involve them in iteration planning meetings where they can choose the next requirements that are to be delivered.
- Bring key members of the business into the process as subject matter experts so that they get to fully appreciate the level of detail that is needed in acceptance criteria and where the complexity in system design and implementation lie.
- Have a clearly understood, shared and repeatable process for project delivery… Then be prepared to constantly refine the process to achieve a better velocity through the suggestions made in the retrospectives.